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Software Features
S e n d d o c u m e n t a t i o n c o m m e n t s t o m d s f e e d b a c k - d o c @ c i s c o . c o m .
Trunking
Trunking is the term used to refer to an ISL link that carries one or more VSANs. Trunking ports receive
and transmit Enhanced ISL (EISL) frames. EISL frames carry an EISL header containing VSAN
information. Once EISL is enabled on an E port, that port becomes a TE port. The trunking configuration
is saved along with the interface information.
See
PortChannels
PortChannel refers to the aggregation of multiple physical Fibre Channel ports into one logical port to provide
high aggregated bandwidth, load balancing, and link redundancy. Up to 16 physical ports can be aggregated
into a PortChannel. PortChannels can connect to ports across switching or services modules. The failure
of a port in one module does not bring down the logical PortChannel link. Specifically, a PortChannel
does the following:
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See
IP Services
Switches in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family support the following IP services:
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Cisco MDS 9000 Family Configuration Guide
1-8
Chapter 11, "Configuring Interfaces"
Increases the aggregated bandwidth on an ISL or EISL by distributing traffic among all functional
links in the channel.
Load balances across multiple links and maintains optimum bandwidth utilization. Load balancing
is based on a source ID (SID), a destination ID (DID), and optionally an originator exchange ID (OX
ID) which identify the flow of the frame.
Provides high availability on an ISL. If one link fails, traffic previously carried on this link is switched
to the remaining links. If a link goes down in a PortChannel, the upper protocol is not aware of it. To
the upper protocol, the link is still there, although the bandwidth is diminished. The routing tables
are not affected by link failure. PortChannels can contain up to 16 physical links and can span
multiple modules for added high availability.
A protocol to exchange PortChannel configurations is available in all Cisco MDS switches. This
feature simplifies PortChannel management with incompatible ISLs. Autocreation mode enables
ISLs with compatible parameters to automatically form channel groups without manual
intervention.
Chapter 13, "Configuring PortChannels."
IP over Ethernet —These services are limited to management traffic.
IP over Fibre Channel (IPFC)—IPFC (RFC 2625) specifies how IP packets are transported using
encapsulation schemes. By encapsulating IP frames into Fibre Channel frames, management
information is exchanged among switches without requiring a separate Ethernet connection to each
switch. Each switch includes:
Encapsulation for IP and the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) over Fibre Channel.
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Address resolution uses the ARP server.
IP routing services—These services include:
Ethernet or TCP/IP connection.
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Static IP routing services to enable management traffic between VSANs.
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and
Chapter 12, "Configuring Trunking."
OL-6973-03, Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release 2.x
Chapter 1
Product Overview
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