HP StorageWorks 8/80 HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.2.0e release notes (5697-0354 - Page 25

Extended Fabrics and R_RDY flow control • Starting with Fabric OS 5.1, the Extended Fabrics feature is supported with R_RDY flow control (R_RDY flow control mode can be enabled using the portCfgISLMode command). R_RDY flow control mode that uses IDLE primitives does not support frame-based trunking for devices such as Time Division Multiplexor (TDM). To overcome this limitation and provide support for frame-based trunking with Extended Fabrics, Fabric OS 6.2.x has been enhanced to support interoperability with these distance extension devices. Fabric OS 6.2.x 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 buffer-to-buffer credit recovery feature using the command portcfgcreditrecovery 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 This section describes the portCfgfillWord command that was added to 6.2.x firmware beginning with Fabric OS 6.2.0d. Overview The FC 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. HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.2.0e release notes 25