Access Gateway Port Types; Comparison Of Access Gateway Ports To Standard Switch; Ports - HP StoreFabric SN6500B Administrator's Manual

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Access Gateway port types

Access Gateway differs from a typical fabric switch because it is not a switch; instead, it is a mode
that you enable on a switch using the ag command. After a switch is set in Access Gateway mode, it
can connect to the fabric using node ports (N_Ports). Typically, fabric switches connect to the
Enterprise fabric using interswitch link (ISL) ports, such as E_Ports.
AG uses the following Fibre Channel (FC) ports:
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NOTE
Initiate the portcfgpersisentenable command on all external or outward facing ports to ensure that
these ports come back online after a switch reboot or power failure. For an embedded switch,
execute this command through the chassis management console and not the switch CLI or the
command may not persist. Refer to
Comparison of Access Gateway ports to standard switch ports
Access Gateway multiplexes host connections to the fabric. It presents an F_Port to the host and an
N_Port to an Edge fabric switch. Using N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV), AG allows multiple FC
initiators to access the SAN on the same physical port. This reduces the hardware requirements
and management overhead of hosts to the SAN connections.
A fabric switch presents F_Ports (or FL_Ports) and storage devices to the host and presents
E_Ports, VE_Ports, or EX_Ports to other switches in the fabric. A fabric switch consumes SAN
resources, such as domain IDs, and participates in fabric management and zoning distribution. A
fabric switch requires more physical ports than AG to connect the same number of hosts.
Figure 3
that a switch uses in standard mode.
Access Gateway Administrator's Guide
53-1002743-01
Authentication is not supported between an AG switch running Fabric OS v7.1.0 or later and a
fabric running Fabric OS earlier than v7.1.0. If the AG switch is connected to fabric switch
running Fabric OS earlier than v7.1.0, the AG switch N_Ports will disable if authentication is
enabled on both switches. Devices mapped to N_Ports connected to fabrics operating with
Fabric OS before v7.1.0 will also disable.
If authentication is disabled on the Fabric Switch, the AG switch N_Port will come online
without authentication policy.
Device and switch policies must be disabled on the AG before converting the switch to Native
mode.
Device and switch policies must be disabled on the switch in Native mode before converting it
to AG mode.
Authentication policy is disabled by default on all ports in AG mode.
High availability (HA) reboots are supported.
F_Port - Fabric port that connects a host, HBA, or storage device to a switch in AG mode.
N_Port - Node port that connects a switch in AG mode to the F_Port of the fabric switch.
D_Port - Port configured in diagnostic mode so that various tests can run between it and
connected D_Port on another switch across a link.
shows a comparison of the types of ports a switch in AG mode uses to the type of ports
Access Gateway port types
"Persisting port online state" on page 31 for more information.
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