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Configuring the Brocade FC switches

You must configure each of the Brocade switch fabrics in the MetroCluster configuration.

  • You must have a PC or UNIX workstation with Telnet or Secure Shell (SSH) access to the FC switches.

  • You must be using four supported Brocade switches of the same model with the same Brocade Fabric Operating System (FOS) version and licensing.

  • The four supported Brocade switches must be connected to two fabrics of two switches each, with each fabric spanning both sites.

  • Each storage controller must have four initiator ports available to connect to the switch fabrics. Two initiator ports must be connected from each storage controller to each fabric.

    Note
    You can configure DM7000H and AFA DM7000F systems with two initiators ports per controller (a single initiator port to each fabric) if all the following criteria are met:

    • There are fewer than four FC initiator ports available to connect the disk storage and no additional ports can be configured as FC initiators.

    • All slots are in use and no FC initiator card can be added.

  • You should enable Inter-Switch Link (ISL) trunking when it is supported by the links.

    Considerations for using TDM/WDM equipment with fabric-attached MetroCluster configurations

  • All ISLs must have the same length and same speed in one fabric.

    Different lengths can be used in the different fabrics. The same speed must be used in all fabrics.

  • Metro-E and TDM (SONET/SDH) are not supported, and any non-FC native framing or signaling is not supported.

    Metro-E means Ethernet framing or signaling occurs either natively over a Metro distance or through some time-division multiplexing (TDM), multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), or wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM).

  • TDMs, FCR (native FC Routing), or FCIP extensions are not supported for the MetroCluster FC switch fabric.

  • Certain switches in the MetroCluster FC switch fabric support encryption or compression, and sometimes support both.

  • The Brocade Virtual Fabric (VF) feature is not supported.

  • FC zoning based on domain port is supported, but zoning based on worldwide name (WWN) is not supported.

  1. Reviewing Brocade license requirements
    You need certain licenses for the switches in a MetroCluster configuration. You must install these licenses on all four switches.
  2. Setting the Brocade FC switch values to factory defaults
    You must set the switch to its factory defaults to ensure a successful configuration. You must also assign each switch a unique name.
  3. Configuring basic switch settings
    You must configure basic global settings, including the domain ID, for Brocade switches.
  4. Configuring E-ports on Brocade FC switches using FC ports
    For Brocade switches on which the Inter-Switch Links (ISL) are configured using FC ports, you must configure the switch ports on each switch fabric that connect the ISL. These ISL ports are also known as E-ports.
  5. Configuring 10 Gbps VE ports on Brocade FC 7840 switches
    When using the 10 Gbps VE ports (which use FCIP) for ISLs, you must create IP interfaces on each port, and configure FCIP tunnels and circuits in each tunnel.
  6. Configuring 40 Gbps VE-ports on Brocade 7840 FC switches
    When using the two 40 GbE VE-ports (which use FCIP) for ISLs, you must create IP interfaces on each port, and configure FCIP tunnels and circuits in each tunnel.
  7. Configuring the non-E-ports on the Brocade switch
    You must configure the non-E-ports on the FC switch. In a MetroCluster configuration, these are the ports that connect the switch to the HBA initiators, FC-VI interconnects, and FC-to-SAS bridges. These steps must be done for each port.
  8. Configuring compression on ISL ports a Lenovo ThinkSystem DB620S 32G FC SAN switch switch
    If you are using Lenovo ThinkSystem DB620S 32G FC SAN switch switches and enabling compression on the ISLs, you must configure it on each E-port on the switches.
  9. Configuring zoning on Brocade FC switches
    You must assign the switch ports to separate zones to separate controller and storage traffic.
  10. Setting ISL encryption on Lenovo B6510 FC SAN switch or DB620S switches
    On Lenovo B6510 FC SAN switch or DB620S switches, you can optionally use the Brocade encryption feature on the ISL connections. If you want to use the encryption feature, you must perform additional configuration steps on each switch in the MetroCluster configuration.
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