6 C-series switches and fabric rules
This chapter describes the C-series Fibre Channel and FCoE switches and the fabric rules for building
C-series fabrics. It describes the following topics:
• C-series Fibre Channel switches, page 135
• Fibre Channel switch fabric rules, page 146
• C-series FCoE CN switches, page 151
• Fabric rules for C-series Nexus 5000 Converged Network Switches, page 153
NOTE:
See “SAN fabric connectivity and switch interoperability rules” on page 167 for information about
using switches from the different series in the same SAN or fabric.
C-series Fibre Channel switches
C-series Fibre Channel switches:
• Can be core or edge switches. When configured in a core-edge topology, a core switch typically
connects to other switches in the SAN; an edge switch typically connects to servers and storage.
• MDS 9506, MDS 9509, and MDS 9513 Director switches can accommodate various Fibre
Channel Switching Modules, IP Storage Services Modules (IPS), a Multiprotocol Services Module,
a Multiservice Module, and a Storage Services Module (SSM).
• The 16-port 2 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module is recommended for enterprise-level host
connections, storage connections, and ISL connections.
• The 32-port 2 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module uses 3.2:1 internal oversubscription and
is recommended for low- to mid-range host connections and tape device connections.
• The 12-port 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module is recommended for high-performance
4 Gb/s enterprise-level host connections, storage connections, and ISL connections.
• The 24-port 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module uses 2:1 internal oversubscription across
four 6-port port groups and is recommended for 4 Gb/s enterprise-level mid-range host and
storage connections.
• The 48-port 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module uses 4:1 internal oversubscription across
four 12-port port groups and is recommended for 4 Gb/s low-range host connections and
tape devices connections.
• The 4-port 10 Gb/s Fibre Channel Switching Module is ideal for ultrahigh-bandwidth ISL
connectivity and inter-data center connection over a metropolitan optical infrastructure.
• IPS modules, Multiprotocol Services Modules, and Multiservice Modules provide MDS iSCSI
and FCIP functionality:
• IPS-4 and IPS-8 provide 4 and 8 GbE IP ports, respectively.
• The 14/2 Multiprotocol Services Module provides 14 2 Gb/s Fibre Channel ports and 2
GbE IP ports.
SAN Design Reference Guide 135
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