Cisco Nexus 6000 Series Configuration Manual
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS SAN Switching Configuration Guide, Release 6.x
First Published: 2013-01-30
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Text Part Number: OL-27932-01
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CONTENTS
Preface
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
Preface xv
Audience xv
Document Conventions xv
Related Documentation for Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Software xvii
Documentation Feedback xviii
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request xix
Overview 1
SAN Switching Overview 1
Configuring Fibre Channel Domain Parameters 5
Information About Domain Parameters 5
Fibre Channel Domains 5
Domain Restarts 6
Restarting a Domain 7
Domain Manager Fast Restart 7
Enabling Domain Manager Fast Restart 7
Switch Priority 8
Configuring Switch Priority 8
About fcdomain Initiation 9
Disabling or Reenabling fcdomains 9
Configuring Fabric Names 9
Incoming RCFs 10
Rejecting Incoming RCFs 10
Autoreconfiguring Merged Fabrics 11
Enabling Autoreconfiguration 11
Domain IDs 12
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Domain IDs - Guidelines 12
Configuring Static or Preferred Domain IDs 14
Allowed Domain ID Lists 15
Configuring Allowed Domain ID Lists 15
CFS Distribution of Allowed Domain ID Lists 16
Enabling Distribution 16
Locking the Fabric 16
Committing Changes 17
Discarding Changes 17
Clearing a Fabric Lock 18
Displaying CFS Distribution Status 18
Displaying Pending Changes 18
Displaying Session Status 18
CHAPTER 3
Contiguous Domain ID Assignments 19
Enabling Contiguous Domain ID Assignments 19
FC IDs 19
Persistent FC IDs 20
Enabling the Persistent FC ID Feature 20
Persistent FC ID Configuration Guidelines 21
Configuring Persistent FC IDs 21
Unique Area FC IDs for HBAs 22
Configuring Unique Area FC IDs for an HBA 22
Persistent FC ID Selective Purging 24
Purging Persistent FC IDs 24
Verifying the fcdomain Configuration 24
Default Settings for Fibre Channel Domains 25
Configuring N Port Virtualization 27
Configuring N Port Virtualization 27
Information About NPV 27
NPV Overview 27
NPV Mode 28
Server Interfaces 28
NP Uplinks 29
FLOGI Operation 29
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NPV Traffic Management Guidelines 30
NPV Guidelines and Limitations 30
Configuring NPV 31
Enabling NPV 31
Configuring NPV Interfaces 32
Configuring an NP Interface 32
Configuring a Server Interface 32
Configuring NPV Traffic Management 32
Configuring NPV Traffic Maps 32
Enabling Disruptive Load Balancing 33
Verifying NPV 33
Verifying NPV Examples 34
CHAPTER 4
Verifying NPV Traffic Management 35
Configuring FCoE NPV 37
Information About FCoE NPV 37
FCoE NPV Model 39
Mapping Requirements 40
Port Requirements 41
NPV Features 41
vPC Topologies 42
Supported and Unsupported Topologies 43
Guidelines and Limitations 47
FCoE NPV Configuration Limits 47
Default Settings 48
Enabling FCoE and Enabling NPV 49
Enabling FCoE NPV 49
Configuring NPV Ports for FCoE NPV 50
Verifying FCoE NPV Configuration 50
Configuration Examples for FCoE NPV 51
CHAPTER 5
Configuring VSAN Trunking 55
Configuring VSAN Trunking 55
Information About VSAN Trunking 55
VSAN Trunking Mismatches 56
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VSAN Trunking Protocol 56
Configuring VSAN Trunking 57
Guidelines and Limitations 57
Enabling or Disabling the VSAN Trunking Protocol 57
Trunk Mode 57
Configuring Trunk Mode 58
Trunk-Allowed VSAN Lists 59
Configuring an Allowed-Active List of VSANs 61
Displaying VSAN Trunking Information 62
Default Settings for VSAN Trunks 62
CHAPTER 6
Configuring and Managing VSANs 65
Configuring and Managing VSANs 65
Information About VSANs 65
VSAN Topologies 65
VSAN Advantages 68
VSANs Versus Zones 68
Guidelines and Limitations for VSANs 69
About VSAN Creation 70
Creating VSANs Statically 70
Port VSAN Membership 71
Assigning Static Port VSAN Membership 72
Displaying VSAN Static Membership 72
Default VSANs 73
Isolated VSANs 73
Displaying Isolated VSAN Membership 73
Operational State of a VSAN 74
Static VSAN Deletion 74
Deleting Static VSANs 75
About Load Balancing 75
Configuring Load Balancing 75
Interop Mode 77
Displaying the Static VSAN Configuration 77
Default Settings for VSANs 77
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CHAPTER 7
Configuring and Managing Zones 79
Information About Zones 79
Information About Zoning 79
Zoning Features 79
Zoning Example 81
Zone Implementation 81
Active and Full Zone Sets 82
Configuring a Zone 85
Configuration Examples 85
Zone Sets 86
Activating a Zone Set 87
Default Zone 87
Configuring the Default Zone Access Permission 88
FC Alias Creation 88
Creating FC Aliases 89
Creating FC Aliases Example 89
Creating Zone Sets and Adding Member Zones 90
Zone Enforcement 91
Zone Set Distribution 92
Enabling Full Zone Set Distribution 92
Enabling a One-Time Distribution 92
Recovering from Link Isolation 93
Importing and Exporting Zone Sets 94
Zone Set Duplication 94
Copying Zone Sets 95
Renaming Zones, Zone Sets, and Aliases 95
Cloning Zones, Zone Sets, FC Aliases, and Zone Attribute Groups 96
Clearing the Zone Server Database 97
Verifying the Zone Configuration 97
Enhanced Zoning 98
Enhanced Zoning 98
Changing from Basic Zoning to Enhanced Zoning 99
Changing from Enhanced Zoning to Basic Zoning 99
Enabling Enhanced Zoning 100
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Modifying the Zone Database 100
Releasing Zone Database Locks 101
Merging the Database 102
Configuring Zone Merge Control Policies 102
Default Zone Policies 103
Configuring System Default Zoning Settings 104
Verifying Enhanced Zone Information 105
Compacting the Zone Database 105
Analyzing the Zone and Zone Set 105
Default Settings for Zones 106
CHAPTER 8
Distributing Device Alias Services 107
Distributing Device Alias Services 107
Information About Device Aliases 107
Device Alias Features 107
Device Alias Requirements 108
Zone Aliases Versus Device Aliases 108
Device Alias Databases 109
Creating Device Aliases 109
Device Alias Modes 110
Device Alias Mode Guidelines and Limitations for Device Alias Services 110
Configuring Device Alias Modes 111
Device Alias Distribution 112
Locking the Fabric 112
Committing Changes 112
Discarding Changes 113
Overriding the Fabric Lock 114
Disabling and Enabling Device Alias Distribution 114
Legacy Zone Alias Configuration 115
Importing a Zone Alias 115
Device Alias Database Merge Guidelines 116
Verifying the Device Alias Configuration 116
Default Settings for Device Alias Services 117
CHAPTER 9
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Managing FLOGI, Name Server, FDMI, and RSCN Databases 119
Contents
Managing FLOGI, Name Server, FDMI, and RSCN Databases 119
Fabric Login 119
Name Server Proxy 120
About Registering Name Server Proxies 120
Registering Name Server Proxies 120
Rejecting Duplicate pWWNs 120
Rejecting Duplicate pWWNs 121
Name Server Database Entries 121
Displaying Name Server Database Entries 122
FDMI 122
Displaying FDMI 123
RSCN 123
About RSCN Information 123
Displaying RSCN Information 123
Multi-pid Option 124
Configuring the multi-pid Option 124
Suppressing Domain Format SW-RSCNs 124
Clearing RSCN Statistics 125
Configuring the RSCN Timer 125
Verifying the RSCN Timer Configuration 126
RSCN Timer Configuration Distribution 126
Enabling RSCN Timer Configuration Distribution 127
Locking the Fabric 127
Committing RSCN Timer Configuration Changes 128
Discarding the RSCN Timer Configuration Changes 128
Clearing a Locked Session 129
Displaying RSCN Configuration Distribution Information 129
Default Settings for RSCN 129
CHAPTER 10
Discovering SCSI Targets 131
Discovering SCSI Targets 131
Information About SCSI LUN Discovery 131
About Starting SCSI LUN Discovery 131
Starting SCSI LUN Discovery 132
About Initiating Customized Discovery 132
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Initiating Customized Discovery 132
Displaying SCSI LUN Information 133
CHAPTER 11
Configuring FC-SP and DHCHAP 135
Information About FC-SP and DHCHAP 135
Fabric Authentication 135
Configuring DHCHAP Authentication 136
DHCHAP Compatibility with Fibre Channel Features 137
About Enabling DHCHAP 137
Enabling DHCHAP 137
DHCHAP Authentication Modes 138
Configuring the DHCHAP Mode 139
DHCHAP Hash Algorithm 140
Configuring the DHCHAP Hash Algorithm 140
DHCHAP Group Settings 141
Configuring the DHCHAP Group Settings 141
DHCHAP Password 141
Configuring DHCHAP Passwords for the Local Switch 142
Password Configuration for Remote Devices 142
CHAPTER 12
Configuring DHCHAP Passwords for Remote Devices 143
DHCHAP Timeout Value 143
Configuring the DHCHAP Timeout Value 143
Configuring DHCHAP AAA Authentication 144
Displaying Protocol Security Information 144
Configuration Examples for Fabric Security 145
Default Settings for Fabric Security 146
Configuring Port Security 149
Configuring Port Security 149
Information About Port Security 149
Port Security Enforcement 150
Auto-Learning 150
Port Security Activation 150
Configuring Port Security 151
Configuring Port Security with Auto-Learning and CFS Distribution 151
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Configuring Port Security with Auto-Learning without CFS 152
Configuring Port Security with Manual Database Configuration 152
Enabling Port Security 153
Port Security Activation 153
Activating Port Security 153
Database Activation Rejection 154
Forcing Port Security Activation 154
Database Reactivation 155
Auto-Learning 156
About Enabling Auto-Learning 156
Enabling Auto-Learning 156
Disabling Auto-Learning 157
Auto-Learning Device Authorization 157
Authorization Scenario 158
Port Security Manual Configuration 159
WWN Identification Guidelines 159
Adding Authorized Port Pairs 160
Port Security Configuration Distribution 161
Enabling Port Security Distribution 161
Locking the Fabric 162
Committing the Changes 162
Discarding the Changes 162
Activation and Auto-Learning Configuration Distribution 163
Merging the Port Security Database 165
Database Interaction 165
Database Scenarios 167
Copying the Port Security Database 168
Deleting the Port Security Database 168
Clearing the Port Security Database 168
Displaying Port Security Configuration 169
Default Settings for Port Security 169
CHAPTER 13
Configuring Fabric Binding 171
Configuring Fabric Binding 171
Information About Fabric Binding 171
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Licensing Requirements for Fabric Binding 171
Port Security Versus Fabric Binding 171
Fabric Binding Enforcement 172
Configuring Fabric Binding 173
Configuring Fabric Binding 173
Enabling Fabric Binding 173
Switch WWN Lists 173
Configuring Switch WWN List 174
Fabric Binding Activation and Deactivation 174
Activating Fabric Binding 175
Forcing Fabric Binding Activation 175
Copying Fabric Binding Configurations 176
Clearing the Fabric Binding Statistics 176
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
Deleting the Fabric Binding Database 176
Verifying the Fabric Binding Configuration 177
Default Settings for Fabric Binding 177
Configuring Fabric Configuration Servers 179
Configuring Fabric Configuration Servers 179
Information About FCS 179
FCS Characteristics 180
FCS Name Specification 181
Displaying FCS Information 181
Default FCS Settings 181
Configuring Port Tracking 183
Configuring Port Tracking 183
Information About Port Tracking 183
Default Settings for Port Tracking 184
Configuring Port Tracking 185
Enabling Port Tracking 185
Configuring Linked Ports 186
Operationally Binding a Tracked Port 186
Tracking Multiple Ports 186
Tracking Multiple Ports 187
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Monitoring Ports in a VSAN 187
Monitoring Ports in a VSAN 188
Forcefully Shutting down 188
Forcefully Shutting Down a Tracked Port 188
Displaying Port Tracking Information 189
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Preface
The preface contains the following sections:
Audience, page xv
•
Document Conventions, page xv
•
Related Documentation for Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Software, page xvii
•
Documentation Feedback, page xviii
•
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request, page xix
•
Audience
This publication is for network administrators who configure and maintain Cisco Nexus devices.
Document Conventions
Note
OL-27932-01 xv
As part of our constant endeavor to remodel our documents to meet our customers' requirements, we have
modified the manner in which we document configuration tasks. As a result of this, you may find a
deviation in the style used to describe these tasks, with the newly included sections of the document
following the new format.
Command descriptions use the following conventions:
DescriptionConvention
bold
Italic
Bold text indicates the commands and keywords that you enter literally
as shown.
Italic text indicates arguments for which the user supplies the values.
Square brackets enclose an optional element (keyword or argument).[x]
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS SAN Switching Configuration Guide, Release 6.x
Document Conventions
Preface
DescriptionConvention
[x | y]
Square brackets enclosing keywords or arguments separated by a vertical
bar indicate an optional choice.
{x | y}
Braces enclosing keywords or arguments separated by a vertical bar
indicate a required choice.
[x {y | z}]
Nested set of square brackets or braces indicate optional or required
choices within optional or required elements. Braces and a vertical bar
within square brackets indicate a required choice within an optional
element.
variable
Indicates a variable for which you supply values, in context where italics
cannot be used.
string
A nonquoted set of characters. Do not use quotation marks around the
string or the string will include the quotation marks.
Examples use the following conventions:
DescriptionConvention
Terminal sessions and information the switch displays are in screen font.screen font
Information you must enter is in boldface screen font.boldface screen font
Note
Caution
italic screen font
Arguments for which you supply values are in italic screen font.
Nonprinting characters, such as passwords, are in angle brackets.< >
Default responses to system prompts are in square brackets.[ ]
!, #
An exclamation point (!) or a pound sign (#) at the beginning of a line
of code indicates a comment line.
This document uses the following conventions:
Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to material not covered in the
manual.
Means reader be careful. In this situation, you might do something that could result in equipment damage
or loss of data.
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Preface
Related Documentation for Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Software
Related Documentation for Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS
Software
The entire Cisco NX-OS 6000 Series documentation set is available at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12806/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
Release Notes
The release notes are available at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-6000-series-switches/products-release-notes-list.html
Configuration Guides
These guides are available at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-6000-series-switches/
products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html
The documents in this category include:
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Adapter-FEX Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS FabricPath Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Fundamentals Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Interfaces Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Layer 2 Switching Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Multicast Routing Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Quality of Service Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS SAN Switching Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Security Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS System Management Configuration Guide
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Unicast Routing Configuration Guide
•
Installation and Upgrade Guides
These guides are available at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-6000-series-switches/products-installation-guides-list.html
The document in this category include:
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Software Upgrade and Downgrade Guides
•
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Documentation Feedback
Licensing Guide
The License and Copyright Information for Cisco NX-OS Software is available at http://www.cisco.com/en/
US/docs/switches/datacenter/sw/4_0/nx-os/license_agreement/nx-ossw_lisns.html.
Command References
These guides are available at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-6000-series-switches/
products-command-reference-list.html
The documents in this category include:
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Fabric Extender Command Reference
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS FabricPath Command Reference
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Fundamentals Command Reference
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Interfaces Command Reference
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Layer 2 Interfaces Command Reference
•
Preface
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Multicast Routing Command Reference
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Quality of Service Command Reference
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Security Command Reference
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS System Management Command Reference
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS TrustSec Command Reference
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Unicast Routing Command Reference
•
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Virtual Port Channel Command Reference
•
Technical References
The Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS MIB Reference is available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/
datacenter/nexus6000/sw/mib/reference/NX6000_MIBRef.html.
Error and System Messages
The Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS System Message Guide is available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/
docs/switches/datacenter/nexus6000/sw/system_messages/reference/sl_nxos_book.html.
Troubleshooting Guide
The Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Troubleshooting Guide is available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/
support/switches/nexus-6000-series-switches/tsd-products-support-troubleshoot-and-alerts.html.
Documentation Feedback
To provide technical feedback on this document, or to report an error or omission, please send your comments
to: .
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Preface
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
We appreciate your feedback.
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
For information on obtaining documentation, using the Cisco Bug Search Tool (BST), submitting a service
request, and gathering additional information, see What's New in Cisco Product Documentation.
To receive new and revised Cisco technical content directly to your desktop, you can subscribe to the What's
New in Cisco Product Documentation RSS feed. RSS feeds are a free service.
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Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
Preface
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Overview
This chapter contains the following sections:
SAN Switching Overview, page 1
•
SAN Switching Overview
This chapter provides an overview of SAN switching for Cisco NX-OS devices. This chapter includes the
following sections:
Domain Parameters
The Fibre Channel domain (fcdomain) feature performs principal switch selection, domain ID distribution,
FC ID allocation, and fabric reconfiguration functions as described in the FC-SW-2 standards. The domains
are configured per VSAN . If you do not configure a domain ID, the local switch uses a random ID.
N Port Virtualization
CHAPTER 1
Cisco NX-OS software supports industry-standard N port identifier virtualization (NPIV), which allows
multiple N port fabric logins concurrently on a single physical Fibre Channel link. HBAs that support NPIV
can help improve SAN security by enabling zoning and port security to be configured independently for each
virtual machine (OS partition) on a host. In addition to being useful for server connections, NPIV is beneficial
for connectivity between core and edge SAN switches.
VSAN Trunking
Trunking, also known as VSAN trunking, enables interconnect ports to transmit and receive frames in more
than one VSAN over the same physical link. Trunking is supported on E ports and F ports.
SAN Port Channels
PortChannels aggregate multiple physical ISLs into one logical link with higher bandwidth and port resiliency
for Fibre Channel traffic. With this feature, up to 16 expansion ports (E-ports) or trunking E-ports (TE-ports)
can be bundled into a PortChannel. ISL ports can reside on any switching module, and they do not need a
designated master port. If a port or a switching module fails, the PortChannel continues to function properly
without requiring fabric reconfiguration.
Cisco NX-OS software uses a protocol to exchange PortChannel configuration information between adjacent
switches to simplify PortChannel management, including misconfiguration detection and autocreation of
PortChannels among compatible ISLs. In the autoconfigure mode, ISLs with compatible parameters
automatically form channel groups; no manual intervention is required.
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SAN Switching Overview
PortChannels load balance Fibre Channel traffic using a hash of source FC-ID and destination FC-ID, and
optionally the exchange ID. Load balancing using PortChannels is performed over both Fibre Channel and
FCIP links. Cisco NX-OS software also can be configured to load balance across multiple same-cost FSPF
routes.
Virtual SANs
Virtual SANs (VSANs) partition a single physical SAN into multiple VSANs. VSANs allow the Cisco NX-OS
software to logically divide a large physical fabric into separate, isolated environments to improve Fibre
Channel SAN scalability, availability, manageability, and network security.
Each VSAN is a logically and functionally separate SAN with its own set of Fibre Channel fabric services.
This partitioning of fabric services greatly reduces network instability by containing fabric reconfiguration
and error conditions within an individual VSAN. The strict traffic segregation provided by VSANs can ensure
that the control and data traffic of a specified VSAN are confined within the VSAN's own domain, which
increases SAN security. VSANs can reduce costs by facilitating consolidation of isolated SAN islands into a
common infrastructure without compromising availability.
You can create administrator roles that are limited in scope to certain VSANs. For example, you can set up a
network administrator role to allow configuration of all platform-specific capabilities and other roles to allow
configuration and management only within specific VSANs. This approach improves the manageability of
large SANs and reduces disruptions due to human error by isolating the effect of a user action to a specific
VSAN whose membership can be assigned based on switch ports or the worldwide name (WWN) of attached
devices.
VSANs are supported across Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) links between SANs, which extends VSANs to
include devices at a remote location. The Cisco SAN switches also implement trunking for VSANs. Trunking
allows Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) to carry traffic for multiple VSANs on the same physical link.
Zoning
Overview
Zoning provides access control for devices within a SAN. The Cisco NX-OS software supports the following
types of zoning:
N port zoning-Defines zone members based on the end-device (host and storage) port.
•
WWN
◦
Fibre Channel identifier (FC-ID)
◦
Fx port zoning-Defines zone members based on the switch port.
•
WWN
◦
WWN plus the interface index, or domain ID plus the interface index
◦
Domain ID and port number (for Brocade interoperability)
•
iSCSI zoning-Defines zone members based on the host zone.
•
iSCSI name
◦
IP address
◦
LUN zoning-When combined with N port zoning, logical unit number (LUN) zoning helps ensure that
•
LUNs are accessible only by specific hosts, providing a single point of control for managing heterogeneous
storage-subsystem access.
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Overview
SAN Switching Overview
Read-only zones-An attribute can be set to restrict I/O operations in any zone type to SCSI read-only
•
commands. This feature is useful for sharing volumes across servers for backup, data warehousing, and
so on.
Broadcast zones-An attribute can be set for any zone type to restrict broadcast frames to members of
•
the specific zone.
To provide strict network security, zoning is always enforced per frame using access control lists (ACLs) that
are applied at the ingress switch. All zoning polices are enforced in the hardware, and none of them cause
performance degradation. Enhanced zoning session-management capabilities further enhance security by
allowing only one user at a time to modify zones.
Device Alias Services
The software supports Device Alias Services (device alias) on per VSAN and fabric wide. Device alias
distribution allows you to move host bus adapters (HBAs) between VSANs without manually reentering alias
names.
Fibre Channel Routing
Fabric Shortest Path First (FSPF) is the protocol used by Fibre Channel fabrics. FSPF is enabled by default
on all Fibre Channel switches. You do not need to configure any FSPF services except in configurations that
require special consideration. FSPF automatically calculates the best path between any two switches in a
fabric. Specifically, FSPF is used to perform these functions:
Dynamically compute routes throughout a fabric by establishing the shortest and quickest path between
•
any two switches.
Select an alternative path if a failure occurs on a given path. FSPF supports multiple paths and
•
automatically computes an alternative path around a failed link. FSPF provides a preferred route when
two equal paths are available.
SCSI Targets
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) targets include disks, tapes, and other storage devices. These targets
do not register logical unit numbers (LUNs) with the name server. The SCSI LUN discovery feature is initiated
on demand, through CLI or SNMP. This information is also synchronized with neighboring switches, if those
switches belong to the Cisco Nexus device.
Advanced Fibre Channel Features
You can configure Fibre Channel protocol-related timer values for distributed services, error detection, and
resource allocation.
You must uniquely associate the WWN to a single switch. The principal switch selection and the allocation
of domain IDs rely on the WWN. .
Fibre Channel standards require that you allocate a unique FC ID to an N port that is attached to an F port in
any switch.
FC-SP and DHCHAP
The Fibre Channel Security Protocol (FC-SP) provides switch-to-switch and hosts-to-switch authentication
to overcome security challenges for enterprise-wide fabrics. The Diffie-Hellman Challenge Handshake
Authentication Protocol (DHCHAP) is an FC-SP protocol that provides authentication between Cisco SAN
switches and other devices. DHCHAP consists of the CHAP protocol combined with the Diffie-Hellman
exchange.
With FC-SP, switches, storage devices, and hosts can prove their identity through a reliable and manageable
authentication mechanism. With FC-SP, Fibre Channel traffic can be secured per frame to prevent snooping
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SAN Switching Overview
and hijacking even over untrusted links. A consistent set of policies and management actions are propagated
through the fabric to provide a uniform level of security across the entire fabric.
Port Security
The port security feature prevents unauthorized access to a switch port by binding specific world-wide names
(WWNs) that have access to one or more given switch ports.
When port security is enabled on a switch port, all devices connecting to that port must be in the port security
database and must be listed in the database as bound to a given port. If both of these criteria are not met, the
port will not achieve an operationally active state and the devices connected to the port will be denied access
to the SAN.
Fabric Binding
Fabric binding ensures Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) are enabled only between specified switches in the fabric
binding configuration, which prevents unauthorized switches from joining the fabric or disrupting the current
fabric operations. This feature uses the Exchange Fabric Membership Data (EEMD) protocol to ensure that
the list of authorized switches is identical in all of the switches in a fabric.
Fabric Configuration Servers
The Fabric Configuration Server (FCS) provides discovery of topology attributes and maintains a repository
of configuration information of fabric elements. A management application is usually connected to the FCS
on the switch through an N port. Multiple VSANs constitute a fabric, where one instance of the FCS is present
per VSAN.
Overview
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CHAPTER 2
Configuring Fibre Channel Domain Parameters
This chapter describes how to configure Fibre Channel domain parameters.
This chapter includes the following sections:
Information About Domain Parameters, page 5
•
Information About Domain Parameters
The Fibre Channel domain (fcdomain) feature performs principal switch selection, domain ID distribution,
FC ID allocation, and fabric reconfiguration functions as described in the FC-SW-2 standards. The domains
are configured on a per-VSAN basis. If you do not configure a domain ID, the local switch uses a random
ID.
Caution
Changes to fcdomain parameters should not be performed on a daily basis. These changes should be made
by an administrator or individual who is completely familiar with switch operations.
When you change the configuration, be sure to save the running configuration. The next time you reboot the
switch, the saved configuration is used. If you do not save the configuration, the previously saved startup
configuration is used.
Fibre Channel Domains
The fcdomain has four phases:
• Principal switch selection—This phase guarantees the selection of a unique principal switch across the
fabric.
• Domain ID distribution—This phase guarantees that each switch in the fabric obtains a unique domain
ID.
• FC ID allocation—This phase guarantees a unique FC ID assignment to each device attached to the
corresponding switch in the fabric.
• Fabric reconfiguration—This phase guarantees a resynchronization of all switches in the fabric to ensure
they simultaneously restart a new principal switch selection phase.
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The following figure shows an example fcdomain configuration.
Figure 1: Sample fcdomain Configuration
Configuring Fibre Channel Domain Parameters
Domain Restarts
Fibre Channel domains can be started disruptively or nondisruptively. If you perform a disruptive restart,
reconfigure fabric (RCF) frames are sent to other switches in the fabric and data traffic is disrupted on all the
switches in the VSAN (including remotely segmented ISLs). If you perform a nondisruptive restart, build
fabric (BF) frames are sent to other switches in the fabric and data traffic is disrupted only on the switch.
If you are attempting to resolve a domain ID conflict, you must manually assign domain IDs. A disruptive
restart is required to apply most configuration changes, including manually assigned domain IDs. Nondisruptive
domain restarts are acceptable only when changing a preferred domain ID into a static one (and the actual
domain ID remains the same).
Note
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A static domain is specifically configured by the user and may be different from the runtime domain. If
the domain IDs are different, the runtime domain ID changes to take on the static domain ID after the next
restart, either disruptive or nondisruptive.
If a VSAN is in interop mode, you cannot disruptively restart the fcdomain for that VSAN.
Configuring Fibre Channel Domain Parameters
You can apply most of the configurations to their corresponding runtime values. Each of the following sections
provide further details on how the fcdomain parameters are applied to the runtime values.
The fcdomain restart command applies your changes to the runtime settings. Use the disruptive option to
apply most of the configurations to their corresponding runtime values, including preferred domain IDs.
Restarting a Domain
You can restart the fabric disruptively or nondisruptively.
Procedure
Fibre Channel Domains
PurposeCommand or Action
Step 1
Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#
Step 2
Step 3
fcdomain restart vsan vsan-id
Example:
switch (config)# fcdomain restart vsan 100
switch(config)# fcdomain restart disruptive vsan
vsan-id
Example:
switch (config)# fcdomain restart
disruptive vsan 101
Domain Manager Fast Restart
When a principal link fails, the domain manager must select a new principal link. By default, the domain
manager starts a build fabric (BF) phase, followed by a principal switch selection phase. Both of these phases
involve all the switches in the VSAN, and together take at least 15 seconds to complete. To reduce the time
required for the domain manager to select a new principal link, you can enable the domain manager fast restart
feature.
When fast restart is enabled and a backup link is available, the domain manager needs only a few milliseconds
to select a new principal link to replace the one that failed. Also, the reconfiguration required to select the
new principal link only affects the two switches that are directly attached to the failed link, not the entire
VSAN. When a backup link is not available, the domain manager reverts to the default behavior and starts a
BF phase, followed by a principal switch selection phase. The fast restart feature can be used in any
interoperability mode.
Enters global configuration mode.configure terminal
Forces the VSAN to reconfigure without
traffic disruption. The VSAN ID ranges
from 1 to 4093.
Forces the VSAN to reconfigure with data
traffic disruption.
Enabling Domain Manager Fast Restart
You can enable the domain manager fast restart feature.
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Procedure
Configuring Fibre Channel Domain Parameters
PurposeCommand or Action
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Switch Priority
By default, the configured priority is 128. The valid range to set the priority is between 1 and 254. Priority 1
has the highest priority. Value 255 is accepted from other switches, but cannot be locally configured.
Any new switch cannot become the principal switch when it joins a stable fabric. During the principal switch
selection phase, the switch with the highest priority becomes the principal switch. If two switches have the
same configured priority, the switch with the lower world-wide name (WWN) becomes the principal switch.
The priority configuration is applied to runtime when the fcdomain is restarted. This configuration is applicable
to both disruptive and nondisruptive restarts.
Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#
fcdomain optimize fast-restart vsan vsan-id
Example:
switch(config)# fcdomain optimize
fast-restart vsan 1
no fcdomain optimize fast-restart vsan vsan-id
Example:
switch(config)# no fcdomain optimize
fast-restart vsan 1
Enters global configuration mode.configure terminal
Enables domain manager fast restart in the
specified VSAN. The VSAN ID range is from
1 to 4093.
Disables (default) domain manager fast restart
in the specified VSAN. The VSAN ID range
is from 1 to 4093.
Configuring Switch Priority
You can configure the priority for the principal switch.
Procedure
PurposeCommand or Action
Step 1
Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#
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Enters global configuration mode.configure terminal
Configuring Fibre Channel Domain Parameters
Fibre Channel Domains
PurposeCommand or Action
Step 2
Step 3
fcdomain priority number vsan vsan-id
Example:
switch(config)# fcdomain priority 12
vsan 1
no fcdomain priority number vsan
vsan-id
Example:
switch(config)# no fcdomain priority
12 vsan 1
About fcdomain Initiation
By default, the fcdomain feature is enabled on each switch. If you disable the fcdomain feature in a switch,
that switch can no longer participate with other switches in the fabric. The fcdomain configuration is applied
to runtime through a disruptive restart.
Disabling or Reenabling fcdomains
To disable or reenable fcdomains in a single VSAN or a range of VSANs, perform this task:
Configures the specified priority for the local switch
in the specified VSAN. The fcdomain priority
ranges from 1 to 254. The VSAN ID ranges from 1
to 4093.
Reverts the priority to the factory default (128) in
the specified VSAN. The fcdomain priority ranges
from 1 to 254. The VSAN ID ranges from 1 to 4093.
Procedure
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Configuring Fabric Names
You can set the fabric name value for a disabled fcdomain.
switch(config)# no fcdomain vsan vsan-id
- vsan-id
switch(config)# fcdomain vsan vsan-id
PurposeCommand or Action
Enters global configuration mode.switch# configure terminal
Disables the fcdomain configuration in the
specified VSAN range.
Enables the fcdomain configuration in the
specified VSAN.
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Fibre Channel Domains
Procedure
Configuring Fibre Channel Domain Parameters
PurposeCommand or Action
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Incoming RCFs
You can configure the rcf-reject option on a per-interface, per-VSAN basis. By default, the rcf-reject option
is disabled (that is, RCF request frames are not automatically rejected).
The rcf-reject option takes effect immediately.
No fcdomain restart is required.
Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#
fcdomain fabric-name 20:1:ac:16:5e:0:21:01
vsan vsan-id
Example:
switch(config)# fcdomain fabric-name
20:1:ac:16:5e:0:21:01 vsan 1
no fcdomain fabric-name 20:1:ac:16:5e:0:21:01
vsan vsan-id
Example:
switch(config)# no fcdomain fabric-name
20:1:ac:16:5e:0:21:01 vsan 1
Enters global configuration mode.configure terminal
Assigns the configured fabric name value in
the specified VSAN. The VSAN ID ranges
from 1 to 4093.
Changes the fabric name value to the factory
default (20:01:00:05:30:00:28:df) in VSAN
3010. The VSAN ID ranges from 1 to 4093.
You do not need to configure the RCF reject option on virtual Fibre Channel interfaces.Note
Rejecting Incoming RCFs
You can reject incoming RCF request frames.
Procedure
PurposeCommand or Action
Step 1
Example:
switch# configure terminal
switch(config)#
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Enters global configuration mode.configure terminal
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