Fcoe Requirements - Lenovo Flex System Fabric CN4093 Application Manual

FCoE Requirements

© Copyright Lenovo 2015
For the FCoE portion of the network, the internal FCF is connected to a blade
server (running Fibre Channel applications) through an FCoE‐enabled Converged
Network Adapter (CNA) known in Fibre Channel as an Ethernet Node (ENode).
Note: The figure also shows a non-FCoE LAN server connected to the CN4093
using a CNA. This allows the LAN server to take advantage of some CEE features
that are useful even outside of an FCoE environment.
In order to block undesired or unvalidated traffic on FCoE links that exists outside
the regular Fibre Channel topology, Ethernet ports used in FCoE are configured
with Access Control Lists (ACLs) that are narrowly tailored to permit expected
FCoE traffic to and from confirmed FCFs and ENodes, and deny all other FCoE or
FIP traffic. This ensures that all FCoE traffic to an from the ENode passes through
the FCF.
Because manual ACL configuration is an administratively complex task, the
CN4093 can automatically and dynamically configure the ACLs required for use
with FCoE. Using FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) snooping (see "FCoE
Initialization Protocol Snooping" on page
frames normally exchanged between the FCF and ENodes to determine
information about connected FCoE devices. This information is used to
automatically determine the appropriate ACLs required to block certain types of
undesired or unvalidated FCoE traffic.
Automatic FCoE‐related ACLs are independent from ACLs used for typical
Ethernet purposes.
The following are required for implementing FCoE using the Lenovo Flex System
Fabric CN4093 10Gb Converged Scalable Switch (CN4093) with N/ OS 8.2
software:
 The CN4093 must be connected to the Fibre Channel network using the switch's
built‐in Fibre Channel features (see "Fibre Channel" on page
FCF device such as another CN4093 switch or a Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch.
 For each CN4093 internal port participating in FCoE, the connected blade server
must use the supported FCoE CNA. Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapters (VFAs) for
Lenovo Flex System, which includes vNIC support, is currently a supported.
 For each CN4093 internal port participating in FCoE, the connected blade server
must include the appropriate FCoE licenses installed, as obtained using the
Lenovo website Features on Demand (FoD) service. Contact your sales represen‐
tative for more information on obtaining server feature licenses.
CEE must be turned on (see "Turning CEE On or Off" on page

on, the DCBX, PFC, and ETS features are enabled and configured with default
FCoE settings. These features may be reconfigured, but must remain enabled in
order for FCoE to function.
FIP snooping must be turned on (see "FCoE Initialization Protocol Snooping" on

page 268). When FIP snooping is turned on, the feature is enabled on all ports by
default. The administrator can disable FIP snooping on individual ports that do
not require FCoE, but FIP snooping must remain enabled on all FCoE ports in
order for FCoE to function.
268), the CN4093 examines the FIP
291), or an external
265). When CEE is
Chapter 18: FCoE and CEE
263