Target Aggregation; Access Gateway Cascading; Figure 13 Access Gateway Cascading - Brocade Communications Systems 8 Administrator's Manual

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Target aggregation

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Target aggregation

Access Gateway mode is normally used as host aggregation. In other words, a switch module in AG
mode aggregates traffic from a number of host systems onto a single uplink N_Port. Similarly,
many targets can be aggregated onto to a single uplink N_port. This feature has many applications.
As one example, you can consolidate targets with various lower Fibre Channel speeds (such as1, 2
or 4 Gbps) onto a single high-speed uplink port to the core fabric. This reduces the number of core
fabric ports used by target devices and allows higher scalability.

Access Gateway cascading

Cascading is an advanced configuration supported in Access Gateway mode. You can use
cascading to further increase the ratio of hosts to fabric ports beyond what a single switch model in
AG mode can support.
Access Gateway cascading lets you connect two Access Gateway (AG) switches linking them back to
back. The AG switch that is directly connected to the fabric is referred to as the Core AG. In this
document, the AG switch connected to the device is referred to as the Edge AG.
page 64 illustrates Access Gateway cascading.
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FIGURE 13
AG cascading provides higher over-subscription because it allows you to consolidate the number of
ports going to the main fabric. There is no license requirement to use this feature.
Note the following configuration considerations when cascading Access Gateways:
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Redundant configurations should be maintained so that when hosts and targets fail over or fail
back, they should not get mapped to a single N_Port.
Hosts and targets should be in separate port groups.
Configuration is not enforced.
F_Port
N_Port
F_ Port
F_Port
N_Port
F_ Port

Access Gateway cascading

Only one level of cascading is supported. Note that several Edge AGs can connect into a single
Core AG to support even a higher consolidation ratio.
F_Port
N_Port
F_ Port
Access Gateway Administrator's Guide
Figure 13 on
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