Administering Npiv; In This Chapter; Npiv Overview; Fixed Addressing Mode - Brocade Communications Systems 1606 Administrator's Manual

Administering NPIV

In this chapter

NPIV overview

N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) enables a single Fibre Channel protocol port to appear as multiple,
distinct ports, providing separate port identification within the fabric for each operating system
image behind the port (as if each operating system image had its own unique physical port). NPIV
assigns a different virtual port ID to each Fibre Channel protocol device. NPIV is designed to enable
you to allocate virtual addresses without affecting your existing hardware implementation. The
virtual port has the same properties as an N_Port, and is therefore capable of registering with all
services of the fabric.
Each NPIV device has a unique device PID, Port WWN, and Node WWN, and should act the same as
all other physical devices in the fabric; in other words, multiple virtual devices emulated by NPIV
appear no different than regular devices connected to a non-NPIV port. The same zoning rules
apply to NPIV devices as non-NPIV devices. Zones can be defined by domain,port notation, by WWN
zoning, or both. To perform zoning to the granularity of the virtual N_Port IDs, you must use
WWN-based zoning.
If you are using domain,port zoning for an NPIV port, and all the virtual PIDs associated with the
port are included in the zone, then a port login (PLOGI) to a non-existent virtual PID is not blocked
by the switch; rather, it is delivered to the device attached to the NPIV port. In cases where the
device is not capable of handling such unexpected PLOGIs, you should use WWN-based zoning.

Fixed addressing mode

Fixed addressing mode is the default addressing mode used in all platforms that do not have
Virtual Fabrics enabled. When Virtual Fabrics is enabled on the Brocade DCX and DCX-4S, fixed
addressing mode is used only on the default partition. The number of NPIV devices supported on
shared area ports (48-port blades) is reduced to 64 from 128 when Virtual Fabrics mode is
enabled.

10-Bit addressing mode

This is the default mode for all the logical switches created in the Brocade DCX and DCX-4S
enterprise-class platform. The number of NPIV or loop devices supported on a port is 64.
Fabric OS Administrator's Guide
53-1001336-01
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NPIV overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
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Enabling and disabling NPIV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
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Configuring NPIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
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Viewing NPIV port configuration information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
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