Fcip Support; Portchannel Support; Vsans For Ficon And Fcp Mixing; Cisco Mds-Supported Ficon Features - Cisco AP775A - Nexus Converged Network Switch 5010 Configuration Manual

Chapter 36 Configuring FICON
S e n d d o c u m e n t a t i o n c o m m e n t s t o m d s f e e d b a c k - d o c @ c i s c o . c o m
Addition of ports to a FICON LPAR is a nondisruptive process. The maximum number of ports for a
FICON LPAR is 255 due to FICON addressing limitations.

FCIP Support

The multilayer architecture of the Cisco MDS 9000 Family enables a consistent feature set over a
protocol-agnostic switch fabric. Cisco MDS 9500 Series and 9200 Series switches transparently
integrate Fibre Channel, FICON, and Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) in one system. The FICON over
FCIP feature enables cost-effective access to remotely located mainframe resources. With the Cisco
MDS 9000 Family platform, storage replication services such as IBM PPRC and XRC can be extended
over metro to global distances using ubiquitous IP infrastructure and thus simplifies business
continuance strategies.
See

PortChannel Support

The Cisco MDS implementation of FICON provides support for efficient utilization and increased
availability of Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) necessary to build stable large-scale SAN environments.
PortChannels ensure an enhanced ISL availability and performance in Cisco MDS switches.
See

VSANs for FICON and FCP Mixing

Cisco MDS 9000 Family FICON-enabled switches simplify deployment of even the most complex
mixed environments. Multiple logical FICON, Z-Series Linux/FCP, and Open-Systems Fibre Channel
Protocol (FCP) fabrics can be overlaid onto a single physical fabric by simply creating VSANs as
required for each service. VSANs provide both hardware isolation and protocol specific fabric services,
eliminating the complexity and potential instability of zone-based mixed schemes.
By default, the FICON feature is disabled in all switches in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family. When the
FICON feature is disabled, FC IDs can be allocated seamlessly. Mixed environments are addressed by
the Cisco NX-OS software. The challenge of mixing FCP and FICON protocols are addressed by Cisco
MDS switches when implementing VSANs.
Switches and directors in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family support FCP and FICON protocol mixing at the
port level. If these protocols are mixed in the same switch, you can use VSANs to isolate FCP and
FICON ports.
When creating a mixed environment, place all FICON devices in one VSAN (other than the default
Tip
VSAN) and segregate the FCP switch ports in a separate VSAN (other than the default VSAN). This
isolation ensures proper communication for all connected devices.

Cisco MDS-Supported FICON Features

The Cisco MDS 9000 Family FICON features include:
•
OL-17256-03, Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 4.x
Chapter 48, "Configuring FCIP."
Chapter 23, "Configuring PortChannels"
Flexibility and investment protection—The Cisco MDS 9000 Family shares common switching and
service modules across the Cisco MDS 9500 Series and the 9200 Series.
for more information on PortChannels.
Cisco MDS 9000 Family Fabric Manager Configuration Guide
About FICON
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