CISCO fabrics -MDS-1

Important terms to understand.

Fabric Manger is a single tool used to configure ,monitor and manage an entire
fabric of switches,directors .With in fabric manager,an overview of the fabric
and its topology can be obtained.
Device manager is used to manage an individual switch/director including the in
stalled switching modules,the supervisor modules ,the status of each port within
each module,the power supplies and the fan assemblies. While fabric manager tab
les show values for one more switches ,device manager just can show values for s
ingle switch.
VSAN
Physical topology is divided into logical fabrics called VSANs.Zoning is assigne
d per VSAN.Switch ports are assigned to only one VSAN.By default all switch port
s are assigned to VSAN 1.(One physical switch to be carved into several virtual
fabrics).Default VSAN;VSAN 1 cant be deleted however it can be suspended
.
Isolated VSAN:
VSAN 4096 is the isolated VSAN.All non trunking ports are transferred to this VS
AN when the VSAN to which they belong to is deleted. This avoids an implicit tra
nsfer of posts to the default VSAN or to another configured VSAN.
Domain Parameters:
The fcdomain feature performs principal switch selection ,domain id distribution
,FCID allocation and fabric reconfiguration function as described in the FC-SW2
standards.The domains are configured on a per VSAN basis.When a switch boots up
or joins a new fabric, it can request a specific domain ID or take any availabl
e domain ID.The configured domain ID can be preffered or static .Bydefault the c
onfigured domain is 0 and the configured type is preferred. If a domain ID is no
t configured, the local switch sends a random ID in its request. If the configur
ed type is preferred, the local switch accepts the domain ID assigned by the pri
ncipal switch and the assigned domain ID becomes the runtime domain ID.If the co
nfigured type is static ,the assigned domain ID is discarded, all local interfac
es are isolated and the local switch assigns itself the configured domain ID whi
ch becomes the runtime domain ID.After obtaining the domain ID from the principa
l switch in the VSAN, the local switch assigns Fibre Channel Identifiers (FC IDs
) to each end device as they log into the fabric. This process is known as FLOGI
.Domain ID uniquely identify a switch in VSAN.A switch may have different domain
IDs in different VSANs. The domain ID is part of over all FCID.

Set switch priority:

By default ,the configured priority is 128.The valid range is between 1 and 254.
Priority 1 has the highest Priority. Value 255 is accepted from other switches b
ut cannot be locally configured. Any new switch can become the principal switch
when it joins a stable fabric. During the principal switch selection phase, the
switch with highest priority becomes the principal switch. If two switches have
same configured priority, the switch with lowest WWN becomes the principal swit
ch.
Name server:
The nameserver functionality maintains a database containing the attributes fo
r all hosts and storage devices in each VSAN.
G_port or generic port on a switch can operate as an E_port or F_port. Found on

Brocade, McData, and QLogic switches.

N_port is a port on the node (e.g. host or storage device) used with both FC-P2P
or FC-SW topologies. Also known as node port.
E_port-The port can be either a trunking or non trunking port depending on the t
runking mode port mode.E port is used when the port talks to another port of dif
ferent switch forming an ISL.