F And Tf Port Channels - Cisco MDS 9000 Series Configuration Manual

Configuring and Managing Zones
Switch or Module
DS–X9248–256K9
DS–X9448–768K9
DS–X9334–K9
DS–X9648–1536K9

F and TF Port Channels

Note We do not recommend using interface, fWWN, or domain-ID based zoning for devices that are connected to
the edge Cisco N-Port Virtualization (NPV) switches.
F port channels provide fault tolerance and performance benefits on connections to N-Port Virtualization
(NPV) switches, including Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects (FIs). F port channels present unique challenges
to ACL TCAM programming. When F ports are aggregated into a port channel, ACL TCAM programming
is repeated on each member interface. Consequently, these types of port channels multiply the amount of
TCAM entries needed. Because of this, it is imperative that the member interfaces are allocated as optimally
as possible, and that zoning best practices are also followed. If you also consider the fact that these F port
channels can contain 100+ host logins, TCAM can easily be exceeded, especially for fabric switches if best
practices are not followed.
The following is a sample topology:
Forwarding Port Ranges
Engines
4 1–12
13–24
25–36
37–48
6 1–8
9–16
17–24
25–32
33–40
41–48
3 1–8
9–16
17–24
3 1–16
17–32
33–48
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Fabric Configuration Guide, Release 8.x
Forwarding Zoning Region
Engine Number Entries
0 49136
1 49136
2 49136
3 49136
0 49136
1 49136
2 49136
3 49136
4 49136
5 49136
49136
0
1 49136
2 49136
0 49136
1 49136
2 49136
F and TF Port Channels
Bottom Region
Entries
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
19664
145