Connecting To Other Switches; Linking Through A Gateway - HP A7533A - Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch Base Administrator's Manual

the device. When powering the devices back on, wait for each device to complete the fabric login before
powering on the next one.

Connecting to other switches

See the hardware reference guide for your specific switch for interswitch link (ISL) connection and cable
management information. The standard or default ISL mode is L0. ISL Mode L0 is a static mode, with the
following maximum ISL distances:
• 10 km at 1 Gbps
• 5 km at 2 Gbps
• 2.5 km at 4 Gbps
• 1.25 km at 8 Gbps
ISL mode L0 is available on all Fabric OS releases. When you upgrade from Fabric OS 5.3.0 to Fabric 6.x
or later, all extended ISL ports are set automatically to L0 mode.
For information on extended ISL modes, which enable longer distance interswitch links, see
extended fabrics" on page 359.

Linking through a gateway

A gateway merges SANs into a single fabric by establishing point-to-point E_Port connectivity between two
Fibre Channel switches that are separated by a network with a protocol such as IP or SONET.
Except for link initialization, gateways are transparent to switches; the gateway simply provides E_Port
connectivity from one switch to another.
By default, switch ports initialize links using the Exchange Link Parameters (ELP) mode 1. However,
gateways expect initialization with ELP mode 2, also referred to as ISL R_RDY mode. Therefore, to enable
two switches to link through a gateway, the ports on both switches must be set for ELP mode 2.
Any number of E_Ports in a fabric can be configured for gateway links, provided the following rules
are followed:
• All switches in the fabric must be upgraded to Fabric OS 5.2.0 or later.
• All switches in the fabric are using the core PID format.
• The switches connected to both sides of the gateway are included when determining switch count
maximums.
• Extended links (those created using the Extended Fabrics licensed feature) and the security features if
you are running a Fabric OS version earlier than 6.x in Secure Fabric OS are not supported through
gateway links.
To configure a link through a gateway:
1. If you are not sure if the PID format is consistent across the entire fabric, issue the configShow
command on all switches to check the PID setting. If necessary, change the PID format on any
nonconforming switches, as described in
2. Connect to the switch on one end of the gateway and log in using an admin account.
3. Issue the portCfgIslMode command that is appropriate for your hardware model:
4/8 SAN Switch and 4/16 SAN Switch, 8/8 SAN Switch, 8/24 SAN Switch, 8/40 SAN Switch,
8/80 SAN Switch, Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch for HP p-Class BladeSystem, Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch
for HP c-Class BladeSystem, SAN Switch 4/32, 4/64 SAN Switch, SAN Switch 4/32B, 400
Multi-protocol Router, 4/256 SAN Director and DC SAN Backbone Director:
portCfgIslMode <port, mode>
Specify a port number. Valid values for port number vary depending on the switch type. The mode
operand is required: specify 1 to enable ISL R_RDY mode (gateway link) or specify 0 to disable it.
4/256 SAN Director and DC SAN Backbone Director (short name, DC Director):
portCfgIslMode <slot/port, mode>
46 Standard features
"Configuring the PID format" on page 451.
"Administering