Configuring E-ports on Brocade FC switches using FC ports

Notes from the NetAppONTAP 9 ‘Fabric-attached MetroCluster Installation and Configuration Guide’

For Brocade switches on which the Inter-Switch Links (ISL) are configured using FC ports, you must configure the switch ports on each switch fabric that connect the ISL. These ISL ports are also known as E-ports.

Before you begin

- All of the ISLs in an FC switch fabric must be configured with the same speed and distance.
- The combination of the switch port and small form-factor pluggable (SFP) must support the speed.
- The supported ISL distance depends on the FC switch model (see the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool).
- The ISL link must have a dedicated lambda, and the link must be supported by Brocade for the distance, switch type, and Fabric Operating System (FOS).

About this task

You must not use the L0 or LD setting when issuing the portCfgLongDistance command. Instead, you should use the LE or LS setting to configure the distance on the Brocade switches with a minimum of LE distance level.

Example: ISL Ports for Brocade 6510
ISL port 1 40
ISL port 2 41
ISL port 3 42
ISL port 4 43
ISL port 5 44
ISL port 6 45
ISL port 7 46
ISL port 8 47

In the following Steps our examples have 2 x ISLs in each fabric on ports 40 & 41.

Steps

1. Configure the port speed:

You must use the highest common speed that is supported by the components in the path. Example for 2 x ISLs for each fabric running at 4G:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgspeed 40 4
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgspeed 41 4
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgspeed 40 4
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgspeed 41 4

2. Configure the trunking mode for each ISL:

If you are configuring the ISLs for trunking (IOD), set the portcfgtrunk port-number port-number to 1 as shown in the following example:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 40 1
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 41 1
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 40 1
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 41 1

If you do not want to configure the ISL for trunking (OOD), set portcfgtrunk portnumber to 0 as shown in the following example:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 40 0
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 41 0
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 40 0
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 41 0

3. Enable QoS traffic for each of the ISL ports:

Example:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgqos --enable 40
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgqos --enable 41
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgqos --enable 40
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgqos --enable 41

4. Verify the settings:

portCfgShow

Example: The following example shows the output for a configuration that uses two ISLs cabled to port 40 and port 41. The Trunk Port setting should be ON for IOD and OFF for OOD:

Ports of Slot       38  39  40  41  42  43
-------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---
Speed               AN  AN  4G  4G  AN  AN
Fill Word           0   0   0   0   0   0 
AL_PA Offset 13     ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
Trunk Port          ..  ..  ON  ON  ..  ..
Long Distance       ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
VC Link Init        ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
Locked L_Port       ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
Locked G_Port       ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
Disabled E_Port     ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
Locked E_Port       ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
ISL R_RDY Mode      ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
RSCN Suppressed     ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
Persistent Disable  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
LOS TOV enable      ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
NPIV capability     ON  ON  ON  ON  ON  ON
NPIV PP Limit       126 126 126 126 126 126
QOS E_Port          AE  AE  AE  AE  AE  AE
Mirror Port         ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
Rate Limit          ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
Credit Recovery     ON  ON  ON  ON  ON  ON
Fport Buffers       ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
Port Auto Disable   ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
CSCTL mode          ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..
Fault Delay         0   0   0   0   0   0 

5. Calculate the ISL distance.

Because of the behavior of FC-VI, the distance must be set to 1.5 times the real distance with a minimum distance of 10 km (using the LE distance level).
The distance for the ISL is calculated as follows, rounded up to the next full kilometer:

1.5 × real_distance = distance

Example:
If the distance is 3 km, then 1.5 × 3 km = 4.5 km. This is lower than 10 km, so the ISL must be set to the LE distance level.
If the distance is 20 km, then 1.5 × 20 km = 30 km. The ISL must be set to 30 km and must use the LS distance level.

6. Set the distance on each ISL port:

portcfglongdistance port distance-level vc_link_init distance

A vc_link_init value of:
- 1 uses the ARB fill word (default)
- uses IDLE

For an ISL distance of 3 km, as given in the example in the previous step, the setting is 4.5 km with the default vc_link_init value of 1. Because a setting of 4.5 km is lower than 10 km, the port needs to be set to the LE distance level:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfglongdistance 40 LE 1
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfglongdistance 41 LE 1
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfglongdistance 40 LE 1
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfglongdistance 41 LE 1

For an ISL distance of 20 km, as given in the example in the previous step, the setting is 30 km with the default vc_link_init value of 1:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfglongdistance 40 LS 1 -distance 30
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfglongdistance 41 LS 1 -distance 30
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfglongdistance 40 LS 1 -distance 30
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfglongdistance 41 LS 1 -distance 30

7. Verify the distance setting:

portbuffershow

Example: The following example shows the output for a configuration that uses ISLs on port 40 and port 41.

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portbuffershow
User Port Lx   Max/Resv Buffer Needed  Link
Port Type Mode Buffers  Usage  Buffers Distance
---- ---- ---- -------- ------ ------- --------
40   E    -    8       67     67      30km
41   E    -    8       67     67      30km

8. Verify that both switches form one fabric:

switchshow

FC_switch_A_1:admin> switchshow
switchName: FC_switch_A_1
switchType: 109.1
switchState:Online
switchMode: Native
switchRole: Subordinate
switchDomain: 5
switchId: fffc01
switchWwn: 10:00:00:05:33:86:89:cb
zoning: OFF
switchBeacon: OFF
Index Port Address Media Speed State Proto
===========================================
40 40 010C00 id 16G Online FC LE E-Port 10:00:00:05:33:8c:2e:9a "FC_switch_B_1" (downstream)(trunk master)
41 41 010D00 id 16G Online FC LE E-Port (Trunk port, master is Port 40)

FC_switch_B_1:admin> switchshow
switchName: FC_switch_B_1
switchType: 109.1
switchState:Online
switchMode: Native
switchRole: Principal
switchDomain: 7
switchId: fffc03
switchWwn: 10:00:00:05:33:8c:2e:9a
zoning: OFF
switchBeacon: OFF
Index Port Address Media Speed State Proto
==============================================
40 40 030C00 id 16G Online FC LE E-Port 10:00:00:05:33:86:89:cb "FC_switch_A_1" (downstream)(Trunk master)
41 41 030D00 id 16G Online FC LE E-Port (Trunk port, master is Port 40)

9. Confirm the configuration of the fabrics:

fabricshow

Example
FC_switch_A_1:admin> fabricshow
Switch ID Worldwide Name Enet IP Addr FC IP Addr Name
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1: fffc01 10:00:00:05:33:86:89:cb 10.10.10.55 0.0.0.0 "FC_switch_A_1"
3: fffc03 10:00:00:05:33:8c:2e:9a 10.10.10.65 0.0.0.0 >"FC_switch_B_1"
FC_switch_B_1:admin> fabricshow
Switch ID Worldwide Name Enet IP Addr FC IP Addr Name
----------------------------------------------------------------
1: fffc01 10:00:00:05:33:86:89:cb 10.10.10.55 0.0.0.0 "FC_switch_A_1"
3: fffc03 10:00:00:05:33:8c:2e:9a 10.10.10.65 0.0.0.0 >"FC_switch_B_1

10. Confirm the trunking of the ISLs:

trunkshow

If you are configuring the ISLs for trunking (IOD), you should see output similar to the following:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> trunkshow
1: 40-> 40 10:00:00:05:33:ac:2b:13 3 deskew 15 MASTER
41-> 41 10:00:00:05:33:8c:2e:9a 3 deskew 16
FC_switch_B_1:admin> trunkshow
86 | Fabric-attached MetroCluster Installation and Configuration Guide
1: 40-> 40 10:00:00:05:33:86:89:cb 3 deskew 15 MASTER
41-> 41 10:00:00:05:33:86:89:cb 3 deskew 16

If you are not configuring the ISLs for trunking (OOD), you should see output similar to the following:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> trunkshow
1: 40-> 40 10:00:00:05:33:ac:2b:13 3 deskew 15 MASTER
2: 41-> 41 10:00:00:05:33:8c:2e:9a 3 deskew 16 MASTER
FC_switch_B_1:admin> trunkshow
1: 40-> 40 10:00:00:05:33:86:89:cb 3 deskew 15 MASTER
2: 41-> 41 10:00:00:05:33:86:89:cb 3 deskew 16 MASTER

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