Table Of Contents

Preface

Purpose

Audience

Organization

Document Conventions

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

Preface

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This preface describes the purpose, audience, organization, and conventions of the Cisco MDS 9000 Family Switch-to-Switch Interoperability Configuration Guide. It also explains how to obtain related documentation.

Purpose

This document provides a reference for the configuration and implementation of interoperable fabrics using the Cisco MDS 9000 Family of multilayer directors and fabric switches. It focuses on interoperability modes and their effects on a fabric. In addition to the Cisco MDS 9000 Family, this document also describes McData and Brocade devices, and includes examples and sample configurations for setting up a multivendor fabric.

The configurations and components used in this guide have been tested and validated by Cisco Solution-Interoperability Engineering to support risk-free deployment of fabrics using the Cisco MDS 9000 Family of multilayer directors and fabric switches.

Audience

This document is designed for use by Cisco TAC, sales, support engineers, professional service partners, systems administrators, and others who are responsible for the design and deployment of storage area networks in the data center environment.

Organization

This guide is organized as follows:

Chapter	Title	Description
Chapter 1	Interoperability Overview	Describes interoperability and the MDS 9000 Family interoperability modes, and the Fibre Channel features that are affected by interoperability.
Chapter 2	Interoperability Limitations	Describes the restrictions and limitations imposed on specific vendor switches when working in interoperabilty mode.
Chapter 3	MDS 9000 Core with Brocade Edge Topology (Interop Mode 1)	Describes how to set up a basic core-edge topology with MDS 9000 switches (configured for interop mode 1) and Brocade switches.
Chapter 4	MDS 9000 Core with Brocade and McData Edge Topology (Interop Mode 1)	Describes how to set up a basic core-edge topology with MDS 9000 switches (configured for interop mode 1), Brocade switches, and McData switches.
Chapter 5	MDS 9000 Switch and McData Dual Core Topology (Interop Mode 1)	Describes how to set up a basic dual core topology with MDS 9000 switches (configured for interop mode 1) and McData 6064 switches.
Chapter 6	MDS 9000 Core with Brocade 5300/7800 Edge Topology	Describes how to set up a basic core-edge topology with MDS 9000 switches (configured for interop mode 1) and Brocade 5300/7800 switches.
Chapter 7	MDS 9000 Legacy Switch Interop Mode 2	Describes how to set up a basic legacy switch interop mode 2 topology with two Cisco MDS 9000 switches and two Brocade switches in a serial topology.
Chapter 8	MDS 9000 Legacy Switch Interop Mode 3	Describes how to set up a basic legacy switch interop mode 3 topology with Cisco MDS SAN-OS VSANs and Brocade 16 port switches.
Chapter 9	MDS 9000 Legacy Switch Interop Mode 4	Describes how to set up a basic legacy switch interop mode 4 topology with Cisco MDS SAN-OS VSANs and McData switches running in McData Fabric 1.0 mode.
Chapter 10	Interoperability with Inter-VSAN Routing	Describes how to set up IVR with interop mode.
Chapter 11	IBM BladeCenter	Describes how to set up MDS 9000 switches with IBM BladeCenters.
Chapter 12	Standards Perspectives	Describes the common standards that relate to interoperability.
Appendix A	Interoperability Guidelines for Non-Cisco Switches	Describes release specific behavior for certain versions of Brocade, McData, or IBM BladeCenter firmware.

Document Conventions

Command descriptions use these conventions:

Convention	Indication
boldface font	Commands and keywords are in boldface.
italic font	Arguments for which you supply values are in italics.
[ ]	Elements in square brackets are optional.
{x | y | z }	Required alternative keywords are grouped in braces and separated by vertical bars.
[ x | y | z ]	Optional alternative keywords are grouped in brackets and separated by vertical bars.
string	A nonquoted set of characters. Do not use quotation marks around the string or the string will include the quotation marks.

Screen examples use these conventions:

Convention	Indication
screen font	Terminal sessions and information the switch displays are in screen font.
boldface screen font	Information you must enter is in boldface screen font.
italic screen font	Arguments for which you supply values are in italic screen font.
< >	Nonprinting characters, such as passwords are in angle brackets.
[ ]	Default responses to system prompts are in square brackets.
!, #	An exclamation point (!) or a pound sign (#) at the beginning of a line of code indicates a comment line.

This document uses the following conventions:

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Note Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to material not covered in the manual.

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Tip Means the following information will help you solve a problem. These tips are suggested as best practices and are based on in-depth knowledge of the Cisco MDS 9000 Family platform and experience implementing SANs.

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Caution Means reader be careful. In this situation, you might do something that could result in equipment damage or loss of data.

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•Cisco DCNM Fundamentals Guide, Release 5.x

•System Management Configuration Guide, Cisco DCNM for SAN, Release 5.x

•Interfaces Configuration Guide, Cisco DCNM for SAN, Release 5.x

•Fabric Configuration Guide, Cisco DCNM for SAN, Release 5.x

•Quality of Service Configuration Guide, Cisco DCNM for SAN, Release 5.x

•Security Configuration Guide, Cisco DCNM for SAN, Release 5.x

•IP Services Configuration Guide, Cisco DCNM for SAN, Release 5.x

•Intelligent Storage Services Configuration Guide, Cisco DCNM for SAN, Release 5.x

•High Availability and Redundancy Configuration Guide, Cisco DCNM for SAN, Release 5.x

•Inter-VSAN Routing Configuration Guide, Cisco DCNM for SAN, Release 5.x

•SMI-S and Web Services Programming Guide, Cisco DCNM for SAN, Release 5.x

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see the monthly What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, at:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html

•Subscribe to the What's New in Cisco Product Documentation as a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed and set content to be delivered directly to your desktop using a reader application. The RSS feeds are a free service and Cisco currently supports RSS version 2.0.