In This Chapter; Fabric Health Concepts - Brocade Communications Systems 1606 Administrator's Manual

About Fabric Watch

In this chapter

Fabric health concepts

Fabric health refers to the capability of the fabric to route data. A healthy fabric enables effective
data transmission between networked devices.
One of the more obvious criteria for fabric health is the condition of the network hardware. A switch
or port failure can prevent data packets from reaching their destination. Network traffic can also
influence fabric health.
If the number of packets routed through a port exceeds the port bandwidth, it causes network
delays and packet losses. Environmental conditions can become issues, as network hardware can
fail to function properly when stored in locations that do not meet the environmental conditions for
the device. For example, switches can fail when stored in rooms that are too hot.
Because of the varied factors involved in determining fabric health, Fabric Watch can help you to
detect, identify, and resolve fabric health issues by continuously monitoring possible issues and
reporting any potential concerns. Fabric Watch automatically provides detailed reports on detected
issues and helps you correct failures.
Fabric Watch provides customizable monitoring thresholds. You can configure Fabric Watch to
provide notification before problems arise, such as reporting when network traffic through a port is
approaching the bandwidth limit. This information enables you to perform preemptive network
maintenance such as trunking or zoning and avoid potential network failures.
Fabric Watch Administrator's Guide
53-1001342-01
•
Fabric health concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
•
Fabric Watch overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
•
Fabric Watch alarm notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
•
Fabric Watch event notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
•
Fabric Watch audit messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
•
Data values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
•
Switch policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
•
Port persistence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
•
Port fencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Chapter
1
1