Switch Interoperability; About Interop Mode - Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Configuration Manual

Switch Interoperability

You can implicitly derive the default entries shipped with a specific release by combining the list of Company
IDs displayed without any identification with the list of deleted entries.
You can also view or obtain the company IDs in a specific WWN by entering the show fcid-allocation
company-id-from-wwn command. Some WWN formats do not support company IDs. In these cases, you
many need to configure the FC ID persistent entry.
The following example displays the company ID for the specified WWN:
switch# show fcid-allocation company-id-from-wwn 20:00:00:05:30:00:21:60
Extracted Company ID: 0x000530
Switch Interoperability
Interoperability enables the products of multiple vendors to interwork with each other. Fibre Channel standards
guide vendors towards common external Fibre Channel interfaces.
Not all vendors follow the standards in the same way, which results in the need for interoperability modes.
This section briefly explains the basic concepts of these modes.
Each vendor has a regular mode and an equivalent interoperability mode, which specifically turns off advanced
or proprietary features and provides the product with a standards-compliant implementation.
For more information on configuring interoperability for Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switches, see the Cisco
Note
MDS 9000 Family Switch-to-Switch Interoperability Configuration Guide

About Interop Mode

Cisco NX-OS software supports the following four interop modes:
• Mode 1— Standards-based interop mode that requires all other vendors in the fabric to be in interop
• Mode 2—Brocade native mode (Core PID 0).
• Mode 3—Brocade native mode (Core PID 1).
• Mode 4—McData native mode.
For information about configuring interop modes 2, 3, and 4, see the Cisco MDS 9000 Family Switch-to-Switch
Interoperability Configuration Guide, available at the following location:
storage/san_switches/mds9000/interoperability/guide/intopgd.html
The following table lists the changes in switch operation when you enable interoperability mode. These
changes are specific to Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switches while in interop mode.
Cisco Nexus 5000 Series NX-OS SAN Switching Configuration Guide
188
mode.
Advanced Fibre Channel Features and Concepts
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/
OL-xxxxx-xx