HP StorageWorks 8/80 HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.1.x administrator guide (5697 - Page 312

Port cost considerations The router port cost has the following considerations: • Router port sets are defined as follows: • 0-7 and FCIP Tunnel 16-23 • 8-15 and FCIP Tunnel 24-31 More than two router port sets can exist in a 4/256 SAN Director or DC Director with two FR4-18i blades. • The router port cost does not help distinguish one IFL (or EX_ and VEX_Port link) from another, if all the IFLs are connected to the same port set. Therefore, if you connect IFL1 and IFL2 to the same edge fabric in port set 0-7 and then configure them to different router port costs, traffic is still balanced across all the IFLs in the same port set. • Use proper SAN design guidelines to connect the IFLs to different port sets for effective router port cost use. For example, if both a low-speed VEX_Port and a high-speed EX_Port are going to the same edge fabric, connect the lower router cost IFLs to a separate port group (for example ports 0-7) than the higher router cost IFLs (for example ports 8-15). For VEX_Ports, you would use ports in the range of 16-23 or 24-31. You can connect multiple EX_Ports or VEX_Ports to the same edge fabric. The EX_Ports can all be on the same 400 MP Router or 4/256 SAN Director or DC Director with an FR4-18i blade, or they can be on multiple routers. Multiple EX_Ports create multiple paths for frame routing. Multiple paths can be used in two different, but compatible, ways: • Failing over from one path to another. • Using multiple paths in parallel to increase effective data transmission rates. EX_Ports and VEX_Ports, when connected, are assigned different router port costs and traffic will flow only through the EX_Ports. Routing failover is automatic, but it can result in frames arriving out of order when frames take different routes. The 400 MP Router and 4/256 SAN Director or DC Director with an FR4-18i blade can force in-order delivery, although frame delivery is delayed immediately after the path failover. Source EX_Ports can balance loads across multiple destination EX_Ports attached to the same edge fabric using exchange IDs from the routed frames as keys to distribute the traffic. Setting a proxy PID When a 400 MP Router and 4/256 SAN Director or DC Director with an FR4-18i blade is first configured, the PIDs for the proxy devices are automatically assigned. Proxy PIDs (as well as phantom Domain IDs) persist across reboots. The most common situation in which you would set a proxy PID is when you replace a switch. If you replace the switch and want to continue using the old PID assignments, you can configure it to do so; this value remains in the system even if the blade is replaced. To minimize disruption to the edge fabrics, set the proxy PIDs to the same values used with the old hardware. The fcrProxyConfig command displays or sets the persistent configuration of proxy devices. Used with the -s slot option, it can also influence the assignment of the xlate domain port number (which is used to determine the Area_ID field of the PID) and the Port_ID field. Like the PIDs in a fabric, a proxy PID must be unique. If the slot argument results in a duplicate PID, it will be ignored. Proxy PIDs are automatically assigned to devices imported into a fabric, starting at f001. For Proxy IDs projected to a McDATA edge fabric in McDATA fabric mode, use valid ALPAs (lower 8 bits). See the fcrProxyConfig command in the Fabric OS Command Reference for more details. Use the fcrXlateConfig command to display or assign a preferred Domain ID to a translate domain. See the Fabric OS Command Reference for more details. Matching fabric parameters By default, EX_Ports and VEX_Ports detect, autonegotiate, and configure the fabric parameters without user intervention. You can optionally configure these parameters manually. To change the fabric parameters on a switch in the edge fabric, execute the configure command. To change the fabric parameters of an EX_Port on the 312 Using the FC-FC Routing Service