6 C-Series Switches And Fabric Rules; C-Series Fibre Channel Switches - HP StorageWorks 4000/6000/8000 - Enterprise Virtual Arrays Reference Manual

6 C-series switches and fabric rules

This chapter describes the C-series Fibre Channel and FCoE switches and the fabric rules for building
C-series fabrics. It describes the following topics:
C-series Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel switch fabric
C-series FCoE CN
Fabric rules for C-series Nexus 5000 Converged Network
NOTE:
See "SAN fabric connectivity and switch interoperability
using switches from the different series in the same SAN or fabric.

C-series Fibre Channel switches

C-series Fibre Channel switches:
Can be core or edge switches. When configured in a core-edge topology, a core switch typically
connects to other switches in the SAN; an edge switch typically connects to servers and storage.
MDS 9506, MDS 9509, and MDS 9513 Director switches can accommodate various Fibre
Channel Switching Modules, IP Storage Services Modules (IPS), a Multiprotocol Services Module,
a Multiservice Module, and a Storage Services Module (SSM).
The 16-port 2 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module is recommended for enterprise-level host
connections, storage connections, and ISL connections.
The 32-port 2 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module uses 3.2:1 internal oversubscription and
is recommended for low- to mid-range host connections and tape device connections.
The 12-port 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module is recommended for high-performance
4 Gb/s enterprise-level host connections, storage connections, and ISL connections.
The 24-port 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module uses 2:1 internal oversubscription across
four 6-port port groups and is recommended for 4 Gb/s enterprise-level mid-range host and
storage connections.
The 48-port 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module uses 4:1 internal oversubscription across
four 12-port port groups and is recommended for 4 Gb/s low-range host connections and
tape devices connections.
The 4-port 10 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module is ideal for ultrahigh-bandwidth ISL
connectivity and inter-data center connection over a metropolitan optical infrastructure.
IPS modules, Multiprotocol Services Modules, and Multiservice Modules provide MDS iSCSI
and FCIP functionality:
IPS-4 and IPS-8 provide 4 and 8 GbE IP ports, respectively.
The 14/2 Multiprotocol Services Module provides 14 2 Gb/s Fibre Channel ports and 2
GbE IP ports.
switches, page 135
rules, page 146
switches, page 151
Switches, page 153
rules" on page 167 for information about
SAN Design Reference Guide 135