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

Send comments to [e-mail]
22-9
Nexus 5000 Series Switch Fabric Manager Software Configuration Guide
OL-16598-01
Chapter 22 Advanced Features and Concepts
Switch Interoperability
Configuring Interop Mode 1
The interop mode1 in Nexus 5000 Series switches can be enabled disruptively or nondisruptively.
Note Brocade’s msplmgmtdeactivate command must explicitly be run prior to connecting from a Brocade
switch to either Nexus 5000 Series switches or to McData switches. This command uses Brocade
proprietary frames to exchange platform information, which Nexus 5000 Series switches or McData
switches do not understand. Rejecting these frames causes the common E ports to become isolated.
To configure interop mode 1 for a VSAN using Fabric Manager, perform this task:
Default zone The default zone operation of permit (all nodes can see all other nodes) or deny
(all nodes are isolated when not explicitly placed in a zone) may change.
Zoning attributes Zones may be limited to the pWWN and other proprietary zoning methods
(physical port number) may be eliminated.
Note On a Brocade switch, use the cfgsave command to save fabric-wide
zoning configuration. This command does not have any effect on Nexus
5000 Series switches if they are part of the same fabric. You must
explicitly save the configuration on each Nexus 5000 Series switch.
Zone propagation Some vendors do not pass the full zone configuration to other switches, only
the active zone set gets passed.
Verify that the active zone set or zone configuration has correctly propagated
to the other switches in the fabric.
VSAN Interop mode only affects the specified VSAN.
Note Interop modes cannot be enabled on FICON-enabled VSANs.
TE ports and SAN
port channel s
TE ports and SAN port channels cannot be used to connect Cisco switches to
non-Cisco SAN switches. Only E ports can be used to connect to non-Cisco
SAN switches. TE ports and SAN port channels can still be used to connect a
Cisco switch to other Cisco SAN switches even when in interop mode.
FSPF The routing of frames within the fabric is not changed by the introduction of
interop mode. The switch continues to use src-id, dst-id, and ox-id to load
balance across multiple ISL links.
Domain
reconfiguration
disruptive
This is a switch-wide impacting event. Brocade and McData require the entire
switch to be placed in offline mode and/or rebooted when changing domain
IDs.
Domain
reconfiguration
nondisruptive
This event is limited to the affected VSAN. Nexus 5000 Series switches have
the capability to restart only the domain manager process for the affected
VSAN and not the entire switch.
Name server Verify that all vendors have the correct values in their respective name server
database.
Table 22-2 Changes in Switch Operation When Interoperability Is Enabled (continued)
Switch Feature Changes if Interoperability Is Enabled