Cabling Considerations for Fabric Port Channels
Whenyou configure the links between the Cisco UCS 2200 Series IOM and a Cisco UCS 6200 series fabric
interconnectin fabric port channel mode, the available VIF namespace on the adapter varies depending on
wherethe IOM uplinks are connected to the fabric interconnect ports.
Insidethe 6248 fabric interconnect there are six sets of eight contiguous ports, with each set of ports managed
bya single chip. When uplinks are connected such that all of the uplinks from an IOM are connected to a set
ofports managed by a single chip, Cisco UCS Manager maximizes the number of VIFs used in service profiles
deployedon the blades in the chassis. If uplink connections from an IOM are distributed across ports managed
byseparate chips, the VIF count is decreased.
Figure 1: Port Groups for Fabric Port Channels
Addingor removing links from a fabric port channel is disruptive and may affect the available amount of
VIFnamespace.
Caution
Forhigh availability cluster mode applications, symmetric cabling configurations are strongly recommended.
Ifthe cabling is asymmetric, the maximum number of VIFs available is the smaller of the two cabling
configurations.
Formore information on the maximum number of VIFs for your Cisco UCS environment, see the configuration
limitsdocument for your for your hardware and software configuration.
Configuring a Fabric Port Channel
Procedure
Step 1 Toinclude all links from the IOM to the fabric interconnect in a fabric port channel during chassis discovery,
setthe link grouping preference in the chassis discovery policy to port channel.
Configuringthe Chassis Discovery Policy, onpage 242
Step 2 Toinclude links from individual chassis in a fabric port channel during chassis discovery,set the link grouping
preferencein the chassis connectivity policy to port channel.
Configuringa Chassis Connectivity Policy, on page 243
Step 3 Afterchassis discovery, enable or disable additional fabric port channel member ports.
Enablingor Disabling a Fabric Port Channel Member Port, on page 110
Cisco UCS Manager GUI Configuration Guide, Release 2.0
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Fabric Port Channels