HP A7533A - Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch Base Release Note page 27

Fabrics E_Ports even when IDLE primitives are configured for these ports when operating in native
VC_RDY mode. Prior to this change, frame-based trunking was supported only when ARB primitives
were used in VC_RDY mode. With Fabric OS 6.2.x, frame-based Trunking is supported on Extended
Fabrics E_Ports even if IDLE or ARB primitives are used when operating in native VC_RDY mode.
Implementation
The portcfglongdistance CLI parameter VC Translation Link Init is now overloaded
to specify whether the long distance link should use IDLE or ARB primitives. By default vc_init is enabled.
When vc_init is enabled, the long distance link uses ARB primitives. When vc_init is disabled, the
link uses IDLE primitives.
The buffer-to-buffer credit recovery feature is not supported on Extended Fabrics E_Port when it is
configured to use IDLE primitives. The user must disable buffer-to-buffer credit recovery feature using
the command portcfgcreditrecovery and specifying the disable option; otherwise, the link will
continuously reset.
The Adaptive Networking SID/DID Traffic Prioritization QoS feature is not supported on Extended
Fabrics E_Ports when IDLE primitives are configured on these ports. In this mode only data virtual
channels are available when QoS related virtual channels are not available.
When connecting to an extension device that does not support ARB primitives (such as some TDM
products), the following configuration must be used:
portcfgqos -disable <port>
portcfgcreditrecovery
portcfglongdistance <port><LD|LD>0<distance>
The fabric parameter fabric.ops.mode.longdistance is now deprecated and should not be
used.
8-Gb Link Init and fill words
This section describes the new portCfgfillWord command.
Overview
The FC Physical Interfaces (FC-PI) standard defines the requirements for a physical layer. It considers
all aspects of transmit, receive, and cable-plant performance requirements for optical and electrical
links. The FC-PI standard has been modified to support new physical-layer variants that operate at
higher data rates than those specified in FC-PI-2. The standard enables interoperability of transmitter
devices, receiver devices, interconnects, and components from different manufacturers. New variants
include support for an 800 MB/s data rate. The previous implementation by Brocade was to use IDLE
for Link Init and as fill words, which works for 1-Gb, 2-Gb, 4-Gb, and most 8-Gb devices. However,
some of the new 8-Gb devices have problems with the IDLE/IDLE sequence at 8 Gb. 8-Gb switches,
HBAs, and smaller mid-range 8-Gb storage devices are using the IDLE/IDLE sequences without any
problems. Some of the new 8-Gb devices require that the ARB (FF)/ARB (FF) sequence have successful
Link Initialization. Brocade has developed an implementation of ARB (FF)/ARB (FF) for initialization
and fill words. The portcfgfillword command configures the ARB/ARB implementation.
portCfgFillWord command
The portCfgFillWord command configures the fill word for a single 8-Gb FC port.
Syntax: portcfgfillword [slotnumber/]portnumber, mode
disable <port>
HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.2.2a Release Notes 27