Information About Interfaces; Interface Description; Interface Modes - Cisco MDS 9000 Series Configuration Manual

Configuring Interfaces

Information About Interfaces

The main function of a switch is to relay frames from one data link to another. To relay the frames, the
characteristics of the interfaces through which the frames are received and sent must be defined. The configured
interfaces can be Fibre Channel interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, the management interface (mgmt0),
or VSAN interfaces.

Interface Description

For Fibre Channel interfaces, you can configure the description parameter to provide a recognizable name for
an interface. Using a unique name for each interface allows you to quickly identify an interface when you are
looking at a listing of multiple interfaces. You can also use the description to identify the traffic or the use
for a specific interface.

Interface Modes

Each physical Fibre Channel interface in a switch may operate in one of several port modes: E port, F port,
FL port, TL port, TE port, SD port, and ST port (see
on page
modes determine the port type during interface initialization.
Figure 1: Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switch Port Modes
Note Interfaces are created in VSAN 1 by default. For more information about VSAN, see the
Series NX-OS Fabric Configuration
Each interface has an associated administrative configuration and an operational status:
• The administrative configuration does not change unless you modify it. This configuration has various
17). Besides these modes, each interface may be configured in auto or Fx port modes. These two
attributes that you can configure in administrative mode.
Figure 1: Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switch Port Modes,
Guide.
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Interfaces Configuration Guide, Release 8.x
Information About Interfaces
Cisco MDS 9000
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