How to Create FICON VSAN across Inter Switch
Links (ISL) on CISCO MDS SAN switches
Large
Mainframe environments may have requirements for installing multiple CISCO MDS
SAN switches to accommodate the port capacity requirements. Alternatively,
there may be requirements to extend the ISLs to a second site for disaster recovery
purposes. In these cases, it may be required to create VSANs across multiple
switches. Mainframe FICON VSANs have special configuration requirements to
establish inter VSAN communication. Following the steps below you can create a FICON
VSAN across Inter Switch Links (ISL) on CISCO MDS SAN switches.
This post
assumes that the protocol or communication is FC and the fiber patch leads are
available for attachment to the switch ports. Any work required to complete the
connectivity between the switches whether it is cabling or establishing a DWDM
link to another site must be taken care prior to attempting the steps below.
The following
example configuration will be using “switch_1” port 1/1 and “switch_2” 1/1 for
establishing the ISLs and configuring FICON VSAN “101”.
1. Login to switch_1 and disable switch
port 1/1
config t
interface fc1/1
shut
exit
2. Move port 1/1 to VSAN 1. The
physical ISL port must be in VSAN 1. VSAN 101 is going to be created using the
ISL links which are in the default VSAN – VSAN1.
3. Set the switch port rate mode, trunk
mode and name the port
config t
interface fc1/1
switchport rate mode dedicated
switchport trunk mode on
switchport description ISL_to_switch_2
4. Connect the FC cable to switch port
1/1
5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 on switch_2
6. Enable port 1/1 on switch_1
config t
interface fc1/1
no shut
exit
7. Repeat step 6 on switch_2
8. Create VSAN 101 on switch_1
config t
vsan database
vsan 101
exit
9. Set static FC domain ID for VSAN 101.
Example below uses DID 101. Ensure that the DID is unique in the fabric and is
not used elsewhere. Static domain IDs are required for FICON VSAN
config t
fcdomain domain 101 static vsan 101
fcdomain restart disruptive vsan 101
exit
10. Set the load balancing for VSAN 101
to “src-dst-id”, mandatory for enabling FICON VSAN feature
config t
vsan database
vsan 101 loadbalancing src-dst-id
exit
11. Set the “in-order-gurantee” for VSAN 101 required for FICON VSANs
config t
In-order-gurantee vsan 101
exit
12. Enable fabric binding for VSAN 101,
mandatory for enabling FICON VSAN feature
config t
fabric-binding activate vsan 101
exit
13. Now enable FICON protocol on VSAN
101
config t
ficon vsan 101
exit
14. Repeat steps 8 to 13 on switch_2. Use
the same VSAN ID as switch_1 (101) and different domain ID (102) (unique in the
fabric) for switch_2
15.
Identify the switch wwn of switch_1
show wwn switch
16. Repeat step 15 on switch_2
17.
Update fabric binding in switch_1 to include the remote switch WWN
config t
fabric-binding database vsan 101
swwn <wwn of remote switch>
domain 102 (this is the domain ID of remote switch)
fabric-binding database activate
vsan 101
18. Repeat steps 17 on switch_2, use the
swwn and domain id of switch_1
19. Suspend and restart VSAN 101 on switch_1
config t
vsan database
suspend vsan 101
no suspend vsan 101
exit
20. Repeat step 19 on switch_2
21. Check and confirm VSAN 101 is
spanning across sites
fcdomain vsan 101
22. Copy running configuration to
startup configuration on switch_1
copy run start
23. Repeat step 22 on switch_2
This
concludes the procedure How to Create FICON VSAN across Inter Switch Links
(ISL) on CISCO MDS SAN switches
Prasanth ---- This was very good! As such is there a way that you can share your e-mail so that I can pose some direct questions.
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