Cisco MDS 9000 Family Release Notes for Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 5.2(2d) (OL-25090-04 A0, April 2012)

19 MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Director & Multilayer Fabric Switches Release Notes
CISCO MDS 9000 N-PORT VIRTUALIZATION (NPV) MODE
N-Port Virtualization (NPV) Mode is a software feature that can be optionally enabled on the C-series MDS
9124, MDS 9134, MDS 9124e, and SN6000C Fabric Switches. Switches operating in NPV mode do not
join a fabric; rather, they pass traffic between NPV core switch links and end devices.
NPV technology addresses the increase in the number of domain IDs needed to deploy a large number of
ports by making the MDS 9124, MDS 9134, MDS 9124e, and the SN6000C behave as a host to the core FC
switch. NPV aggregates multiple locally connected N-ports into one or more external NP link(s), which
share the domain ID of the NPV core switch. 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 switch. NPV makes use of
N-port ID virtualization (NPIV) to receive multiple FCIDs allocated from the core switch on the NP port.
Refer to the Cisco MDS 9000 Family Configuration Guide for instructions on how to configure NPV.
In addition to being supported in Cisco fabrics, NPV is supported for connectivity to B-Series and M-Series
fabrics. Refer to the hp Fabric Interoperability: Merging Fabrics Based on C-series and B-Series Fibre
Channel Switches and hp Fabric Interoperability: Merging Fabric Based on C-series and M-Series Fibre
Channel Switches for specific supported B-Series and M-Series software versions.
CISCO MDS 9000 FLEXATTACH
FlexAttach is supported on the Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch for HP c-Class BladeSystem, the Cisco
MDS 9124 switch, the Cisco MDS 9134 switch, and the SN6000C switch, when NPV mode is enabled. The
FlexAttach feature reduces the time and coordination effort required by SAN and server administrators
when installing and replacing servers. The use of FlexAttach alleviates the need for re-zoning and LUN
reconfiguration changes when a new server is installed or when an existing server needs replacement. For
information on FlexAttach, refer to the Configuring FlexAttach Virtual pWWN chapter in the Cisco MDS
9000 Family Configuration Guide.
With FlexAttach, you can perform the following tasks:
 Preconfiguration – You can pre-configure the SAN for the addition of new servers whose WWPNs
are unknown, using the virtual WWPNs. Once the servers are available, you can bring them online
and into the fabric.
 Replacement (new server) – You can replace an existing server with a new server. FlexAttach
assigns a virtual WWPN to the server port.
 Replacement (spare server) – You can bring a spare server online by moving the virtual WWPN
from the current server port to the spare server port.
 Server redeployment – You can move a server to a different NPV switch (in the same fabric or
VSAN). FlexAttach allows you to manually create and transfer virtual WWPNs from one server
port to another server port.
Note: 3
rd
party software management applications may not detect virtual pWWNs