Fabric OS Administrator's Guide v7.0.0 (53-1002148-02, June 2011)

436 Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide
53-1002148-02
EX_Port trunking
21
FIGURE 71 ICL trunking between two Brocade DCX 8510-8 platforms
See the hardware reference manuals for information about port numbering and connecting the ICL
cables.
ICL trunking on the Brocade DCX and DCX-4S
On the Brocade DCX and DCX-4S, trunks are automatically formed on the ICLs, The ICLs are
managed the same as ISL trunks.
• On the Brocade DCX, each ICL is managed as two 8-port ISL trunks.
• On the Brocade DCX-4S, each ICL is managed as one 8-port ISL trunk.
Follow the guidelines in the hardware reference manuals for connecting the ICL cables.
EX_Port trunking
You can configure EX_Ports to use trunking just as you do regular E_Ports. EX_Port trunking
support is designed to provide the best utilization and balance of frames transmitted on each link
between the FC router and the edge fabric. You should trunk all ports connected to the same edge
fabrics.
The FC router front domain has a higher node WWN—derived from the FC router—than that of the
edge fabric. Therefore, the FC router front domain initiates the trunking protocol on the EX_Port.
After initiation, the first port from the trunk group that comes online is designated as the master
port. The other ports that come online on the trunk group are considered the slave ports. Adding or
removing a slave port does not cause frame drop; however, removing a slave port causes the loss
of frames in transit.
The restrictions for EX_Port frame trunking are the same as for E_Ports—all the ports must be
adjacent to each other using the clearly marked groups on the front of the product.
ATTENTION
This feature should be enabled only if the entire configuration is running Fabric OS v5.2.0 or later.