San Routing - Physical Connectivity - McDATA StorageWorks 2/140 - Director Switch Planning Manual

Implementing SAN Internetworking Solutions
4
R_Port Operation To avoid building a large Fibre Channel fabric with its inherent
reconfiguration issues, SAN Routing provides any-to-any
connectivity (to maximize use of common assets across SAN islands),
while retaining the fault isolation characteristics of smaller SANs.
SAN routers also support multiple R_Port compatibility modes,
making it possible to route OEM versions of a vendor switch, direct-
marketed versions of a vendor switch, and switches produced by
different OEMs.
An Eclipse 2640 SAN Router is used to connect multiple Fibre
Channel fabrics within a data center, building, or campus. Figure 4-4
shows the example physical connectivity of Fabric 1 (one switch) and
Fabric 2 (one director and one switch) through the router.

SAN Routing - Physical Connectivity

Figure 4-4
Unlike a conventional Fibre Channel E_Port, a SAN router R_Port
behaves as a virtual one-port edge switch (with a unique Domain_ID)
and terminates Class F traffic at the boundary of the connected fabric.
Class F traffic provides control, coordination, and configuration of
fabrics. Directors and fabric switches use Class F services to transmit
FSPF protocol structures and related link state database information
across ISLs. By terminating Class F traffic at an R_Port, switch-to-
switch protocols are not passed through the router, and disruptive
build fabric events are restricted to each fabric.
Implementing SAN Internetworking Solutions
4-11