Brocade Communications Systems 53-1001763-02 The Ethernet interface on your switch

20 Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide

53-1001763-02

The Ethernet interface on your switch

The Ethernet (network) interface provides management access, including direct access to the

Fabric OS CLI, and allows other tools, such as Web Tools, to interact with the switch. You can use

either Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) or static IP addresses for the Ethernet network

interface configuration. On Brocade enterprise-class platforms you must set IP addresses for the

following components:

•Both CPs (CP0 and CP1)

•Chassis management IP

On the Brocade switches, you must set the Ethernet and chassis management IP interfaces.

Setting the chassis management IP eliminates the need to know which CP is active and connects to

the currently active CP.

You can continue to use a static Ethernet addressing system or allow the DHCP client to

automatically acquire Ethernet addresses. Configure the Ethernet interface IP address, subnet

mask, and gateway addresses in one of the following manners:

•“Static Ethernet addresses” on page 22

•“DHCP activation” on page 23

NOTE

When you change the Ethernet interface settings, open connections such as SSH or Telnet may be

dropped. Reconnect using the new Ethernet IP address information or change the Ethernet settings

using a console session through the serial port to maintain your session through the change. You

must connect through the serial port to set the Ethernet IP address if the Ethernet network interface

is not configured already. Refer “Connecting to Fabric OS through the serial port” on page 16 for

details.

On the Brocade 48000, DCX, and DCX-4S, the single-chassis IP address and subnet mask are

assigned to the management Ethernet ports on the front panels of the CPs. These addresses allow

access to the chassis, more specifically the active CP of the chassis, and not individual logical

switches. The IP addresses can also be assigned to each CP individually. This allows for direct

communication with a CP including the standby CP. On the Brocade DCX and DCX-4S Backbones,

each CP has two management Ethernet ports on its front panel. These two physical ports are

bonded together to create a single, logical Ethernet port, and it is the logical Ethernet port to which

IP addresses are assigned.

IPv4 addresses assigned to individual Virtual Fabrics are assigned to IP-over-FC network interfaces.

In Virtual Fabrics environment, a single chassis can be assigned to multiple fabrics, each of which

is logically distinct and separate from one another. Each IP-over-FC (IPFC) point of connection to a

given chassis needs a separate IPv4 address and prefix to be accessible to a management host.

For more information on how to set up these IPFC addresses to your Virtual Fabric, refer to Chapter

10, “Managing Virtual Fabrics”.