Cisco MDS 9000 Family Fabric Manager User Guide, Release 1.1(1a) (Updated: Sep 25, 2003)
Managing Interfaces

Table Of Contents

Managing Interfaces

Managing General Port Attributes

Enabling or Disabling Ports

Managing Interface Attributes for Ports

Viewing FLOGI Attributes

Viewing Port ELP Attributes

Viewing Trunking Information

Managing Physical Attributes for a Port

Viewing Port Capability Attributes

Managing PortChannel Interfaces

Managing PortChannel General Attributes

Managing PortChannel Interface Attributes

Monitoring Port Statistics

Monitoring and Charting Traffic Statistics

Monitoring Port Traffic (Bytes)

Monitoring Port Traffic (Frames)

Monitoring Port Discards

Monitoring Port Class 2 Errors

Monitoring Port Link Errors

Monitoring Port Sequence Errors

Monitoring Port Frame Errors

Managing PortChannels


Managing Interfaces


Fabric Manager allows you to configure and monitor interfaces on multiple Cisco 9000 switches. The Device Manager allows you to configure and monitor interfaces on a single Cisco 9000 switch.

For information about interfaces and configuring them using the command-line interface (CLI), refer to the Cisco 9000 Family Configuration Guide.

Procedures for managing interfaces fall under three general categories:

Managing General Port Attributes

Managing PortChannel Interfaces

Monitoring Port Statistics

Managing General Port Attributes

To manage general port attributes, such as Alias, PortVsan, and Admin Mode from the Fabric Manager, select the Physical tab at the bottom of the screen and choos IP or FC from the menu tree.

To manage these attributes from the Device Manager, select a port, and then choose that type of port from the Interface menu. You can select FxPorts, xEPorts, Enabled Ports, All Ports, or the Mgmt Port.

The following are the different port types supported by the Cisco MDS 9000 Family.

xE ports:

An E_Port (expansion port) connects two switches and can carry frames between switches for configuration and management of the fabric for a single VSAN.

A TE_Port (trunking expansion port) allows a link between two Cisco 9000 switches to carry traffic for multiple VSANs.

Fx ports:

An F_Port (fabric port) connects to an N_Port (end node port) on a host node through a point-to-point link.

An Fl_Port (fabric loop port) connects to an NL_Port (end node loop port) on a public loop through a point-to-point link or an arbitrated loop.

A TL (translative loop) port may be connected to one or more private loop devices (NL ports). TL ports are unique to Cisco MDS 9000 Family switches and have similar properties to FL ports. The default is Auto, so the switch will autonegotiate the port speed.

For further information about port types, refer to the Cisco 9000 Family Configuration Guide.

Procedures for enabling, disabling, configuring, and viewing port attributes and statistics include:

Enabling or Disabling Ports

Managing Interface Attributes for Ports

Viewing FLOGI Attributes

Viewing Port ELP Attributes

Viewing Trunking Information

Managing Physical Attributes for a Port

Viewing Port Capability Attributes

Enabling or Disabling Ports

To enable a port, right-click on a disabled port in Device Manager and choose Enable from the pop-up menu.

To disable a port, right-click on a enabled port in Device Manager and choose Disable from the pop-up menu.

To enable or disable multiple ports, Ctrl-click each port or drag the mouse around a group of ports. Then right-click any of the selected ports and click either Enable or Disable from the pop-up menu.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Managing Interface Attributes for Ports

To manage port interface attributes from the Fabric Manager, choose Physical Interfaces from the menu tree and then choose one of the following port types to be configured:

Port Channels

xEPorts

FxPorts

Other Ports

To manage port interface attributes from the Device Manager, select a port on a module, and then choose a port type from the Interface menu.

The Fabric Manager Information pane displays interface attributes for multiple switches. The dialog box from Device Manager displays interface attributes for a single switch.

Viewing FLOGI Attributes

To view fabric login (FLOGI) attributes, such as the Fibre Channel ID (FCID), port name, and class of service for FxPorts from the Fabric Manager, choose FC > Physical Interfaces on the menu tree, and click the FLOGI tab.

To view FLOGI attributes from the Device Manager, choose FxPorts or All Ports from the Interface menu and click the FLOGI tab.

The Information pane in Fabric Manager displays attributes for multiple switches. The dialog box from Device Manager displays attributes for a single switch.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Viewing Port ELP Attributes

To monitor exchange link parameter (ELP) attributes, such as port and node world wide names and class of service from the Fabric Manager, choose FC > Physical Interfaces from the menu tree and click the ELP tab.

To monitor these attributes from the Device Manager, choose xEPorts or All Ports from the Interface menu and click the ELP tab.

The Information pane in Fabric Manager displays attributes for multiple switches. The dialog box from Device Manager displays attributes for a single switch.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Viewing Trunking Information

To monitor trunking for ports from the Fabric Manager, choose FC > Physical Interfaces from the menu tree, and then click the Trunk Status tab.

To view trunking for ports from the Device Manager, choose xEPorts from the Interface menu and then click the Trunk Status tab.

The Information pane in Fabric Manager displays attributes for multiple switches. The dialog box from Device Manager displays attributes for a single switch.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Managing Physical Attributes for a Port

To configure beacon mode and monitor physical attributes for ports from the Fabric Manager, choose Physical Interfaces from the menu tree and click the Physical tab.

To configure beacon mode and monitor physical attributes for ports from the Device Manager, choose the type of port from the Interface menu and click the Physical tab.

The Information pane in Fabric Manager displays attributes for multiple switches. The dialog box from Device Manager displays attributes for a single switch.

To enable or disable beacon mode, check the BeaconMode check box. When beacon mode is enabled, an interface LED flashes to identify the interface.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Viewing Port Capability Attributes

To monitor port capability attributes, such as buffer-to-buffer credit, hold time, and class of service from the Fabric Manager, choose Physical Interface from the menu tree and and click the Capability tab.

To monitor these attributes from the Device Manager, choose the type of port from the Interface menu and click the Capability tab.

The Information pane in Fabric Manager displays attributes for multiple switches. The dialog box from Device Manager displays attributes for a single switch.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Managing PortChannel Interfaces

PortChanneling, also called port bundling, is the aggregation of multiple physical ports into one logical port to provide higher bandwidth, load balancing, and link redundancy. The Fabric Manager allows you to configure and monitor PortChannel interfaces on multiple Cisco 9000 switches. The Device Manager allows you to configure and monitor PortChannel interfaces on a single Cisco 9000 switch.

Procedures for configuring PortChannel interfaces using the Fabric Manager and the Device Manager include:

Managing PortChannel General Attributes

Managing PortChannel Interface Attributes

Managing PortChannel General Attributes

To manage PortChannels from the Fabric Manager, choose Switches > PortChannels from the menu tree. The Information pane in Fabric Manager displays attributes for multiple switches.

To manage PortChannels from the Device View, choose PortChannels from the Interface menu. The dialog box from Device Manager displays attributes for a single switch.

To add ports to a PortChannel, click Create. You see the Create PortChannel dialog box.

To add members to the PortChannel, enter the IP address of the switch into the MemberList field. Identify the other options you want to use and click OK..


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Managing PortChannel Interface Attributes

To manage PortChannel interface attributes, such as the port mode and trunking from the Fabric Manager, choose the Switches > PortChannels from the menu tree.

To manage PortChannel interface attributes from the Device Manager, choose PortChannels from the Interface menu and click the Interfaces tab.

The Information pane in Fabric Manager displays attributes for multiple switches. The dialog box from Device Manager displays attributes for a single switch.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Monitoring Port Statistics

You can use Device Manager to monitor different types of port statistics. These options are available on the Interface menu from Device Manager's Device View or Summary View.

Procedures for monitoring port statistics include:

Monitoring and Charting Traffic Statistics

Monitoring Port Traffic (Bytes)

Monitoring Port Traffic (Frames)

Monitoring Port Discards

Monitoring Port Class 2 Errors

Monitoring Port Link Errors

Monitoring Port Sequence Errors

Monitoring Port Frame Errors

Monitoring and Charting Traffic Statistics

To monitor port traffic, discards, and errors for ports from the Device Manager, right-click on one or more ports and choose Monitor Selected from the Interface menu or right-click on one or more ports and choose Monitor from the pop-up menu. The the Monitor Traffic Statistics dialog box is displayed.

You can change the display by changing the following attributes from the Monitor Selected dialog box:

Interval—Specifies the polling interval for the display in seconds, minutes, hours.

AbsoluteValue—The actual counter value for the interface.

Cumulative—The difference between the original absolute value and the last value retrieved for the interface.

Average/sec —The average last value since the category was first displayed.

Minimum/sec—The smallest last value.

Maximum/sec—The largest last value.

LastValue/sec—The difference between the current and previous counter values, normalized to per/second.

To display a line, area, or bar chart graph, select a traffic statistic and click one of the chart icons on the left side of the dialog box.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Monitoring Port Traffic (Bytes)

To monitor port traffic bytes from the Device Manager, choose the Port Traffic (Bytes) tab from the Port Monitor dialog box.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Monitoring Port Traffic (Frames)

To monitor port traffic frames from the Device Manager, choose the Port Traffic (Frames) tab on the Monitor Selected dialog box.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Monitoring Port Discards

To monitor port discards from the Device Manager, click the Discards tab on the Monitor Selected dialog box.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Monitoring Port Class 2 Errors

To monitor port class 2 errors from the Device Manager, click the Class 2 Errors tab on the Monitor Selected dialog box.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Monitoring Port Link Errors

To monitor port link errors from the Device Manager, click the Link Errors tab on the Monitor Selected dialog box.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Monitoring Port Sequence Errors

To monitor port sequence errors from Device Manager, click the Seq Errors tab on the Monitor Selected dialog box.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Monitoring Port Frame Errors

To monitor port frame errors from Device Manager, click the Frame Errors tab on the Monitor Selected dialog box.


Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.


Managing PortChannels

To create a PortChannel from Fabric Manager, click on the PortChannel wizard icon in the Fabric Manager toobar.

To add a link to an existing PortChannel, right-click an ISL on the Fabric Manager map and select Add to PortChannel from the pop-up menu. The PortChannel wizard is displayed.


Note To create a PortChannel, all the ports on both ends of the link must have the same port speed, trunking type, and administrative state.



Note You can access the field descriptions for the windows or dialog boxes in this procedure in the Reference section of the Fabric Manager or Device Manager help systems.