Cisco Systems DSC9148D8G48PK9 manual Key Concepts, Trunking Protocols, PortChannnel with NP port

Chapter 5 Configuring Trunking

Information About Trunking

Link Number	Link Description
3	F PortChannnel with NP port.
4	Trunked F PortChannel with NP port.
5	Trunking NP port with third-party core switch F port.1

1. These features are not supported currently.

Key Concepts

The trunking feature includes the following key concepts:

•TE port—If trunk mode is enabled in an E port and that port becomes operational as a trunking E port, it is referred to as a TE port.

•TF port—If trunk mode is enabled in an F port (see the link 2 in Figure 5-2) and that port becomes operational as a trunking F port, it is referred to as a TF port.

•TN port—If trunk mode is enabled (not currently supported) in an N port (see the link 1b in Figure 5-2) and that port becomes operational as a trunking N port, it is referred to as a TN port.

•TNP port—If trunk mode is enabled in an NP port (see the link 2 in Figure 5-2) and that port becomes operational as a trunking NP port, it is referred to as a TNP port.

•TF PortChannel—If trunk mode is enabled in an F PortChannel (see the link 4 in Figure 5-2) and that PortChannel becomes operational as a trunking F PortChannel, it is referred to as TF PortChannel. Cisco Port Trunking Protocol (PTP) is used to carry tagged frames.

•TF-TN port link—A single link can be established to connect an F port to an HBA to carry tagged frames (see the link 1a and 1b in Figure 5-2) using Exchange Virtual Fabrics Protocol (EVFP). A server can reach multiple VSANs through a TF port without inter-VSAN routing (IVR).

•TF-TNP port link—A single link can be established to connect an TF port to an TNP port using the PTP protocol to carry tagged frames (see the link 2 in Figure 5-2). PTP is used because PTP also supports trunking PortChannels.

Note The TF-TNP port link between a third-party NPV core and a Cisco NPV switch is established using the EVFP protocol.

•A Fibre Channel VSAN is called Virtual Fabric and uses a VF_ID in place of the VSAN ID. By default, the VF_ID is 1 for all ports. When an N port supports trunking, a pWWN is defined for each VSAN and called a logical pWWN. In the case of MDS core switches, the pWWNs for which the N port requests additional FC_IDs are called virtual pWWNs.

Trunking Protocols

The trunking protocol is important for trunking operations on the ports. The protocols enable the following activities:

•Dynamic negotiation of operational trunk mode.

•Selection of a common set of trunk-allowed VSANs.

•Detection of a VSAN mismatch across an ISL.

Table 5-1specifies the protocols used for trunking and channeling.

	Cisco MDS 9000 Family NX-OS Interfaces Configuration Guide
OL-29284-01, Release 6.x		5-3