HP Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch for HP BladeSystem p-Class - Manual (Page 225)

Fabric OS 5.0.0 procedures user guide 225
C Using Remote Switch
The HP Remote Switch feature is available as part of the Fabric OS standard feature set through the use
of the
portcfgislmode
command, which is described under ” Linking through a gateway ” on
page 32. For those who use Remote Switch as part of their legacy set of tools, this appendix contains a
description and procedure for the feature.
Remote Switch, enables you to connect two remote HP StorageWorks switches over an IP network,
enabling communication of IP or ATM protocols as well as Fibre Channel traffic.
The HP Remote Switch feature functions with the aid of a bridging device or Fibre Channel gateway. The
gateway supports both a Fibre Channel physical interface and a secondary, non-Fibre Channel physical
interface, such as IP, SONET, or ATM. Remote Switch functions over E_Port connections. With Remote
Switch on both fabrics, the gateway accepts Fibre Channel frames from one fabric, tunnels them across
the network, and passes them to the other fabric. From the viewpoint of the connected hosts and storage
devices, fabrics using Remote Switch interact the same as locally connected switches.
Remote Switch provides many of the same capabilities of normal ISL links including,
• Coordinated fabric services
The Remote Switch fabric configuration fully supports all fabric services, including distributed name
service, registered state change notification, and alias service.
• Distributed management
Management tools such as Advanced Web Tools, Fabric OS, and SNMP are available from both the
local switch and the remote switch. Switch management is routed through the Fibre Channel
connection; thus, no additional network connection is required between sites.
• Support for interswitch links (ISLs)
Sites requiring redundant configurations can connect multiple E_Ports to remote sites by using multiple
gateways. Standard Fabric OS routing facilities automatically maximize throughput and provide
automatic failover during interruption on the WAN connection.
The Remote Switch feature operates in conjunction with a gateway. The gateway provides an E_Port
interface that links to the HP StorageWorks E_Port. After the link between the two E_Ports has been
negotiated, the gateway E_Port moves to passthrough mode and passes Fibre Channel traffic from the HP
StorageWorks E_Port to the WAN.
The gateway accepts Fibre Channel frames from one side of a Remote Switch fabric, transfers them
across a WAN, and passes them to the other side of the Remote Switch fabric.
Remote Switch can be used for these types of gateway devices:
• Fibre Channel over ATM
• Fibre Channel over IP
• Fibre Channel over SONET
• Fibre Channel over DWDM
Most of these gateway devices have enough buffers to cover data transfer over a wide area
network (WAN). The HP StorageWorks switches on each side of the gateway must have identical
configurations. Only qualified SFPs should be used.