Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Nx-Os San Switching Configuration Guide, Release 5.2(1)N1(1 - Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Configuration Manual

Configuring Fibre Channel Interfaces
The VF port support over 10G-FEX interfaces feature is supported only in Cisco Nexus Fabric Extender
straight-through topologies where each Fabric Extender is directly connected to a Cisco Nexus device.
VE Ports
A virtual E port (VE port) is a port that emulates an E port over a non-Fibre Channel link. VE port connectivity
between Fibre Channel Forwarders (FCFs) is supported over point-to-point links. These links can be individual
Ethernet interfaces or members of an Ethernet port-channel interface. For each of the FCF connected Ethernet
interfaces you must create and bind an vFC interface to the Ethernet interface. Configure vFC interfaces as
VE ports by using the switchport mode e command in interface mode.
VE ports have the following guidelines:
• Auto mode on the vFC is not supported.
• VE Port trunking is supported over FCoE-enabled VLANs.
• VE Port interface binding to MAC addresses is not supported.
• By default the VE Port is enabled for trunk mode.
You can configure multiple VSANs on the VE port. You must configure the FCoE VLANs that correspond
to the VE port's VSANs on the bound Ethernet interface.
• The Spanning Tree Protocol is disabled on the FCoE VLANs on any interface that a vFC interface is
bound to, which includes the interfaces that the VE ports are bound to.
The number of VE port pairs that can be supported between a given FCF and a peer FCF depends on the
FCF-MAC advertising capability of the peer FCF:
• If a peer FCF advertises the same FCF-MAC address over all its interfaces, the FCF can connect to it
over one VE port. In such a topology, we recommended that you use one port-channel interface for
redundancy.
• If a peer FCF advertises multiple FCF-MAC addresses, the limits in the table apply.
VE Ports in a vPC Topology
VE ports in a vPC topology have the following guidelines:
• Dedicated links are required for FCoE VLANs between FCFs connected over a vPC for LAN traffic.
• FCoE VLANs must not be configured on the inter-switch vPC interfaces.
FSPF Parameters
FSPF operates on a per-VSAN basis over a VE port once it is brought up on the VSAN. The default FSPF
cost (metric) of the vFC interface is as per 10-Gbps bandwidth. For VE ports that are bound to Ethernet port
channels, the cost is adjusted based on the number of operational member ports.
VE Port Configuration Limits
VNP Ports
Connectivity from an FCoE NPV bridge to the FCF is only supported over point-to-point links. These links
can be individual Ethernet interfaces or members of an Ethernet port channel interface. For each FCF connected
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Cisco Nexus 5000 Series NX-OS SAN Switching Configuration Guide, Release 5.2(1)N1(1)

Information About Fibre Channel Interfaces
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