Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide 41
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Ports 3

Setting port names

Perform the following steps to specify a port name. For enterprise-class directors, specify the slot
number where the blade is installed.
1. Connect to the switch and log in using an account assigned to the admin role.
2. Enter the portName command.
Example of naming port 0
ecp:admin> portname 1/0 trunk1

Port identification by slot and port number

The port number is a number assigned to an external port to give it a unique identifier in a switch.
To select a specific port in the Brocade 48000, Brocade DCX and DCX-4S enterprise-class
platforms, you must identify both the slot number and the port number using the format slot
number/port number. No spaces are allowed between the slot number, the slash (/), and the port
number.
Example of enabling port 4 on a blade in slot 2
ecp:admin> portenable 2/4

Port identification by port area ID

The relationship between the port number and area ID depends upon the PID format used in the
fabric. When Core PID format is in effect, the area ID for port 0 is 0, for port 1 is 1, and so forth.
For 32-port blades (FC4-32, FC8-32), the numbering is contiguous up to port 15; from port 16, the
numbering is still contiguous, but starts with 128. For example, port 15 in slot 1 has a port number
and area ID of 15; port 16 has a port number and area ID of 128; port 17 has a port number and
area ID of 129.
For 48-port blades (FC4-48, FC8-48), the numbering is the same as for 32-port blades for the first
32 ports on the blade. For ports 32 through 47, area IDs are not unique and port index should be
used instead of area ID.
For the 64-port blade (FC8-64), the numbering is the same as for 32-port blades for the first 32
ports on the blade. For ports 32 through 64, area IDs are not unique and port index should be used
instead of area ID.
If you perform a port swap operation, the port number and area ID no longer match. On 48-port
blades, port swapping is supported only on ports 0–15.
To determine the area ID of a particular port, enter the switchShow command. This command
displays all ports on the current (logical) switch and their corresponding area IDs.

Port identification by index

With the introduction of 48-port blades, indexing was introduced. Unique area IDs are possible for
up to 255 areas, but beyond that there needed to be some way to ensure uniqueness.