DCFM Enterprise User Manual (53-1001775-01, June 2010)

DCFM Enterprise User Manual 243

53-1001775-01

High integrity fabrics

The High Integrity Fabric (HIF) mode option automatically enables features and operating

parameters that are necessary in multiswitch Enterprise Fabric environments. When HIF is

enabled, each switch in the fabric automatically enforces a number of security-related features

including Fabric Binding, Switch Binding, Insistent Domain IDs, and Domain Register for State

Change Notifications (RSCNs).

For Pure Fabric OS fabrics, HIF activates the Switch Connection Control (SCC) policy, sets Insistent

Domain ID, and sets the Fabric Wide Consistency Policy (FWCP) for SCC in strict mode.

For mixed Fabric OS and M-EOS fabrics:

• For Fabric OS switches, HIF activates the SCC policy, sets Insistent Domain ID, and sets the

FWCP for SCC in tolerant mode.

• For M-EOS switches, HIF activates Enterprise Fabric Mode, Fabric Binding, Switch Binding,

Insistent Domain ID, and RSCNs.

Activating HIF mode enables the following features:

• Fabric Binding (M-EOS only). Allows or prohibits switches from merging with a selected fabric.

NOTE

NOTE: Fabric Binding cannot be disabled while HIF is active even if the switch is offline.

• Switch Binding (M-EOS only). This feature, enabled through a device’s Element Manager,

allows or prohibits switches from connecting to switch E_Ports and devices from connecting to

F_Ports.

NOTE

NOTE: Switch binding can be disabled while Enterprise Fabric Mode is active if the switch is

offline.

• Switch Connection Control (Fabric OS only). This feature, enabled through a device’s Element

Manager, prevents unauthorized switches from joining a fabric.

• Fabric Wide Consistency Policy (Fabric OS only). This feature makes sure that switches in the

fabric enforce the same policies.

• Domain RSCNs (M-EOS only). This feature, enabled through a device’s Element Manager,

indicates that an event occurred to a switch in a fabric. The only cause would be a switch

entering or leaving the fabric. Notifications are sent fabric-wide and are not constrained by a

zone set. Domain RSCNs are not sent between end-devices.

• Insistent Domain ID (Fabric OS and M-EOS). This feature, enabled through a device’s Element

Manager, sets the domain ID as the active domain identification when the fabric initializes.

When Insistent Domain ID is enabled, the switch isolates itself from the fabric if the preferred

domain ID is not assigned as the switch’s domain ID.