Connecting To Upstream SAN Switch

[thehxman101]

I am having an issue getting a green light on the 6248 interconnect (FC end-host mode) and upstream FC IBM/Brocade switch (currently 4GB port speed).

On the 6248 side I have an 8G SFP (Cisco DS-SFP-FC8G-SW), and 4GB SFP's in the upstream SAN switch. The 6248 ports attached to the FC switch are configured as uplink ports? What other steps are necessary for the interconnects to see the EMC VNX storage array?

Thanks

[kg6itcraig]

Attaching to Brocade there is no need for a vSAN. You cannot to Port-Channel etc, and some of the other features that are possible when connecting to a FC port on another Cisco device. Still, I like Brocade SAN switches better

You need to make a PIN Group per connection on each FI. So ya lame thing is you cannot get more that 1 port per FI available to a dual vHBA blade.

Two complete a dual fabric make two PIN groups (one if you only are connection 1 FI of course).

Under SAN tab create PIN Groups (Note to bind each to one fabirc only if you are a dual fabric).

Than create a corresponding vHBA template to match each PIN Group. Note that you select a PIN Group in the template.

Also you need to create WWPN and WWN pools. I like to create an equal number of WWPN & WWN for each SAN. I usually put an "A" on one side and a "B" on the other.

Then well Zoning etc on the Brocade side.

Hope this helps.

Craig

[Tom MacDonald · Accepted solution]

Before any of that I found out you must configure the ports on the interconnects as FC ports and not ethernet ports by clicking on "Configure Unified Ports" on the Gereral tab for each interconnect and adjusting the slider, then select the ports (right click).... At least that was my issue... lol

Happy UCS'ing.....

[Robert Burns]

Craig,

Why do you say you need to use FC pin groups?  As long as your brocade zoning is done via WWPN, there should be no issue being operational without pin groups.  As you know you cant use FC Port Channels, so each FC link would be treated as individual and vNIC on the corresponding FI would be dynamically pinned by UCSM in a RR fashion.

I highly press against using pin groups.  Let the system disperse the traffic and remove the potential for human error, unless you are specifically doing traffic engineering for a specific type of traffic (ie. Backup network etc).

Regards,

Robert

[rewilkin]

I agree with Rob 100%, there is no need for PIN groups in this configuration. Just ensure the ports are enabled correctly.

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

[kg6itcraig]

Thanks all, think I need to "get over" my love of PIN Groups. Will try this out in the lab, I didn't know it would work without PIN groups. Learned something from this.

Craig