Table Of Contents

Configuring VSANs and Interfaces

Creating VSANs

Default VSAN

Creating and Configuring VSANs

Assigning VSAN Membership

Displaying VSAN Information

Configuring Interfaces

Configuring Fibre Channel Interfaces

Configuring a Range of Interfaces

Enabling Interfaces

Configuring Interface Modes

Configuring the Management Interface

Creating VSAN Interfaces

Displaying Interface Information

Configuring VSANs and Interfaces

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You can achieve higher security and greater stability in Fibre Channel fabrics by using virtual storage area networks (VSANs). VSANs provide isolation among devices that are physically connected to the same fabric.

Interfaces are members of a VSAN. Interfaces enable communication between switches in a VSAN. Interfaces that are members of the same VSAN can communicate with each other; interfaces that are members of different VSANs cannot communicate with each other.

Figure 3-1 describes the steps involved in configuring VSANs and interfaces.

Figure 3-1 VSANs and Interfaces

This chapter includes the following sections:

•Creating VSANs

•Configuring Interfaces

•Enabling Interfaces

•Displaying Interface Information

Creating VSANs

VSANs help you create multiple logical SANs over a common physical infrastructure. Each VSAN can contain up to 239 switches and has an independent address space that allows identical Fibre Channel IDs (FC IDs) to be used simultaneously in different VSANs.

Default VSAN

VSAN 1, also known as the default VSAN, is typically used for communication, management, or testing purposes. We recommend that you do not use VSAN 1 as your production environment VSAN. There are several features that, when configured, disrupt traffic on VSAN 1. If you use VSAN 1 as your production environment VSAN, you risk disrupting traffic when these features are configured.

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Note By default, all Cisco MDS 9000 Family switches belong to VSAN 1. We recommend you create production environment VSANs and configure the switches to use those VSANs.

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You cannot configure any application-specific parameters for a VSAN before creating the VSAN.

Creating and Configuring VSANs

To create and configure VSANs, follow these steps:

	Command	Purpose
Step 1	switch# config t	Enters configuration mode.
Step 2	switch(config)# vsan database switch(config-vsan-db)#	Configures the database for a VSAN. Application specific VSAN parameters cannot be configured from this prompt.
Step 3	switch(config-vsan-db)# vsan 2 switch(config-vsan-db)#	Creates a VSAN with the specified ID (2) if that VSAN does not exist already.
	switch(config-vsan-db)# vsan 2 name TechDoc updated vsan 2 switch(config-vsan-db)#	Updates the VSAN with the assigned name (TechDoc).
Step 4	switch(config-vsan-db)# vsan 2 loadbalancing src-dst-id switch(config-vsan-db)#	Enables the load balancing guarantee for the selected VSAN and directs the switch to use the source and destination ID for its path selection process.
	switch(config-vsan-db)# no vsan 2 loadbalancing src-dst-id switch(config-vsan-db)#	Negates the command issued in the previous step and reverts to the default values of the load-balancing parameters.
	switch(config-vsan-db)# vsan 2 loadbalancing src-dst-ox-id switch(config-vsan-db)#	Changes the path selection setting to use the source ID, the destination ID, and the OX ID (default).
Step 5	switch(config-vsan-db)# vsan 2 suspend switch(config-vsan-db)#	Suspends the selected VSAN.
	switch(config-vsan-db)# no vsan 2 suspend vs.-config-vsan-db#	Negates the suspend command issued in the previous step.
Step 6	switch(config-vsan-db)# end switch#	Returns you to EXEC mode.

See "Configuring Static Domain IDs and Persistent FC IDs," for details.

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Warning HP-UX and AIX are two operating systems that utilize the FC ID in the device path to the storage. For the switch to always assign the same FC ID to a device, persistent FC IDs and static Domain ID must be configured for the VSAN.

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Assigning VSAN Membership

To assign VSAN membership, follow these steps:

	Command	Purpose
Step 1	switch# config t	Enters configuration mode.
Step 2	switch(config)# vsan database switch(config-vsan-db)#	Configures the database for a VSAN.
Step 3	switch(config-vsan-db)# vsan 2 switch(config-vsan-db)#	Creates a VSAN with the specified ID (2) if that VSAN does not exist already.
Step 4	switch(config-vsan-db)# vsan 2 interface fc1/8 switch(config-vsan-db)#	Assigns the membership of the fc1/8 interface to the specified VSAN (VSAN 2).
Step 5	switch(config-vsan-db)# vsan 7 switch(config-vsan-db)#	Creates another VSAN with the specified ID (7) if that VSAN does not exist already.
Step 6	switch(config-vsan-db)# vsan 7 interface fc1/8 switch(config-vsan-db)#	Updates the membership information of the interface to reflect the changed VSAN.

Displaying VSAN Information

The show vsan command is invoked from the EXEC mode and displays the VSAN configurations. Table 3-1 lists the show commands and the information they display.

Table 3-1 show interface Commands 

show Command	Description
show vsan	Displays information for all VSANs.
show vsan 100	Displays information for a specific VSAN.
show vsan usage	Displays information on VSAN usage.
show vsan 100 membership	Displays VSAN membership information for a specified VSAN.
show vsan membership	Displays static membership information for all VSANs.
show vsan membership interface fc1/1	Displays static membership information for a specified interface.

Configuring Interfaces

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

Configuring Fibre Channel Interfaces

Each physical Fibre Channel interface in a switch may operate in one of several modes: E port, F port, FL port, TL port, TE port, SD port, ST port, and B port. Besides these modes, each interface may be configured in auto or Fx port mode. These two modes determine the port type during interface initialization.

To configure a Fibre Channel interface, follow these steps:

	Command	Purpose
Step 1	switch# config t	Enters configuration mode.
Step 2	switch(config)# interface fc1/1	Configures the specified interface. Note When a Fibre Channel interface is configured, it is automatically assigned a unique world wide name (WWN). If the interface's operational state is up, it is also assigned a Fibre Channel ID (FC ID).

Configuring a Range of Interfaces

To configure a range of interfaces, follow these steps:

	Command	Purpose
Step 1	switch# config t	Enters configuration mode.
Step 2	switch(config)# interface fc1/1 - 4, fc2/1 - 3	Configures the range of specified interfaces. Note In this command, provide a space before and after the comma.

Enabling Interfaces

Interfaces on a port are shut down by default (unless you modified the initial configuration).

To enable traffic flow, follow these steps:

	Command	Purpose
Step 1	switch# config t	Enters configuration mode.
Step 2	switch(config)# interface fc1/1	Configures the specified interface.
Step 3	switch(config-if)# no shutdown	Enables traffic flow to administratively allow traffic when the no prefix is used (provided the operational state is up).
	switch(config-if)# shutdown	Shuts down the interface and administratively disables traffic flow (default).

After enabling the interfaces, make sure you plug in the cables. If the cables are not plugged in, the hosts will not be able to communicate with the storage device.

Configuring Interface Modes

To configure the interface mode, follow these steps:

	Command	Purpose
Step 1	switch# config t	Enters configuration mode.
Step 2	switch(config)# interface fc1/1 switch(config-if)#	Configures the specified interface.
Step 3	switch(config-if)# switchport mode F switch(config-if)#	Configures the administrative mode of the port. You can set the operational state to auto, E, F, FL, Fx, TL, or SD port mode. Note Fx ports refer to an F port or an FL port (host connection only), but not E ports.
	switch(config-if)# switchport mode auto switch(config-if)#	Configures the interface mode to auto negotiate an E, F, FL, or TE port mode (not TL or SD port modes) of operation. Note TL ports and SD ports cannot be configured automatically. They must be administratively configured.

Configuring the Management Interface

You can remotely configure the switch through the management interface (mgmt0). To configure a connection remotely, you must configure the IP parameters (IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway) from the CLI so that the switch is reachable.

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Note Before you begin to configure the management interface manually, obtain the switch's IP address and IP subnet mask.

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To configure the Ethernet mgmt0 interface, follow these steps:

	Command	Purpose
Step 1	switch# config terminal switch(config)#	Enters configuration mode.
Step 2	switch(config)# interface mgmt0 switch(config-if)#	Configures the Ethernet management interface on the switch to configure the management interface.
Step 3	switch(config-if)# ip address 172.16.1.2 255 255.255.0	Enters the IP address and IP subnet mask for the interface specified in Step 2.
Step 4	switch(config-if)# no shutdown	Enables the interface.
Step 5	switch(config-if)# exit switch(config)#	Returns to configuration mode.
Step 6	switch(config)# ip default-gateway 1.1.1.4 switch(config)#	Configures the default gateway IP address.
Step 7	switch(config)# exit switch#	Returns to EXEC mode.
Step 8	switch# copy running-config startup-config	(Optional) Saves your configuration changes to the file system. Note If you wish to save your configuration, you can issue this command at any time.

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Note You need to explicitly configure a default gateway to connect to the switch and send IP packets or add a route for each subnet.

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Creating VSAN Interfaces

VSANs apply to Fibre Channel fabrics and enable you to configure multiple isolated SAN topologies within the same physical infrastructure. You can create an IP interface on top of a VSAN and then use this interface to send frames to this VSAN. To use this feature, you must configure the IP address for this VSAN. VSAN interfaces cannot be created for nonexisting VSANs.

Follow these guidelines when creating or deleting VSAN interfaces:

•Create a VSAN before creating the interface for that VSAN. If a VSAN does not exist, the interface cannot be created.

•Create the interface using the interface vsan command. This is not done automatically.

•If you delete the VSAN, the attached interface is automatically deleted.

•Configure each interface only in one VSAN.

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Tip After configuring the VSAN interface, you can configure an IP address or Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) features.

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To create a VSAN interface, follow these steps:

	Command	Purpose
Step 1	switch# config t	Enters configuration mode.
Step 2	switch(config)# interface vsan 5 switch(config-if)#	Configures a VSAN with the ID 5.

Displaying Interface Information

The show interface command is invoked from the EXEC mode and displays the interface configurations. Without any arguments, this command displays the information for all the configured interfaces in the switch. Table 3-2 lists the show commands and the information they display.

Table 3-2 show interface Commands 

show Command	Description
show interface	Displays all interfaces.
show interface fc2/2	Displays a specified interface.
show interface fc3/13, fc3/16	Displays multiple, specified interfaces.
show interface vsan 2	Displays a specified VSAN interface.
show cimserver certificateName	Displays CIM server certificate files.
show cimserver	Displays the CIM server configuration.
show cimserver httpsstatus	Displays the CIM server HTTPS status.
show interface description	Displays port description.
show interface brief	Displays interface information in a brief format.
show interface counters	Displays interface counters.
show interface counters brief	Displays interface counters in brief format.
show interface bbcredit	Displays BB_credit information.
show interface fc2/31 bbcredit	Displays BB_credit information for a specific Fibre Channel interface.
show interface transceiver	Displays transceiver information.
show running-config interface fc1/1	Displays the running configuration for a specific interface.