Brocade Fabric OS Administrators Guide (Supporting Fabric OS v7.3.0) - Manual (Page 535)

For the Brocade Backbone families, the backbones have a limit of 128 EX_Ports for each chassis.
Refer to the Network OS Administration Guide for supported Network OS platforms.
Supported configurations for FC-FC routing
FC-FC routing supports the following configurations:
• FC router connected to a Fabric OS nonsecured edge fabric.
• FC router connected to a Fabric OS secured edge fabric.
• FC router connected to a Brocade Network OS edge fabric (Network OS v2.1.1 or later).
• FC router connected to an M-EOS Open Mode edge fabric.
• FC router connected to an M-EOS Fabric Mode edge fabric.
• FC router interoperating with legacy FC routers (Brocade 7500 switch).
In configurations with two backbone fabrics connected to the same edge fabric, routing is not supported
between edge fabrics that are not directly attached to the same backbone fabric. Routing over multiple
backbone fabrics is a multi-hop topology and is not allowed.
In an edge fabric that contains a mix of administrative domain (AD)-capable switches and switches that
are not aware of AD, the FC router must be connected directly to an AD-capable switch. For more
information, refer to
Use of Admin Domains with LSAN zones and FC-FC routing on page 559.
VEX edge to VEX edge device sharing is not supported.
Network OS connectivity limitations
You should be aware of the following configuration limitations for Network OS connectivity:
• All of the platforms listed in Supported platforms for FC-FC routing on page 534 support FC-FC
routing to a Brocade Network OS fabric, except for the Brocade Encryption Switch.
• VEX_Ports do not support Network OS connectivity.
• FCoE devices connected to an FCOE10-24 blade cannot communicate with FCoE devices in the
Network OS fabric.
• If Admin Domains are enabled, connectivity between the Fabric OS fabric and a Brocade Network
OS fabric is not supported.
• Connectivity between a Brocade Network OS fabric and an M-EOS fabric is not supported.
Fibre Channel routing concepts
Fibre Channel routing introduces the following concepts:
• Fibre Channel router (FC router)
A switch running the FC-FC routing service. Refer to Supported platforms for FC-FC routing on page
534 for a list of platforms that can be FC routers.
• EX_Port and VEX_Port
An EX_Port and VEX_Port function similarly to an E_Port and VE_Port respectively, but terminate at
the switch and do not propagate fabric services or routing topology information from one edge fabric
to another. Refer to the Fabric OS FCIP Administrator's Guide for details about VE_Ports.
• Edge fabric
An edge fabric is a Fibre Channel fabric with targets and initiators connected through the supported
platforms by using an EX_Port or VEX_Port.
Supported configurations for FC-FC routing
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