Cisco MDS 9000 Series Configuration Guide

• The device alias application uses the Cisco Fabric Services (CFS) infrastructure to enable efficient
database management and distribution. Device aliases use the coordinated distribution mode and the
fabric-wide distribution scope (refer to the Cisco MDS 9000 Family NX-OS System Management
Configuration Guide ).
• When you configure zones, IVR zones, or QoS features using device aliases, and if you display these
configurations, you will automatically see that the device aliases are displayed along with their respective
pWWNs.
Device Alias Requirements
Device aliases have the following requirements:
• You can only assign device aliases to pWWNs.
• The mapping between the pWWN and the device alias to which it is mapped must have a one-to-one
relationship. A pWWN can be mapped to only one device alias and vice versa.
• A device alias name is restricted to 64 alphanumeric characters and may include one or more of the
following characters:
• a to z and A to Z
• 1 to 9
• - (hyphen) and _ (underscore)
• $ (dollar sign) and ^ (up caret)
If the device-alias name is 64 characters in length, the DPVM and other application databases do not update
properly. Restrict the number of characters in the device-alias name to 63.
Note
Zone Aliases Versus Device Aliases
Table 14: Comparison Between Zone Aliases and Device Aliases , on page 160 compares the configuration
differences between zone-based alias configuration and device alias configuration.
Table 14: Comparison Between Zone Aliases and Device Aliases
Device AliasesZone-Based Aliases
You can define device aliases without specifying the VSAN
number. You can also use the same definition in one or more
VSANs without any restrictions.
Aliases are limited to the specified VSAN.
Device aliases can be used with any feature that uses the pWWN.Zone aliases are part of the zoning configuration. The alias
mapping cannot be used to configure other features.
Only pWWNs are supported along with new device aliases such
as IP addresses.
You can use any zone member type to specify the end devices.
Device aliases are not restricted to zoning. Device alias
configuration is available to the FCNS, zone, fcping, traceroute,
and IVR applications.
Configuration is contained within the Zone Server database and
is not available to other features.
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Fabric Configuration Guide, Release 8.x
160
Distributing Device Alias Services
Device Alias Requirements

Cisco MDS 9000 Series Specifications

General

Category	Switch
Operating System	Cisco NX-OS
Ports	Varies by model
Protocols	Fibre Channel (FC), Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP), iSCSI
Redundancy	Redundant supervisors, power supplies, and fans
Management	Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM), CLI, SNMP
Virtualization Support	VSANs (Virtual SANs)
Security Features	Fibre Channel Security Protocol (FC-SP)
Hot Swappable Components	power supplies, fans
Power Supply Options	AC and DC options available