DCFM Professional Plus User Manual (53-1001774-01, June 2010)

242 DCFM Professional Plus User Manual

53-1001774-01

High integrity fabric requirements

The term high integrity fabric (HIF) refers to a set of strict, consistent, fabric-wide policies. There are

several specific configuration requirements for high integrity fabrics:

• Insistent domain ID (IDID) must be enabled in the participating switches.

• Port-based routing must be used on the participating switches.

• A policy must be set that limits connectivity to only the switches within the same fabric. Fabric

binding is a security method for restricting switches that may join a fabric. For Fabric OS

switches, fabric binding is implemented by defining a switch connection control (SCC) policy

that prevents unauthorized switches from joining a fabric.

• Switch binding is a more secure alternative to fabric binding. It is a security method for

restricting devices that connect to a particular switch. Switch binding is available only on

M-EOS switches and directors. Switch binding has two options: restrict all, and restrict

switches only. Switch binding should only be implemented in FICON environments with the

switch restriction only. The difference between switch binding and fabric binding is that with

fabric binding a defined switch can join the fabric by connecting to any switch in the fabric

while with switch binding the new switch can only join by connecting to a specific switch in the

fabric.

• Dynamic Load Sharing (DLS) should be disabled. If DLS is not disabled, DLS automatically

adjusts routes when a new ISL is added, and when an ISL is taken offline and brought online

again. This process may result in dropped frames.

NOTE

Port binding is a security method for restricting devices that connect to particular switch ports. Port

binding should never be used in FICON environments. The FICON channel cannot be added to the

port binding list.

Activating high integrity fabrics

To activate a HIF, complete the following steps.

1. Select Configure > High Integrity Fabric.

The High Integrity Fabric dialog box displays.

FIGURE 88 High Integrity Fabric dialog box