Configuring the E-ports on a Brocade FC switch

On each switch fabric, you must configure the switch ports that connect the Inter-Switch Link (ISL). These ISL ports are otherwise known as the E-ports.

Before you begin

Review the following guidelines before configuring the E-ports:

All ISLs in an FC switch fabric must be configured with the same speed and distance.
The supported speeds are 4 Gbps, 8 Gbps, and 16 Gbps.
The combination of the switch port and SFP must support the speed.
The distance supported can be as far as 200 km, depending on the FC switch model.
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 FOS.
You must not use the L0 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.
You must not use the LD setting when issuing the portCfgLongDistance command when working with xWDM/TDM equipment.
Instead, you should use the LE or LS setting to configure the distance on the Brocade switches.

About this task

This task must be performed for each FC switch fabric.

The following tables show the ISL ports for the different switches and different numbers of ISLs:

Ports for dual ISL configurations (all switches)
FC_switch_x_1 ISL ports	FC_switch_B_1 ports
10	10
11	11

Ports for three or four ISL configurations (Brocade 6505)
FC_switch_A_1 ISL ports	FC_switch_B_1 ports
8	8
9	9
10	10
11	11

Ports for three or four ISL configurations (Brocade 6510)
FC_switch_A_1 ISL ports	FC_switch_B_1 ports
20	20
21	21
22	22
23	23

Steps

Configure the port speed: portcfgspeed port octet_combo
You must use the highest common speed supported by the components in the path.

Example
In the following example, there is one ISL for each fabric:
```
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgspeed 10 16
     
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgspeed 10 16
```
In the following example, there are two ISLs for each fabric:
```
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgspeed 10 16
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgspeed 11 16
     
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgspeed 10 16
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgspeed 11 16
```

If more than one ISL for each fabric is used, enable trunking by issuing the following command for each ISL port: portcfgtrunkport port-number 1

Example

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 10 1
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 11 1
    
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 10 1
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgtrunkport 11 1

Enable QoS traffic by issuing the following command for each of the ISL ports: portcfgqos --enable port-number

Example

In the following example, there is one ISL per switch fabric:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgqos --enable 10

FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgqos --enable 10

Example

In the following example, there are two ISLs per switch fabric:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgqos --enable 10
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfgqos --enable 11
     
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgqos --enable 10
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfgqos --enable 11

Verify the settings using the portCfgShow command.

Example

The following example shows the output for a configuration that uses two ISLs cabled to port 10 and port 11:

 
Ports of Slot 0   0   1   2   3     4   5   6   7    8   9  10  11    12  13  14  15 
----------------+---+---+---+---+-----+---+---+---+----+---+---+---+-----+---+---+---
Speed             AN  AN  AN  AN    AN  AN  8G  AN   AN  AN  16G  16G    AN  AN  AN  AN 
Fill Word         0   0   0   0     0   0   3   0    0   0   3   3     3   0   0   0  
AL_PA Offset 13   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  ..   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  .. 
Trunk Port        ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  ..   ..  ..  ON  ON    ..  ..  ..  .. 
Long Distance     ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  ..   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  .. 
VC Link Init      ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  ..   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  .. 
Locked L_Port     ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  ..   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  .. 
Locked G_Port     ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ON  ..   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  .. 
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  ON  ON   ON  ON  ON  ON    ON  ON  ON  ON 
NPIV PP Limit    126 126 126 126   126 126 126 126  126 126 126 126   126 126 126 126 
QOS E_Port        AE  AE  AE  AE    AE  AE  AE  AE   AE  AE  AE  AE    AE  AE  AE  AE 
Mirror Port       ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  ..   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  .. 
Rate Limit        ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  ..   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  .. 
Credit Recovery   ON  ON  ON  ON    ON  ON  ON  ON   ON  ON  ON  ON    ON  ON  ON  ON 
Fport Buffers     ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  ..   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  .. 
Port Auto Disable ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  ..   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  .. 
CSCTL mode        ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  ..   ..  ..  ..  ..    ..  ..  ..  .. 

Fault Delay       0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0

Calculate the ISL distance.
Due to the behavior of FC-VI, the distance must be set to 1.5 times the real distance with a minimum of 10 (LE).

The distance for the ISL is calculated as follows, rounded up to the next full kilometer:

1.5 x real_distance = distance

Example
The distance is 3 km, then 1.5 x 3km = 4.5. This is lower than 10, so the ISL must be set to LE.

Example
The distance is 20 km, then 1.5 x 20km = 30. The ISL must be set to LS 30.
Set the distance on each ISL port: portcfglongdistance port level vc_link_init distance
A vc_link_init value of 1 uses the ARB fill word (default). A value of 0 uses IDLE. The required value may depend on the link being used. The commands must be repeated for each ISL port.

Example
Because the distance is assumed to be 20 km, the setting is 30 with the default vc_link_init value of 1:
```
FC_switch_A_1:admin> portcfglongdistance 10 LS 1 30
     
FC_switch_B_1:admin> portcfglongdistance 10 LS 1 30
```

Verify the distance setting:portbuffershow

A distance setting of LE appears as 10km.

Example

The following example shows output is a configuration that uses ISLs on port 10 and port 11:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> portbuffershow

User  Port     Lx      Max/Resv    Buffer Needed    Link      Remaining
Port  Type    Mode     Buffers     Usage  Buffers   Distance  Buffers
----  ----    ----     -------     ------ -------   --------- ---------
...
 10     E      -          8         67      67       30km
 11     E      -          8         67      67       30km
...
 23            -          8          0      -        -        466

Verify that both switches form one fabric: switchshow

Example

The following example shows the output for a configuration that uses ISLs on port 10 and port 11:

FC_switch_A_1:admin> switchshow
switchName: FC_switch_A_1
switchType: 71.2
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
===========================================
...
10   10  010C00   id    16G  Online FC  E-Port  10:00:00:05:33:8c:2e:9a "FC_switch_B_1" 
11   11  010B00   id    16G  Online FC  E-Port  10:00:00:05:33:8c:2e:9a "FC_switch_B_1" (upstream)
...

FC_switch_B_1:admin> switchshow
switchName: FC_switch_B_1
switchType: 71.2
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
==============================================
...
10   10  030A00   id    16G  Online  FC  E-Port  10:00:00:05:33:86:89:cb "FC_switch_A_1" 
11   11  030B00   id    16G  Online  FC  E-Port  10:00:00:05:33:86:89:cb "FC_switch_A_1" (downstream)
...

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

Repeat the previous steps for the second FC switch fabric.