Users Guide
Figure 98. NPIV Proxy Gateway Example
An S5000 FC port is congured as an N (node) port that logs in to an F (fabric) port on the upstream FC core switch and creates a
channel for N-port identier virtualization. NPIV allows multiple N-port fabric logins at the same time on a single, physical Fibre
Channel link.
Converged Network Adapter (CNA) ports on servers connect to S5000 Ten-Gigabit Ethernet ports and log in to an upstream FC
core switch through the S5000 N port. Server fabric login (FLOGI) requests are converted into fabric discovery (FDISC) requests
before the S5000 forwards them to the FC core switch.
Servers use CNA ports to connect over FCoE to an Ethernet port in ENode mode on the NPIV proxy gateway. FCoE transit with FIP
snooping is automatically enabled and congured on the S5000 gateway to prevent unauthorized access and data transmission to
the SAN network (see FCoE Transit). Server CNAs use FIP to discover an S5000 FCoE switch operating as an FCoE forwarder
(FCF).
The NPIV proxy gateway aggregates multiple locally connected server CNA ports into one or more upstream N port links, conserving
the number of ports required on an upstream FC core switch while providing an FCoE-to-FC bridging functionality. The upstream N
ports on an S5000 can connect to the same or multiple fabrics.
Using an FCoE map applied to downstream (server-facing) Ethernet ports and upstream (fabric-facing) FC ports, you can congure
the association between a SAN fabric and the FCoE VLAN that connects servers over the NPIV proxy gateway to FC switches in
the fabric. An FCoE map virtualizes the upstream SAN fabric as an FCF to downstream CNA ports on FCoE-enabled servers as
follows:
• As soon as an FC N port comes online (the no shutdown command), the NPG starts sending FIP multicast advertisements,
which contain the fabric name derived from the 64-bit worldwide name (WWN) of the principal SAN switch. (The principal
switch in a fabric is the FC switch with the lowest domain ID.)
NPIV Proxy Gateway
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