N_Port Id Virtualization (Npiv) - Qlogic Fibre Channel NPIV Storage Networking Guide Manual

1-Introduction

N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV)

This document focuses on NPIV SAN migration.
N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV)
N_Port ID Virtualization, or NPIV, is a Fibre Channel technology that allows
multiple N_Port IDs to share a single physical N_Port. N_Port sharing allows
multiple Fibre Channel initiators to utilize a single physical port, reducing
hardware requirements in SAN design, especially where virtual SANs are used.
NPIV is defined by the Technical Committee T11 within the INCITS standards
body.
NPIV allows end users to effectively virtualize the Fibre Channel adapter
functionality such that each virtual machine (VM) running on a server can share a
single adapter, and still have independent access to its own protected storage.
NPIV allows a single physical Fibre Channel adapter port to function as multiple
logical ports, each with its own world wide port name (WWPN), as shown in
N_Port ID Virtualization. In this figure, a physical host bus adapter port with its
unique WWPN also has associated virtualized N ports, each with their unique
WWPN (designated as ‗vWWPN' for clarity).
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Figure 1-1. N_Port ID Virtualization