Cisco MDS 9000 Series Configuration Guide

This section includes the following topics:
About Interop Mode
Cisco NX-OS software supports the following four interop modes:
• Mode 1— Standards based interop mode that requires all other vendors in the fabric to be in interop
mode.
• Mode 2—Brocade native mode (Core PID 0).
• Mode 3—Brocade native mode (Core PID 1).
• Mode 4—McData native mode.
For information about configuring interop modes 2, 3, and 4, refer to the Cisco MDS 9000 Family
Switch-to-Switch Interoperability Configuration Guide .
Table 26: Changes in Switch Behavior When Interoperability Is Enabled , on page 310 lists the changes in
switch behavior when you enable interoperability mode. These changes are specific to switches in the Cisco
MDS 9000 Family while in interop mode.
Table 26: Changes in Switch Behavior When Interoperability Is Enabled
Changes if Interoperability Is EnabledSwitch Feature
Some vendors cannot use the full range of 239 domains within a fabric.
Domain IDs are restricted to the range 97-127. This is to accommodate McData’s
nominal restriction to this same range. They can either be set up statically (the
Cisco MDS switch accept only one domain ID, if it does not get that domain ID
it isolates itself from the fabric) or preferred. (If it does not get its requested domain
ID, it accepts any assigned domain ID.)
Domain IDs
All Fibre Channel timers must be the same on all switches as these values are
exchanged by E ports when establishing an ISL. The timers are F_S_TOV,
D_S_TOV, E_D_TOV, and R_A_TOV.
Timers
Verify that the Fabric Stability Time Out Value timers match exactly.F_S_TOV
Verify that the Distributed Services Time Out Value timers match exactly.D_S_TOV
Verify that the Error Detect Time Out Value timers match exactly.E_D_TOV
Verify that the Resource Allocation Time Out Value timers match exactly.R_A_TOV
Trunking is not supported between two different vendor’s switches. This feature
may be disabled on a per port or per switch basis.
Trunking
The default zone behavior of permit (all nodes can see all other nodes) or deny
(all nodes are isolated when not explicitly placed in a zone) may change.
Default zone
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Fabric Configuration Guide, Release 8.x
310
Advanced Features and Concepts
About Interop Mode

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