2024年6月5日发(作者：)

Send documentation comments to mdsfeedback-doc@

CHAPTER

13

Configuring N Port Virtualization

N Port virtualization (NPV) reduces the number of Fibre Channel domain IDs in SANs. Switches

operatingintheNPVmodedonotjoinafabric;rather,theypasstrafficbetweenNPVcoreswitchlinks

and end devices, which eliminates the domain IDs for these edge switches.

NPV is supported by the following Cisco MDS 9000 switches only:

•

•

•

•

Cisco MDS 9124 Multilayer Fabric Switch

Cisco MDS 9134 Fabric Switch

Cisco Fabric Switch for HP c-Class BladeSystem

Cisco Fabric Switch for IBM BladeCenter

Note

NPV is available on these switches only while in NPV mode; if in switch mode, NPV is not available.

This chapter includes the following sections:

•

•

•

•

About NPV, page 13-1

NPV Guidelines and Requirements, page 13-5

Configuring NPV, page 13-6

Verifying NPV, page 20-8Verifying NPV, page 13-8

About NPV

Typically,FibreChannelnetworksaredeployedusingacore-edgemodelwithalargenumberoffabric

r,asthenumberofportsinthefabricincreases,thenumber

of switches deployed also increases, and you can end up with a dramatic increase in the number of

domainIDs(themaximumnumbersupportedis239).Thischallengebecomesevenmoredifficultwhen

additional blade chassis are deployed in Fibre Channel networks.

NPVaddressestheincreaseinthenumberofdomainIDsneededtodeployalargenumberoftheports

by making a fabric or module switch appear as a host to the core Fibre Channel switch, and as a Fibre

regatesmultiplelocallyconnected

NportsintooneormoreexternalNPlinks,whichsharesthedomainIDoftheNPVcoreswitchamong

multiple NPV switches (seeFigure13-1). NPV also allows multiple devices to attach to the same port

on the NPV core switch, thereby reducing the need for more ports on the core.

Cisco MDS 9000 Family CLI Configuration Guide

OL-8222-08, Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release 3.x

13-1

Chapter13 Configuring N Port Virtualization

About NPV

Send documentation comments to mdsfeedback-doc@

Figure13-1Cisco NPV Fabric Configuration

NP