IBM V7000 Introduction And Implementation Manual page 528

Figure 11-52 shows the Advanced Switch Properties window, where there is an option to
enable Transparent Mode.
Figure 11-52 Advanced Switch Properties Box
With the mouse, click the Transparent Mode check box as shown and click OK to complete.
As a switch default Transparent Mode is not enabled, if required, the previous procedure will
be required.
N_Port ID Virtualization
In Transparent Mode the FC3171 8Gb SAN Switch becomes a gateway device on FC SAN.
A gateway device that uses NPIV technology might be referred to by various names, including
NPort concentrator, NPort Aggregator, or NPIV Gateway. Vendors also use many terms to
refer to such gateways. For example, Cisco uses the term N_Port Virtualization (NPV),
Brocade uses the term Access Gateway, and QLogic uses the term Transparent Mode.
The gateway device employs N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) technology which is used in
traditional Fibre Channel networks to reduce the number of domains in the overall fabric. The
number of FC switches (domains) that can join a single fabric has a theoretical limit of around
250. It also has practical limit generally in the range 50-75. The recommended limits vary by
vendor.
In Transparent Mode on the edge of an FC SAN fabric, NPIV is used to allow the FC3171 8Gb
SAN Switch to appear as a switch (F_Port) to the storage nodes. It will also appear as a node
(N_Port) to the external FC switch to which it connects, acting as "concentrator" for multiple
N_Port storage nodes. The FC3171 8Gb SAN Switch will allow the attachment of multiple
N_Ports of storage nodes, but does not use a domain in the external FC fabric.
Using Transparent Mode and NPIV, any interoperability issues are overcome when merging
external SAN switches from different vendors to the IBM Flex System Enterprise Chassis
switch module. Also, there is the benefit of easy management, as the FC3171 8Gb SAN
Switch becomes a node in the external FC SAN fabric.
The Transparent Mode option will only be considered when connecting the FC3171 8Gb SAN
Switch to an external SAN fabric, as previously mentioned, it will be used for IBM Flex System
V7000 Storage Node to connect and manage external storage controllers. Another option is
to use the IBM Flex System FC3171 8Gb SAN Pass-thru switch which does not have full
switch functionality and operates as a gateway device only using NPIV.
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IBM Flex System V7000 Storage Node Introduction and Implementation Guide