HP StorageWorks 1606 - Extension SAN Switch Release Note page 34

trunking with Extended Fabrics, FOS 6.2.x and later has been enhanced to support interoperability
with these distance extension devices.
FOS 6.3.0 and later 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
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 FOS 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 the buffer-to-buffer credit recovery feature
using the portcfgcreditrecovery command 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 –disable <port>
portcfglongdistance <port><LD|LD>0<distance>
The fabric parameter fabric.ops.mode.longdistance is now deprecated and should not be
used.
8-Gb link initialization and fill words
This section describes the portCfgfillWord command that was first introduced in FOS 6.1.2 and
6.2.0d.
Overview
The Fibre Channel 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 a data rate of 800 MB/s. The previous implementation by Brocade
was to use Idles for link initialization 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(FF)/ARB(FF) implementation.
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