Initiator Presentation Modes - Cisco AP776A - Nexus Converged Network Switch 5020 Configuration Manual

Configuring iSCSI
S e n d d o c u m e n t a t i o n c o m m e n t s t o m d s f e e d b a c k - d o c @ c i s c o . c o m
You can configure the iSCSI initiator identification mode on each IPS port and all the iSCSI hosts
terminating on the IPS port will be identified according to that configuration. The default mode is to
identify the initiator by name.
To specify the initiator identification mode, follow these steps:
Command
Step 1
switch# config t
switch(config)#
Step 2
switch(config)# interface iscsi 4/1
switch(config-if)#
Step 3
switch(config-if)# switchport
initiator id ip-address
switch(config-if)# switchport
initiator id name

Initiator Presentation Modes

Two modes are available to present iSCSI hosts in the Fibre Channel fabric: transparent initiator mode
and proxy initiator mode.
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Enabling proxy initiator mode of an iSCSI interface that is part of an iSLB VRRP group impacts load
Caution
balancing on the interface. See the
Balancing" section on page
The Cisco MDS switches support the following iSCSI session limits:
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If more than five iSCSI sessions try to come up simultaneously on a port, the initiator receives a
Note
temporary error and later retries to create a session.
Cisco MDS 9000 Family CLI Configuration Guide
43-10
node name. A virtual N port is created for each IP address it uses to log in to iSCSI targets. If the
host using one IP address logs in to multiple IPS ports, each IPS port will create one virtual N port
for that IP address.
In transparent initiator mode, each iSCSI host is presented as one virtual Fibre Channel host. The
benefit of transparent mode is it allows a finer level of Fibre Channel access control configuration
(similar to managing a "real" Fibre Channel host). Because of the one-to-one mapping from iSCSI
to Fibre Channel, each host can have different zoning or LUN access control on the Fibre Channel
storage device.
In proxy initiator mode, there is only one virtual Fibre Channel host per one IPS port and all iSCSI
hosts use that to access Fibre Channel targets. In a scenario where the Fibre Channel storage device
requires explicit LUN access control for every host, the static configuration for each iSCSI initiator
can be overwhelming. In this case, using the proxy initiator mode simplifies the configuration.
43-51.
The maximum number of iSCSI sessions on a switch is 5000.
The maximum number of iSCSI sessions per IPS port in transparent initiator mode is 500.
The maximum number of iSCSI sessions per IPS port in proxy initiator mode is 500.
The maximum number of concurrent sessions an IPS port can create is five (but the total number of
sessions that can be supported is 500).
Purpose
Enters configuration mode.
Selects the iSCSI interface on the switch that identifies
all the initiators.
Identifies the iSCSI initiator based on the IP address.
Identifies the iSCSI initiator based on the initiator node
name. This is the default behavior.
"Changing iSCSI Interface Parameters and the Impact on Load
Chapter 43 Configuring iSCSI
OL-18084-01, Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 4.x