Virtual Fabrics - HP A7533A - Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch Base Release Note

Virtual Fabrics

On VF-capable platforms, the VF feature (initially supported with Fabric OS 6.2.0a) must be enabled
in order to utilize the related capabilities, including logical switches and logical fabrics.
When creating logical fabrics that include switches that are not VF-capable, it is possible to have
two logical switches with different FIDs in the same fabric. Be sure to verify that the FIDs match
for all switches in the same logical fabric.
In order to support nondisruptive HCL on an 8/40 SAN Switch with VF enabled, the total zoning
DB size for the entire chassis should not exceed 1 MB. Otherwise, ports may be re-initialized,
causing frame drops during an HCL if the switch has a zoning database that is 1 MB or larger.
A switch with VF enabled cannot participate in a fabric that uses IP filter or password database
distribution or administrative domains. You must disable the VF feature before deploying it in a
fabric that uses these features.
VF is not supported on the 1606 Extension SAN switch.
VF-dedicated ISLs are supported on the DC SAN Director Switch Multiprotocol Extension Blade.
XISLs are not supported.
On an HP StorageWorks 8/40 SAN switch with Virtual Fabrics enabled, ports may be re-initialized
causing frame drops during a hot code load if the switch has a zoning database that is 1MB or
larger in size. To prevent this from occurring, ensure the zoning database is less than 1MB when
activating new firmware.
Licensing behavior
When operating a switch with Fabric OS 6.3.x, some licenses may be displayed as Unknown. This
is due to changes in licensing requirements for some features that no longer require a license key and
may still be installed on a switch.
Adaptive Networking/flow-based QoS prioritization
When using QoS in a fabric with 4-Gb ports or switches, Fabric OS 6.0 or later must be installed
on all products in order to pass QoS information. E_Ports from the DC SAN Backbone Director
or DC04 SAN Director to other switches must come up after 6.0 is running on those switches.
Flow-based QoS is not supported on any 8-Gb Fibre Channel blades in the 4/256 SAN Director.
Any products that cannot operate with Fabric OS 6.0 cannot exist in a fabric with flow-based
QoS. Major problems occur if previous-generation 2-Gb products exist in the fabric.
Beginning with the Fabric OS 6.2.1 firmware, the default behavior of the Adaptive Networking
QoS feature was changed as follows:
Default QoS behavior is disabled on 4-Gb platforms.
Default QoS behavior is disabled on the Extended Fabrics E_Ports on both 4-Gb and 8-Gb
platforms.
These changes addressed the following unexpected behaviors that occurred when the Adaptive
Networking QoS feature was enabled by default in earlier Fabric OS releases:
Splitting of a single trunk group into multiple trunk groups upon port toggle, since the toggled
ports come online with QoS enabled, while the remaining ports in the trunk group have QoS
disabled.
Fewer buffer credits being made available to normal E_Ports after a port toggle, even when
QoS is not being utilized.
An unexpected change to a fill-word configuration on an Extended Fabrics E_Port after a port
toggle. If an Extended Fabrics E_Port is using IDLE primitives as fill words, and if that port
toggles, the fill-word configuration is changed to use ARB primitives.
HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.3.0c Release Notes 29