Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch Fabric Manager Software Configuration Guide, NX-OS 4.0 (OL-16598-01, June 2008)

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10-4
Nexus 5000 Series Switch Fabric Manager Software Configuration Guide
OL-16598-01
Chapter 10 Configuring Fibre Channel Interfaces
Information About Fibre Channel Interfaces
F Port
In fabric port (F port) mode, an interface functions as a fabric port. This port may be connected to a
peripheral device (host or disk) operating as an N port. An F port can be attached to only one N port. F
ports support class 3 service.
NP Port
An NP port is a port on a device that is in NPV mode and connected to the core NPV switch through an
F port. NP ports operate like N ports that function as proxies for multiple physical N ports.
For more details about NP ports and NPV, see Chapter 12, “Configuring N-Port Virtualization.”
TE Port
In trunking E port (TE port) mode, an interface functions as a trunking expansion port. It may be
connected to another TE port to create an extended ISL (EISL) between two switches. TE ports connect
to another Nexus 5000 Series switch or a Cisco MDS 9000 Family switch. They expand the functionality
of E ports to support the following:
• VSAN trunking
• Fibre Channel trace (fctrace) feature
In TE port mode, all frames are transmitted in EISL frame format, which contains VSAN information.
Interconnected switches use the VSAN ID to multiplex traffic from one or more VSANs across the same
physical link. This feature is referred to as VSAN trunking in the Nexus 5000 Series (see Chapter 13,
“Configuring VSAN Trunking”). TE ports support class 3 and class F service.
SD Port
In SPAN destination port (SD port) mode, an interface functions as a switched port analyzer (SPAN).
The SPAN feature monitors network traffic that passes though a Fibre Channel interface. This
monitoring is done using a standard Fibre Channel analyzer (or a similar switch probe) that is attached
to an SD port. SD ports do not receive frames, instead they transmit a copy of the source traffic. The
SPAN feature is nonintrusive and does not affect switching of network traffic for any SPAN source ports.
Auto Mode
Interfaces configured in auto mode can operate in one of the following modes: F port, E port, or TE port.
The port mode is determined during interface initialization. For example, if the interface is connected to
a node (host or disk), it operates in F port mode. If the interface is attached to a third-party switch, it
operates in E port mode. If the interface is attached to another switch in the Nexus 5000 Series or Cisco
MDS 9000 Family, it may become operational in TE port mode (see Chapter 13, “Configuring VSAN
Trunking”).
SD ports are not determined during initialization and are administratively configured.