Ag Mode Considerations; Ag Mode Connectivity Guidelines; Access Gateway With Dual Redundant Fabrics - HP StorageWorks 4000/6000/8000 - Enterprise Virtual Arrays Reference Manual

AG mode considerations

AG mode considerations follow:
Ability to connect B-, C-, and M-series fabrics without interoperability constraints (see the release
notes for support information)
Flexible licensing option (12 or 24 ports, with a 12-port upgrade option on the 12-port model)
Ability to use in either switch mode or AG mode (cannot function in both modes simultaneously,
software selectable)
Share Fabric OS with B-series switches
Port failover between N_Ports (uplinks)
Reduces the number of cables and SFPs compared to a Pass-thru solution
No SAN management from the BladeSystem enclosure once the initial connections have been
configured
No direct storage attachment (requires at least one external Fibre Channel switch)
Lacks Fibre Channel embedded switch features (ISL Trunking, dynamic path selection, and extended
distances) with external links from AG to core switches
Managed separately from the BladeSystem, but if used with B-series switches, uses common Fabric
OS
Cannot move servers without impacting the SAN (Virtual Connect feature not available)

AG mode connectivity guidelines

AG-based solutions are best suited for B-series-only fabrics where you want multivendor switch
interoperability through N_Ports instead of E_Ports.
fabrics.
Blade
enclosure
with
16 servers
FC Fabric (B-, C-, or M-series)
(with NPIV F_Port support)
Figure 50 Access Gateway with dual redundant fabrics
.
NOTE:
The N_Ports in
Configuration highlights for
Access Gateway
N_Ports (NPIV) (uplinks)
Figure 50 are not host N_Ports and cannot be connected directly to storage.
Figure 50
Figure 50
Access Gateway -
FC Fabric (B-, C-, or M-series)
(with NPIV F_Port support)
include:
shows an AG with dual redundant
Blade
enclosure/
Server
management
SAN/
Storage
management
25317b
SAN Design Reference Guide 191