Fibre Channel Port Configuration; Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop Configuration - HP StorageWorks N1200 User Manual

Configuration Overview

Fibre Channel Port Configuration

By default, the configuration of the Fibre Channel ports is set to N_Port, forcing
the router to configure as an Arbitrated Loop.
Note:
port speed must be manually set, such as for 2 Gbps. If set incorrectly and the router is plugged
into a Loop or Fabric, the unit may receive framing errors because of the incorrect Fibre
Channel link speed.

Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop Configuration

On a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop, each device appears as an Arbitrated Loop
Physical Address (AL_PA). To obtain an AL_PA, two methods can be used:
Soft addressing is the default setting.
Soft Addressing
During soft addressing, the router automatically acquires the first available loop
address, starting from 01 and moving up to EF. The router may participate on the
Fibre Channel loop as long as there is at least one address available on the loop
connected to the router. Fibre Channel supports up to 126 devices on an
Arbitrated Loop.
Hard Addressing
During hard addressing, the router attempts to acquire the AL_PA value specified
in the configuration settings. If the desired address is not available at loop
initialization time, the router negotiates the next available soft address. This
allows both the loop and the router to continue to operate.
Hard addressing is recommended for Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop
environments where it is important that the Fibre Channel device addresses do not
change. Device address changes can affect the mapping represented by the host
operating system to the application, and have adverse effects. An example is tape
library installation, where the application configuration requires fixed device
identification for proper operation.
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By default, the Fibre Channel port speed is set to 1 Gbps. Changes to the Fibre Channel
Soft Addressing
Hard Addressing
Network Storage Router N1200 User Guide