Send documentation comments to mdsfeedback-doc@cisco.com.
19-2
Cisco MDS 9000 Family Fabric Manager Configuration Guide
OL-6965-03, Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release 2.x
Chapter 19 FCIP Configuration
FCIP Configuration

Configuring a Basic Gigabit Ethernet Interface

To configure the general characteristics of a Gigabit Ethernet interface, follow these steps:
Step 1 From Fabric Manager, choose Switches > Interfaces > Gigabit Ethernet in the Physical Attributes
pane. You see the Gigabit Ethernet configuration in the Information pane.
From Device Manager, right-click the Gigabit Ethernet port that you want to configure and choose
Configure.... You see the Gigabit Ethernet configuration dialog box.
Step 2 Click the General tab in Fabric Manager, or click the GigE tab in Device Manager to display the general
configuration options for the interface.
Step 3 Set the description and MTU value for the interface. The valid value for the MTU field can be a number
in the range from 576 to 9000.
Step 4 Set Admin up or down and check the CDP check box if you want this interface to participate in CDP.
Step 5 Set IpAddress/Mask with the IP address and subnet mask for this interface.
Step 6 From Fabric Manager, click the Apply Changes icon to save these changes, or click the Undo Changes
icon to discard changes.
From Device Manager, click Apply to save these changes, or click Close to discard changes and close
the Gigabit Ethernet configuration dialog box.

FCIP Configuration

The Fibre Channel over IP Protocol (FCIP) is a tunneling protocol that connects geographically
distributed Fibre Channel storage area networks (SAN islands) transparently over IP local area networks
(LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), and wide area networks (WANs). See Figure 19-1.
Figure 19-1 Fibre Channel SANs Connected by FCIP
FCIP uses TCP as a network layer transport.

FCIP and VE Ports

Figure 19-2 describes the internal model of FCIP with respect to Fibre Channel Inter-Switch Links
(ISLs) and Cisco's enhanced ISLs (EISLs).
FCIP virtual E (VE) ports behave exactly like standard Fibre Channel E ports, except that the transport
in this case is FCIP instead of Fibre Channel. The only requirement is that the other end of the FCIP link
be another VE port.
Fibre
Channel
fabric
Fibre
Channel
fabric
Switch 2 Switch 3 Switch 4
WAN
IP router IP router
Virtual (E)ISL
91556
Switch 1