Fabric Watch Administrator's Guide v6.4.0 (53-1001770-01, June 2010)

76 Fabric Watch Administrator’s Guide
53-1001770-01
Port fencing
7
See “Port class guidelines and default settings” on page 59 for more information about the Port
class areas and under what circumstances port fencing is recommended.
1. Connect to the switch and log in as admin.
2. Enter the portFencing command to display the list of operands.
The portFencing menu displays.
switch:admin > portfencing
portfencing --show
portfencing --enable port_type_list|all
-area area_list|-area all
portfencing --disable port_type_list|all
-area area_list|-area all
portfencing --help
Enabling port fencing
1. Connect to the switch and log in as admin.
2. Configure port thresholds. Information about how to configure port thresholds is detailed in
Chapter 7, “Port Monitoring”.
3. Enter the portFencing --enable command:
portFencing --enable port_type_list|all -area area_list|-area all
Disabling port fencing
1. Connect to the switch and log in as admin.
2. Enter the portFencing --disable command:
portFencing --disable port_type_list|all -area area_list|-area all
Port fencing configuration using DCFM
The Data Center Fabric Manager (DCFM) management application supports port fencing. Port
fencing objects include the SAN, Fabrics, Directors, Switches (physical), Virtual Switches, Ports, as
well as Port Types (E_port, F_port, and FX_port). Use port fencing to directly assign a threshold to
these objects. When a switch does not support port fencing, a “No Fencing Changes” message
displays in the Threshold field in the Ports table.
If the port detects more events during the specified time period, the device firmware blocks the
port, disabling transmit and receive traffic until you investigate, solve the problem, and manually
unblock the port. Physical fabrics, directors, switches, port types, and ports display when you have
the privileges to manage that object and are indicated by the standard product icons.