Brocade Access Gateway Administrator's Guide Supporting Fabric OS v7.0.0 (53-1002156-01, April 2011)

6 Access Gateway Administrator’s Guide
53-1002156-01
Access Gateway hardware considerations
1
FIGURE 3 Port usage comparison
Table 2 shows a comparison of port configurations with AG to a standard fabric switch.
Access Gateway hardware considerations
Hardware considerations for Access Gateway are as follows:
• Access Gateway is supported on the switch platforms and embedded switch platforms listed in
“Supported hardware and software” on page xiv.
• Loop devices are not supported.
• Direct connections to SAN target devices are only supported if the AG-enabled module is
connected to a fabric.
TABLE 2 Port configurations
Port type Available on Access Gateway? Available on Fabric switch?
F_Port Yes Connects hosts and targets to
Access Gateway.
Yes Connects devices, such as hosts, HBAs,
and storage to the fabric.
N_Port Yes Connects Access Gateway to a fabric
switch.
NA N_Ports are not supported.
E_Port NA ISL is not supported.
1
1. The switch is logically transparent to the fabric, therefore it does not participate in the SAN as a fabric switch.
Yes Connects the switch to other switches to
form a fabric.
N_Port F_Port
N_Port
F_Port
N_Port F_Port
Hosts
Switch in AG mode
Edge Switch
Fabric
enabled
NPIV
N_Port
F_Port
E_Port
E_Port
N_Port
F_Port
Hosts
Switch in Native
Fabric Switch
E_Port
E_Port
Fabric
Access Gateway Ports
Fabric Switch Ports
Fabric mode