Access Gateway Port Types; Comparison Of Access Gateway Ports To Standard Switch Ports - Brocade Communications Systems A7533A - Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch Base Administrator's Manual

Access Gateway port types

Access Gateway differs from a typical fabric switch because it is not a switch; instead, it is a mode
that you enable on a switch using the ag command. After a switch is set in ag mode, it can connect
to the fabric using node ports (N_Ports). Typically fabric switches connect to the Enterprise fabric
using ISL (InterSwitch Link) ports, such as E_Ports.
Following are the Fibre Channel (FC) ports that AG uses:

Comparison of Access Gateway ports to standard switch ports

Access Gateway multiplexes host connections to the fabric. It presents an F_Port to the host and an
N_Port to an edge fabric switch. Using N_Port ID virtualization (NPIV), AG allows multiple FC
initiators to access the SAN on the same physical port. This reduces the hardware requirements
and management overhead of hosts to the SAN connections.
A fabric switch presents F_Ports (or FL_Ports) and storage devices to the host and presents
E_Ports, VE_Ports, or EX_Ports to other switches in the fabric. A fabric switch consumes SAN
resources, such as domain IDs, and participates in fabric management and zoning distribution. A
fabric switch requires more physical ports than AG to connect the same number of hosts.
Figure 2
that a standard fabric switch uses.
FIGURE 2
Access Gateway Administrator's Guide
53-1000605-02
•
F_Port - fabric port that connects a host, HBA, or storage device to a switch in AG mode.
•
N_Port - node port that connects a switch in AG mode to the F_Port of the fabric switch.
shows a comparison of the types of ports a switch in AG mode uses to the type of ports
Switch in AG mode
Hosts
N_Port
N_Port F_Port
Hosts
N_Port
N_Port
Port usage comparison
Access Gateway Ports
Edge Switch
F_Port
F_Port
N_Port
NPIV
enabled
Fabric Switch Ports
Switch in standard
Fabric Switch
default mode
F_Port E_Port E_Port
E_Port
F_Port
E_Port

Access Gateway port types

Fabric
Fabric
1
3