HP StorageWorks 8/80 HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.2 administrator guide (5697-0 - Page 474

Channel ISLs implemented through the FC-FC Routing Service rather than FCIP. FC Fastwrite is supported in Fabric OS 5.3.x and later. Figure 82 Typical network topology for FC Fastwrite Platforms and OS requirements for FC Fastwrite Fabric OS supports FC Fastwrite between two HP StorageWorks 400 Multi-Protocol Routers or two HP StorageWorks 4/256 SAN Directors with B-Series Multi-Protocol Router Blade connected by a Fibre Channel network. Fabric OS 5.3.0 or later is required at both ends of the tunnel in order to enable FC Fastwrite. NOTE: FC Fastwrite and FCIP tunnels cannot be used on the same HP StorageWorks 400 Multi-Protocol Router or FC4-18i blade. Constraints for FC Fastwrite Consider the following constraints when configuring FC Fastwrite: • FC Fastwrite disables the local Ethernet ports (ge0 and ge1), making it impossible to configure FC Fastwrite and FCIP tunnels on the same HP StorageWorks 400 Multi-Protocol Router or FC4-18i blade. • FC Fastwrite does not work in FICON environments. • FC Fastwrite flows may be routed to another HP StorageWorks 400 Multi-Protocol Router or FC4-18i blade on the FC network. The HP StorageWorks 400 Multi-Protocol Router or FC4-18i blade may have active FCIP tunnels over an IP network. FC Fastwrite flows may be passed through the FCIP tunnel, but only if the FCIP Fastwrite option is disabled on the tunnel. • FC Fastwrite does not support loop device configurations for more than one device. • FC Fastwrite is not supported in interop mode 2 or 3. How FC Fastwrite works FC Fastwrite eliminates the latency inherent in sending a Transfer Ready (X_RDY) back to the initiator when writing data across ISLs to geographically distant target devices. FC Fastwrite provides a proxy target (PT) local to the initiator host, and a proxy initiator (PI) local to the target storage device. Figure 83 shows how FC Fastwrite works. 1. The initiator sends a write command (WR_CMD). 2. The PT responds with a Transfer Ready (X_RDY), enabling the host to send more data. 3. The target device processes the write command, and sends a Transfer Ready to solicit more data. The PI intercepts the Transfer Ready, and begins sending data received from the host. 470 Configuring and monitoring FCIP extension services