Fabric Watch - HP A7533A - Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch Base Release Note

Fabric Watch

Core Blade status reporting modification
Fabric Watch has been modified so that Core blade status reporting matches CP blade reporting,
rather than status reported by port blades.
Table 6 Fabric Watch Blade Status reporting
FE Area
CP
Core blade
Port blade
NOTE:
If any type of blade goes to a faulty state, the switch/blade state will be marginal.
Port Fencing
When the Port Fencing trigger threshold is exceeded for ITW, LR, or CRC errors, the first set of
errors detected on an active link that meet the custom high threshold level set by the user (or the
default threshold level) is always ignored to account for expected link transition errors. The port
is disabled only upon detection of a second set of errors; that is, the next time the user-set threshold
level (or default threshold level) is reached. This prevents a port from being disabled due to normal
link transition behaviors.
When using the Port Fencing feature, you must first run the fwalarmsfilterset command.
This command enables the port and allows you to receive Port Fencing messages.
Port Fencing can be inadvertently disabled from Web Tools. This occurs when you first open the
Fabric Watch configuration window and then select the SNMP Trap check box in the Above row.
Making this change in Web Tools disables Port Fencing. If this happens, you must re-enable the
Port Fencing bit from the CLI. The Port Fencing feature is not supported for Loss of Sync (LOS) and
Link Failure (LF) areas of Port/F-port/E-port classes.
Extended Fabrics and R_RDY flow control
Starting with Fabric OS 5.1, the Extended Fabrics feature is supported with R_RDY flow control
(R_RDY flow control mode can be enabled using the portCfgISLMode command). R_RDY flow
control mode that uses IDLE primitives does not support frame-based trunking for devices such as
Time Division Multiplexor (TDM). To overcome this limitation and provide support for frame-based
trunking with Extended Fabrics, Fabric OS 6.2.x has been enhanced to support interoperability
with these distance extension devices.
Fabric OS 6.2.x allows Extended Fabrics E_Ports to operate in VC_RDY mode using either ARB
or IDLE primitives as fill words. This allows frame-based trunking to be supported on Extended
26
Table 6
Threshold
Original behavior if one
blade is absent or off
Down Marginal
Switch/Standby CP state
0 1
will be marginal.
Switch/Core Blade state
0 1
will be healthy.
Switch/Blade state will
0 1
be healthy.
shows the changes.
New behavior if one blade is
absent or off
No change.
Switch/Core Blade state will
be marginal.
No change.