Introduction
to Fibre Channel Technologies and SAN Administration
CISCO
switches (MDS 9216, MDS
9509)
What
is Fibre Channel?
Integrated
set of standards; a high speed serial interface; allows SCSI commands to be
transferred over a storage network; allows for multiple protocols over a single
interface such as IP and SCSI; and supports multiple topologies such as point to
point, arbitrated, loop, and switching.
Speed:
two million bytes per second; Distance: Ten kilometers apart.
Switches
versus Hub comparison
Hub
is limited to 127 devices; limited software management; and Bandwidth per device
diminishes with increased connectivity. On the other hand, switches can support
more than 16 million devices; all protocols; and Bandwidth per device doesn’t
diminish by increasing connectivity.
In-band
management and Out-of-band Management
Out-of-band
management provides a connection to the network through a supervisor Module
front panel Ethernet port.
In-band
management provides IP over Fibre Channel (IPFC) to manage the switches.
Type
of Switches – Connectrix MSD 9000 Series Multilayer Swithes:
MDS
9216 (is available in 16, 32, and 48 port configurations with multiple slots
numbering from top – slot 1, slot 2…)
MDS
9509 Multi-layer Director (provide a large data center storage environment and
contains 2 Supervisor Modules)
FC-0
(Defines the data rates; Media; Maximum distance capabilities… Example:
Speed-Media-Transmitter-Distance)
FC-1;
FC-2…
FC-2
(Flow control and Buffering; Buffer credits: the rules of BB_Credit is
performing switch internally and externally.)
WWPN:
World Wide Port Name (Combination of company ID + Symmetrix Serial Number)
Network
Configuration:
HOST
<-------- scsi ---------> STORAGE
Disadvantage
(Speed, Security, one host/port, distance 25 miles)
Advantage
(price)
HOST
<-------- (PLOGI-FLOGI)
HOST
<-------- SWITCH ---------> STORAGE
----------> STORAGE
FLOGI:
is used by an N-Port to determine the presence of a fabric, and then exchange
service parameters.
PLOGI:
Exchange information such as WWPN; flow control; host address; and frame size.
Advantage
(Many host/port, distance 12,500 miles—earth cycle, speed 2Gb/Second, Open
System-FICON, iSCSI, expandability)
What
is zoning?
A
method to separate and segregate conversations in a Fibre Channel environment;
and it can be done by two methods;
-
Port Zoning
-
World Wide Port or Node Name (WWPN recommended by EMC)
HBA
and FA can be a member of more than one zone.
What
is HBA?
Host
Bus Adapter in server devices
What
is FA?
Fibre
Adapter in storage devices
Arbitrator
Loop
Using
(1 to 16 switches) 16,000,000 devices
When
a Fabric is present in the configuration, a Fibre may attach to the following
nodes;
Nodes
N-Port
(Node port) – Creates and receives frames
NL_Port
A Node port within a Loop environment
F-Port
(Fabric port) – a port on the switch
FL_Port
An interconnect between Fabric and a loop
G-Port
(Generic Port) – auto-configures to other port types.
E-Port
(Expansion port-ISL Inter Switch Link; links switches together into larger
fabrics)
QL_Port
QuickLoop port, Brocade specific allows the port to act as a hub
T_Port
Trunk port, Qlogic Specific, same as G_Port
SL_Port
Segmented Loop port, Ancor specific, similar to QL_Port
What
is Domain ID (DID)?
A
unique ID and each switch in a fabric must have a unique Domain ID.
Principal
Switch: Each Fabric can have only one Principal Switch;
FC-id
(Fibre Channel ID)
Tools:
CLI
(Command Line Interpreter)
Fabric
Manager
Device
Manager
VSAN
Manager
EXEC
Mode Commands –or ?
command
|
description
|
command
|
description
|
attach
bios
callhome
cd
clear
clock
config
copy
debug
delete
dir
discover
exit
fcping
fctrace
find
format
init
install
load
mkdir
|
Connect
to a specific linecard
BIOS
related command
Callhome
commands
Change
current directory
Reset
functions
Manage
the system clock
Enter
configuration mode
Copy
from one file to another
Debugging
functions
Remove
files
Directory
listing for files
Discover
information
Exit
from this submode
Ping
an N-Port
Trace
the route for an N-Port.
Find
a file below the current dir.
Format
disks
Initialize
internal disk
Non-disruptive
upgrade for system
Load
system image
Create
new directory
|
move
no
ping
purge
pwd
reload
rmdir
run-script
send
setup
show
sleep
system
tail
telnet
terminal
test
traceroute
undebug
write
zone
|
Move
files
Disable
debugging
Send
echo messages
Deletes
unused data
View
current directory
Reboot
the entire box
Remove
existing directory
Run
shell scripts
Send
message to all open sess
Run
the basic SETUP command
Show
running system information
Sleep
for the specified no of sec.
System
management commands
Display
the last part of a file
Telnet
to another system
Set
terminal line parameters
Test
command
Trace
route to destination
Disable
Debugging functions
Write
current configuration
Execute
Zone Server commands
|
OSI
OLS
Model
SFP
SSFO
DLC
little connection
Classes:
Class
1:
Class
2: Acknowledgement
Class
3: Sent no Acknowledgement
Class
4: Gateway
Class
5:
Class
6:
Class
7:
Class
8:
SAN
Topology
Flow
Control
Pack:
Contains Destination address and Source address
Domain
ID 8-bits (DID- 1, 139 should uniquely identifies switches)
Fibre
Channel ID (Domain ID + Area + PORT #)
BB
(Buffer to buffer credit)
SYMM
ß-
DWDM -> SYMM
SRDF
(Symmetric Remote Data Facility)
TF
(Timefinder)
HBA
– WWPN (World Wide Port Name), WWNN (World Wide Node Name)
Storage
– FA (Fibre Adapter)
OSSM
– Open System Support Matrix
Zoning
Only
One active zone set
Port
Zoning
Node
Zoning
Nt-zone
1ze
2et
Sun-zone
2od
1ew
VCM
- Volume Configuration Manager
PP
- Point to Point
WWN
– World Wide Name
VCMDB
– Volume Configuration manager Database
1ze 1,5,7,6
2wq 2,3,10,12,9
Control
Center Package
SAN
Manager
Merging
Fibre
Expansion
port (E-port)
ISL
- Inter Switch Loop
Switches
Prefer
Subordinate
1
always
254
Default
255
Never
copy
run start (to save the changes)
Good
Luck!
|