Basic Connections; Device Connection; Switch Connection - Brocade Communications Systems 53-1001763-02 Administrator's Manual

Basic connections

Before connecting a switch to a fabric that contains switches running different firmware versions,
you must first set the same PID format on all switches. The presence of different PID formats in a
fabric causes fabric segmentation.
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Device connection

To minimize port logins, power off all devices before connecting them to the switch. When powering
the devices back on, wait for each device to complete the fabric login before powering on the next
one.
For devices that cannot be powered off, first use the portDisable command to disable the port on
the switch, connect the device, and then use the portEnable command to enable the port.

Switch connection

See the hardware user's guide of your specific switch for interswitch link (ISL) connection and cable
management information. The standard or default ISL mode is L0. ISL Mode L0 is a static mode,
with the following maximum ISL distances:
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For more information on extended ISL modes, which enable long distance interswitch links, see
Chapter 20, "Managing Long Distance
Fabric OS Administrator's Guide
53-1001763-02
For information on PID formats and related procedures, see
Configuration Tasks".
For information on configuring the routing of connections, see
For information on configuring extended interswitch connections, see
Distance Fabrics" on page 441.
10 km at 1 Gbps
5 km at 2 Gbps
2.5 km at 4 Gbps
1 km at 8 Gbps
Fabrics".

Basic connections

Chapter 3, "Performing Advanced
"Routing Traffic" on page 63.
"Managing Long
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