HP 1606 HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.3.2b Release Notes (5697-0777, November 20 - Page 30
Implementation, 8-Gb link initialization and fill words, Overview
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with Extended Fabrics, Fabric OS 6.2.x and later has been enhanced to support interoperability with these distance extension devices. Fabric OS 6.3.0 and later allows Extended Fabrics E_Ports to operate in VC_RDY mode using either ARB or IDLE primitives as fill words. This allows frame-based trunking to be supported on Extended Fabrics E_Ports even when IDLE primitives are configured for these ports when operating in native VC_RDY mode. Prior to this change, frame-based trunking was supported only when ARB primitives were used in VC_RDY mode. With Fabric OS 6.2.x, frame-based trunking is supported on Extended Fabrics E_Ports even if IDLE or ARB primitives are used when operating in native VC_RDY mode. Implementation The portcfglongdistance CLI parameter VC Translation Link Init is now overloaded to specify whether the long-distance link should use IDLE or ARB primitives. By default vc_init is enabled. When vc_init is enabled, the long-distance link uses ARB primitives. When vc_init is disabled, the link uses IDLE primitives. The buffer-to-buffer credit recovery feature is not supported on Extended Fabrics E_Port when it is configured to use IDLE primitives. The user must disable the buffer-to-buffer credit recovery feature using the portcfgcreditrecovery command and specifying the disable option; otherwise, the link will continuously reset. The Adaptive Networking SID/DID Traffic Prioritization QoS feature is not supported on Extended Fabrics E_Ports when IDLE primitives are configured on these ports. In this mode, only data virtual channels are available when QoS-related virtual channels are not available. When connecting to an extension device that does not support ARB primitives (such as some TDM products), the following configuration must be used: • portcfgqos -disable • portcfgcreditrecovery -disable • portcfglongdistance 0 The fabric parameter fabric.ops.mode.longdistance is now deprecated and should not be used. 8-Gb link initialization and fill words Overview The Fibre Channel Physical Interfaces (FC-PI) standard defines the requirements for a physical layer. It considers all aspects of transmit, receive, and cable-plant performance requirements for optical and electrical links. The FC-PI standard has been modified to support new physical-layer variants that operate at higher data rates than those specified in FC-PI-2. The standard enables interoperability of transmitter devices, receiver devices, interconnects, and components from different manufacturers. New variants include support for a data rate of 800 MB/s. The previous implementation by Brocade was to use Idles for link initialization and as fill words, which works for 1-Gb, 2-Gb, 4-Gb, and most 8-Gb devices. However, some of the new 8-Gb devices may require that the ARB(FF)/ARB(FF) sequence have successful link initialization. Brocade has developed an implementation of ARB(FF)/ARB(FF) for initialization and fill words. The portcfgfillword command, first introduced in Fabric OS 6.1.2, configures the ARB(FF)/ARB(FF) implementation. See the Fabric OS Command Reference Manual supporting Fabric OS v6.3.1 for details on the portcfgfillword command. 30