Re: Cisco with other vendor switch

mariangcisco · ‎03-27-2005

HI, I will have three MDS switches connected together in triangle, using portchannel (2-4 links in portchannel) to connect them. There will be 3 or 4 VSANs. I have to connect Brocade switch to one of them and allow servers connected to Brocade to access storage connected to remote MDS (not the one where Brocade is conected to). It will access only one of VSANs. I want to use soft zones. What are the pitfalls ? How do I set which VSAN it will be connected to ? By assigning T port to VSAN ? Do I need to set VSAN to interop mode ? I don't plan to use any Cisco-only features (besides VSAN).

Thank you

dmcloon · ‎03-27-2005

MDS only implements hard zoning. This is independent of whether the Brocade is doing hard or soft zoning.

You should configure the MDS interface connecting to Brocade as an E port rather than TE. Assign the E port interface to the VSAN that also contains the storage. If the storage is not in same VSAN as Brocade, you can use MDS Inter-VSAN Routing (IVR) feature (licensed). The Brocade will have no awareness that MDS is doing IVR.

The interop mode you choose on the MDS will depend on model of Brocade switch/current PID setting and whether or not you wish to run the Brocade in 'native mode'. If the Brocade is going to be connected long term to the MDS fabric (versus a migration), I would run the VSAN in interop mode 1 and the Brocade in 'interop mode'. I strongly recommend you consult our switch to switch interop guide,

http://cco.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/us/guest/products/ps4358/c1683/ccmigration_09186a00802c9986.pdf

mariangcisco · ‎04-04-2005

I looked at this document and have another question. There is a section specificaly talking about connecting to IBM Bladecenter which is my case. It is stated there, interoperability mode is not needed, but they talk about QLogic switch inside Bladecenter, I have Brocade there. Can I run without compatibility mode ?

Roman Rodichev · ‎03-27-2005

what model of the brocade switch?

mariangcisco · ‎03-28-2005

It is H16-like Brocade switch in Blade Center.

mariangcisco · ‎04-05-2005

I looked at this document and have another question. There is a section specificaly talking about connecting to IBM Bladecenter which is my case. It is stated there, interoperability mode is not needed, but they talk about QLogic switch inside Bladecenter, I have Brocade there. Can I run without compatibility mode ?

tblancha · ‎04-05-2005

No, you will need to run in interop mode to a BladeCenter with Brocade. The Qlogic Bladecenters are not required to be in interop mode.

mariangcisco · ‎04-05-2005

And which interop mode would you advise 1 or 2 ? And is it necessary to set interop mode on brocade too ?

mrfrase · ‎04-06-2005

I did not see what sw firmware release you are running on the FC switch in the Bladecenter but for Brocade switch module runing 4.2.1 firmware we recommendation is to run interop mode on brocade switch and on MDS use interop Mode 1.

Other information about IBM Bladecenter interop with MDS can be found at: http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/us/guest/products/ps4358/c1683/ccmigration_09186a00802c9986.pdf

Section 12