Overview; San Switching Overview - Cisco Nexus 6000 Series Configuration Manual

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C H A P T E R

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
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.
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS SAN Switching Configuration Guide, Release 6.x
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