Cisco MDS 9000 Family Troubleshooting Guide, Release 3.x
Troubleshooting Mixed Generation Hardware
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Table Of Contents

Troubleshooting Mixed Generation Hardware

Overview

Port Groups

Port Speed Mode

Dynamic Bandwidth Management

Out-of-Service Interfaces

Port Index Availability

Combining Modules and Supervisors

Initial Troubleshooting Checklist

Generation 1 and Generation 2 Issues

Module Does Not Come Online

Verifying Port Index Allocation Using Device Manager

Verifying Port Index Allocation Using the CLI

Cannot Configure Port in Dedicated Mode

Verifying Bandwidth Utilization in a Port Group Using Device Manager

Verifying Bandwidth Utilization in a Port Group Using the CLI

Cannot Enable a Port

Cannot Upgrade Supervisor System Image

Selecting the Correct Software Images


Troubleshooting Mixed Generation Hardware

This chapter describes how to identify and resolve problems that might occur when you combine Generation 1 and Generation 2 hardware components of the Cisco MDS 9000 Family. It includes the following sections:

•Overview

•Combining Modules and Supervisors

•Initial Troubleshooting Checklist

•Generation 1 and Generation 2 Issues

Overview

Table 5-1 identifies the modules supported by the Cisco MDS 9500 Series switches and Cisco MDS 9216A and Cisco MDS 9216i switches, as well as the Generation 2 switches:

Table 5-1 Generation 2 Modules and Switches 

Part Number
Description
Modules

DS-X9148

48-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel switching module

DS-9304-18K9

18-port 1/2/4-Gbps Fibre Channel switching module with 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports

DS-X9112

12-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel switching module

DS-X9704

4-port 10-Gbps Fibre Channel switching module

DS-X9530-SF2-K9

Supervisor-2 module (Cisco MDS 9500 Series switches only)

Switches

DS-C9222i-K9

10-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel switch with 4 Gigabit Ethernet IP storage services ports, and a modular expansion slot to host Cisco MDS 9000 Family Switching and Services Modules

DS-9134-K9

34-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel switch

DS-X9124

24-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel switch

DS-9304-K9

18-port 1/2/4-Gbps Fibre Channel switch with 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports in fixed slot1


Note Generation 2 Fibre Channel switching modules are not supported on the Cisco MDS 9216 switch; however, they are supported by both the Supervisor-1 module and the Supervisor-2 module.

The 4-port 10-Gbps Fibre Channel switching module supports 10-Gbps port rates. The rest of the Generation 2 modules support 1-Gbps, 2-Gbps, 4-Gbps, or autosensing port rates.

For detailed information about the installation and specifications for these modules, refer to the hardware installation guide or the Configuration guides at the following website:

http://cisco.com/en/US/products/ps5989/tsd_products_support_series_home.html.

This section explains the features of Generation 2 modules and includes the following topics:

•Port Groups

•Port Speed Mode

•Dynamic Bandwidth Management

•Out-of-Service Interfaces

•Port Index Availability

Port Groups

Each module has four groups of one or more ports in port groups that share common resources, such as bandwidth and buffer credits. Table 5-2 shows the port groups for the Generation 2 Fibre Channel switches and modules.

Table 5-2 Bandwidth and Port Groups for Generation 2 Modules 

Module or Switch
Description
Number of Ports Per Port Group
Bandwidth Per Port Group
Maximum Bandwidth Per Port

DS-X9148

48-port 4-Gbps

12

12.8

4-Gbps1

DS-X9124

24-port 4-Gbps

6

12.8

4-Gbps2

DS-9304-18K9

18-port/4-port 4-Gbps (MSM-18/4 module)

6

12.8

4-Gbps1

DS-X9112

12-port 4-Gbps

3

12.8

4-Gbps1

DS-X9704

4-port 10-Gbps

1

10

10-Gbps2

DS-C9134-K9

32-port 4-Gbps

4

16

4-Gbps

2-port 10-Gbps

1

10

10-Gbps

DS-C9124

24-port 4 Gbps

6

12.8

4-Gbps

DS-C9222i-K9

18-port 4-Gbps

6

12.8

4-Gbps

1 Dedicated bandwidth with no oversubscription

2 Dedicated bandwidth or oversubscribed using shared buffer resources.


Note Port groups are defined by the hardware and consist of sequential ports. For example, ports 1 through 12, ports 13 through 24, ports 25 through 36, and ports 37 through 48 are the port groups on the 48-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel switching modules.

Port Speed Mode

Table 5-3 shows the port speeds allowed on each Generation 2 switching module.

Table 5-3 Configurable Port Speeds on Generation 2 Switching Modules 

Module
Port Speed Modes
Default Configuration

48-port 4-Gbps

Auto, auto (max 2 Gbps), 1, 2, 4

Auto, shared

24-port 4-Gbps

Auto, auto max 2000 (2 Gbps), 1, 2, 4

Auto, shared

12-port 4-Gbps

Auto, auto max 2000 (2 Gbps), 1, 2, 4

Auto, dedicated

4-port 10-Gbps

Auto1

Auto, dedicated

1 4-port 10-Gbps can be configured as auto mode, but only supports 10-Gbps connections.


Dynamic Bandwidth Management

Table 5-4 shows the bandwidth reserved based on port speed for ports in dedicated mode.

Table 5-4 Bandwidth Reserved for Dedicated Mode 

Port Speed
Bandwidth Reserved per Port

Auto / 4 Gbps

4 Gbps

Auto max 2000 / 2 Gbps

2 Gbps

1 Gbps

1 Gbps

101

10 Gbps

1 Available only on the 4-port 10-Gbps switching module.


Table 5-5 shows the bandwidth reserved based on port speed for ports in shared mode.

Table 5-5 Bandwidth Reserved for Shared Mode

Module Type
Port Speed
Bandwidth Reserved

24-port 4-Gbps

Auto / 4 Gbps

1 Gbps

Auto max 2000 / 2 Gbps

0.5 Gbps

1 Gbps

0.25 Gbps

48-port 4-Gbps

Auto / 4 Gbps

0.8 Gbps

Auto max 2000 / 2 Gbps

0.4 Gbps

1 Gbps

0.2 Gbps


Tip When migrating a host only supporting up to 2-Gbps traffic to the 4-Gbps switching modules, use autosensing with 2-Gbps maximum bandwidth.

Note The 4-port 10-Gbps switching module only supports 10-Gbps links.

Out-of-Service Interfaces

You can take interfaces out of service to release shared resources that are needed for dedicated bandwidth. This feature is especially useful for the 48-port 4-Gbps switching modules. When an interface is taken out of service, all shared resources are released and made available to the other interface in the port group or module.

Caution If you need to bring an interface back into service, you might disrupt traffic if you need to release shared resources from other interfaces.

Port Index Availability

Each chassis in the Cisco MDS 9000 Series has a hardware-based maximum port availability based on internally assigned port indexes. When the maximum number of port indexes is reached in a chassis, any modules remaining or added to the chassis will not boot up. The number of physical ports on a Fibre Channel module is equal to its number of port indexes. However, for Gigabit Ethernet modules (IPS-8, IPS-4, and MPS-14/2), one physical port is equal to four port indexes (one port index for iSCSI and three port indexes for FC IP tunnels). Table 5-6 lists the physical ports and port indexes (virtual ports) allocated per Cisco MDS 9000 module.

Table 5-6 Port Index Allocation 

Module
Physical Ports
Port Indexes Allocated

48-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel switching module

48

48

24-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel switching module

24

24

12-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel switching module

12

12

4-port 10-Gbps Fibre Channel switching module

4

4

16-port 2-Gbps Fibre Channel module

16

161

32-port 2-Gbps Fibre Channel module

32

321

8-port Gigabit Ethernet IP Storage services module

8

321

4-port Gigabit Ethernet IP Storage services module

4

32 (with Supervisor-1)
16 (with Supervisor-2)

32-port 2-Gbps Fibre Channel Storage Services Module (SSM).

32

321

14-port Fibre Channel/2-port Gigabit Ethernet Multiprotocol Services (MPS-14/2) module

162

32 (with Supervisor-1)
22 (with Supervisor-2)

1 All Generation 1 modules reserve port indexes on fixed boundaries with Supervisor-1. See Table 5-7.

2 Fourteen Fibre Channel ports and two Gigabit Ethernet ports.


Using any combination of modules that include a Generation 1 module or a Supervisor-1 module limits the port index availability to 252 on all Cisco MDS 9500 Series directors. Generation 1 modules also require contiguous port indexes where the system assigns a block of port index numbers contiguously starting from the first port index reserved for the slot that the module is inserted in (See Table 5-7). This means that while there may be enough port indexes available for a Generation 1 module, the module may not boot up because the available port indexes are not in a contiguous range or the contiguous block does not start at the first port index for a given slot.

Example 5-1 shows a case with a Supervisor-1 module, where a 48-port Generation 2 module borrowed port indexes from the first slot. Slot 1 still has 16 port indexes available, but the full 32 indexes are no longer available (28-31 are used by the module in slot 4). This means that no Generation 1 module except a 16-port Fibre Channel switching module can be inserted into slot 1 because some of the port indexes for the slot are already in use.

Example 5-1 Borrowing Port Indexes from Another Slot 

switch#show port index-allocation

Module index distribution:

---------------------------------------------------+

Slot   | Allowed |      Alloted indices info       |

       |  range* | Total |          Index values   |

-------|---------|-------|-------------------------|

1      |   0-  31|   -   |   -                     |

2      |  32-  63|   32  |   32-63                 |

3      |  64-  95|   48  |   64-95,224-239         |

4      |  96- 127|   48  |  96-127, 240-252, 28-31 |

7      | 128- 159|   32  |   128-159               |

8      | 160- 191|   32  | 160-191                 |

9      | 192- 223|   32  | 192-223                 |

SU     | 253-255 |   3   |  253-255                |

*Allowed range applicable only for Generation-1 modules

Using any combination of modules that include a Generation 1 module and a Supervisor-2 module limits the port index availability to 252 on all Cisco MDS 9500 Series directors. The Generation 1 modules can use any contiguous block of port indexes that start on the first port index reserved for any slot in the range 0-252. (See Table 5-7).

Using any combination of only Generation 2 with a Supervisor-2 module allows a maximum of 528 (with an architectural limit of 1020) port indexes on all Cisco MDS 9500 Series directors. Generation 2 modules do not need contiguous port indexes. Generation 2 modules use the available indexes in the slot that it is installed and then borrow available indexes from the supervisors. If the module requires more indexes, it starts borrowing available indexes from slot 1 of the chassis until it has the number of port indexes necessary.

Note Use the purge module CLI command to free up reserved port indexes after you remove a module.

Table 5-7 Port Index Requirements 

Supervisor
Module
Port Index Requirements

Supervisor-1

Generation 1

Indexes must:

•Be contiguous.

•In the range assigned to the given slot.

•Start with the lowest value assigned to that slot.1 2

•Have no port indexes above 256 allocated to any other operational modules.

Maximum 252 assignable port indexes available.

Generation 2

Indexes can be any available number in the range 0-252.

Supervisor-2

Generation 1

Indexes must:

•Be contiguous.

•Start with the lowest value assigned to any slot. 2.

•Have no port indexes above 256 allocated to any other operational modules.

Maximum 252 assignable port indexes available.

Generation 2

Indexes can be any available number in the range 0-1020 if all modules are Generation 2 modules. Otherwise, indexes can be any available number in the range 0-252.

1 See the Allowed Ranges column in Example 5-1 for the port indexes assigned to each slot for Generation 1 modules.

2 16-port Fibre Channel switching modules can use the upper 16 indexes within a slot (for example, 16-31).


Combining Modules and Supervisors

All the existing Generation 1 and Generation 2 switching modules are supported by Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release 3.0(1) and later. However, there are limitations to consider when combining the various modules and supervisors in the Cisco MDS 9500 Series platform chassis.

You can combine Generation 1 and Generation 2 switching modules with either Supervisor-1 modules or Supervisor-2 modules. However, combining switching modules and supervisor modules has the following limitations:

•Use a Supervisor-2 module and all Generation 2 modules in a chassis to get up to 1020 port indexes.

•Use the show port index-allocation CLI command to determine available port index values before inserting new modules in a chassis if you have a mix of Generation 1 and Generation 2 modules.

•Use only Supervisor-2 modules on a Cisco MDS 9513 director.

Note You cannot downgrade from a Supervisor-2 module to a Supervisor-1 module.

Initial Troubleshooting Checklist

Begin troubleshooting Generation 1 and Generation 2 module issues by checking the following issues:

Checklist
Check off

Verify the port index allocation if a newly inserted module does not power up.

Check that the interface that you plan to use is not set to out-of-service.

Verify appropriate port rate mode and port speed for your configuration.

Ensure that both ends of a 10-Gbps link terminate in 10-Gbps ports.

Verify that no Supervisor-1 modules are used in a Generation 2 switch.


Use the show interface transceiver CLI command to view enhanced diagnostics on the X2 transceivers for Generation 2 modules. This is supported on 4-Gbps and 10-Gbps ports. Use these diagnostics to isolate physical layer problems, like contact problems, major failures within SFPs, or abnormal error rates associated with excessive optical attenuation. The diagnostic information includes temperature, voltage and current, transmit power level, and receive power level.

Generation 1 and Generation 2 Issues

This section describes troubleshooting issues for Generation 1 and Generation 2 modules and includes the following topics:

•Module Does Not Come Online

•Cannot Configure Port in Dedicated Mode

•Cannot Enable a Port

•Cannot Upgrade Supervisor System Image

Module Does Not Come Online

Symptom    Module does not come online.

Table 5-8 Module Does Not Come Online

Symptom
Possible Cause
Solution

Module does not come online.

Not enough port indexes are available.

See the "Verifying Port Index Allocation Using Device Manager" section or the "Verifying Port Index Allocation Using the CLI" section. If the switch has Generation 1 modules inserted, upgrade to all Generation 2 modules to gain higher total port index availability.

Available port indexes are non-contiguous.

See the "Verifying Port Index Allocation Using Device Manager" section or the "Verifying Port Index Allocation Using the CLI" section.

Not enough power is available in the chassis.

Use the show environment CLI command to determine if you have enough available power for the module. Upgrade your power supply, if necessary.


Verifying Port Index Allocation Using Device Manager

To verify port index allocation using Device Manager, follow these steps:

Step 1 Choose Interfaces > Show Port Index Allocation > Current to display the allocation of port indexes on the switch. 

Module index distribution:

------------------------------------------------------+

Slot | Allowed |      Alloted indices info            |

     |  range  | Total |          Index values        |

-----|---------|-------|------------------------------|

 1   |   0- 255|   16  | 32-47                        |

 2   |   0- 255|   12  | 0-11                         |

 3   |   0- 255|   -   | (None)                       |

 4   |   0- 255|   -   | (None)                       |

 7   |   0- 255|   -   | (None)                       |

 8   |   0- 255|   -   | (None)                       |

 9   |   0- 255|   -   | (None)                       |

SUP  |  -----  |    3  | 253-255                      |

In some cases, the sequence in which switching modules are inserted into the chassis determines if one or more modules is powered up.

Step 2 Choose Interfaces > Show Port Index Allocation > Startup to display the index allocation that the switch uses when it reboots. 

Startup module index distribution:

------------------------------------------------------+

Slot | Allowed |      Alloted indices info            |

     |  range  | Total |          Index values        |

-----|---------|-------|------------------------------|

 1   |   0- 255|   16  | 64-79                        |

 2   |   0- 255|   12  | 0-11                         |

SUP  |  -----  |    3  | 253-255                      |

Step 3 Choose Physical > Modules to display the reason why a module does not power up.

Verifying Port Index Allocation Using the CLI

To verify port index allocation using the CLI, follow these steps:

Step 1 Use the show port index-allocation command to display the allocation of port indexes on the switch. 

switch# show port index-allocation


Module index distribution:

------------------------------------------------------+

Slot | Allowed |      Alloted indices info            |

     |  range  | Total |          Index values        |

-----|---------|-------|------------------------------|

 1   |   0- 255|   16  | 32-47                        |

 2   |   0- 255|   12  | 0-11                         |

 3   |   0- 255|   -   | (None)                       |

 4   |   0- 255|   -   | (None)                       |

 7   |   0- 255|   -   | (None)                       |

 8   |   0- 255|   -   | (None)                       |

 9   |   0- 255|   -   | (None)                       |

SUP  |  -----  |    3  | 253-255                      |

In some cases, the sequence in which switching modules are inserted into the chassis determines if one or more modules is powered up.

Step 2 Use the show port index-allocation startup command to display the index allocation the switch uses when it reboots. 

switch# show port index-allocation startup


Startup module index distribution:

------------------------------------------------------+

Slot | Allowed |      Alloted indices info            |

     |  range  | Total |          Index values        |

-----|---------|-------|------------------------------|

 1   |   0- 255|   16  | 64-79                        |

 2   |   0- 255|   12  | 0-11                         |

SUP  |  -----  |    3  | 253-255                      |

Step 3 Use the show module command to display the reason why a module does not power up. 

sw# show module

Mod  Ports  Module-Type                      Model              Status

---  -----  -------------------------------- ------------------ ------------

1    48     1/2/4 Gbps FC Module             DS-X9148           ok

2    48     1/2/4 Gbps FC Module             DS-X9148           ok

3    48     1/2/4 Gbps FC Module             DS-X9148           ok

4    32     1/2 Gbps FC Module               DS-X9032           ok

5    0      Supervisor/Fabric-1              DS-X9530-SF1-K9    active *

6    0      Supervisor/Fabric-1              DS-X9530-SF1-K9    ha-standby

7    16     1/2 Gbps FC Module               DS-X9016           ok

8    48     1/2/4 Gbps FC Module                                powered-dn

9    48     1/2/4 Gbps FC Module             DS-X9148           ok


Mod  Power-Status  Power Down Reason 

---  ------------  ---------------------------

8    powered-dn    Insufficient resources (dest Index)

* this terminal session

Step 4 If the module is powered down because of port index issues, use the show module recovery-steps command to determine how to correct the problem. 

switch# show module 4 recovery-steps

Failure Reason:

Contiguous and aligned indices unavailable for Generation-1 modules

Check "show port index-allocation" for more details

Please follow the steps below:

1. Power-off module in one of the following slots: 12

2. Power-on module in slot 4 and wait till it comes online

3. Power-on the module powered-off in step 1

4. Do "copy running-config startup-config" to save this setting

Note Verify that the debug module no-power-down command is not turned on.

Cannot Configure Port in Dedicated Mode

Symptom    Cannot configure port in dedicated mode.

Table 5-9 Cannot Configure Port in Dedicated Mode

Symptom
Possible Cause
Solution

Cannot configure a port in dedicated mode.

Not enough bandwidth is available in the port group.

See the "Verifying Bandwidth Utilization in a Port Group Using Device Manager" section or the "Verifying Bandwidth Utilization in a Port Group Using the CLI" section.


Verifying Bandwidth Utilization in a Port Group Using Device Manager

To verify bandwidth utilization in a port group using Device Manager, follow these steps:

Step 1 Right-click the module and select Show Port Resources.... to display the Generation 2 module shared resources configuration. 

Module 2

Available dedicated buffers are 5164


 Port-Group 1

  Total bandwidth is 12.8 Gbps

  Total shared bandwidth is 4.8 Gbps

  Allocated dedicated bandwidth is 8.0 Gbps

  --------------------------------------------------------------------

  Interfaces in the Port-Group       B2B Credit  Bandwidth  Rate Mode

                                        Buffers     (Gbps)

  --------------------------------------------------------------------

  fc2/1                                      16        4.0  shared

  fc2/2                                      16        4.0  shared

  fc2/3                                      16        4.0  shared

  fc2/4                                      16        4.0  shared

  fc2/5                                      16        4.0  dedicated

  fc2/6                                      16        4.0  dedicated


...

In this example, there is not enough available shared bandwidth in Port-Group 1 to switch any more ports to 4-Gbps dedicated mode.

Step 2 Do one of the following to free up bandwidth for the port that you want to place in dedicated mode.

a. Right-click one or more ports and choose Service > Out to put a port in out-of-service mode to free up more resources.

b. Right-click a port and select Configure. Lower the port speed.

See the "Dynamic Bandwidth Management" section for the minimum bandwidth requirements for port rate modes and port speeds.

Verifying Bandwidth Utilization in a Port Group Using the CLI

To verify bandwidth utilization in a port group using the CLI, follow these steps:

Step 1 Use the show port-resources module command to display the Generation 2 module shared resources configuration. 

switch# show port-resources module 2

Module 2

Available dedicated buffers are 5164


 Port-Group 1

  Total bandwidth is 12.8 Gbps

  Total shared bandwidth is 4.8 Gbps

  Allocated dedicated bandwidth is 8.0 Gbps

  --------------------------------------------------------------------

  Interfaces in the Port-Group       B2B Credit  Bandwidth  Rate Mode

                                        Buffers     (Gbps)

  --------------------------------------------------------------------

  fc2/1                                      16        4.0  shared

  fc2/2                                      16        4.0  shared

  fc2/3                                      16        4.0  shared

  fc2/4                                      16        4.0  shared

  fc2/5                                      16        4.0  dedicated

  fc2/6                                      16        4.0  dedicated


...

In this example, there is not enough available shared bandwidth in Port-Group 1 to switch any more ports to 4 Gbps dedicated mode.

Step 2 Do one of the following to free bandwidth for the port that you want to place in dedicated mode.

a. Use the out-of-service command in interface mode to put one or more ports in out- of-service mode to free more resources.

b. Use the swtichport speed command on one or more ports to change the port speed to a lower port speed. See the "Dynamic Bandwidth Management" section for the minimum bandwidth requirements for port rate modes and port speeds.

Cannot Enable a Port

Symptom    Cannot enable a port.

Table 5-10 Cannot Enable a Port

Symptom
Possible Cause
Solution

Cannot enable a port.

Port is out of service.

In Device Manager, right-click the port and select Configure to see if the port is out of service.

Using the CLI, use the show interface brief command to see if the port is out of service.

See the "Verifying Bandwidth Utilization in a Port Group Using Device Manager" section or the "Verifying Bandwidth Utilization in a Port Group Using the CLI" section to free up enough port resources to bring the port in service.

Not enough bandwidth is available in the port group.

See the "Verifying Bandwidth Utilization in a Port Group Using Device Manager" section or the "Verifying Bandwidth Utilization in a Port Group Using the CLI" section.


Cannot Upgrade Supervisor System Image

Symptom    Cannot upgrade supervisor system image.

Table 5-11 Cannot Upgrade Supervisor System Image

Symptom
Possible Cause
Solution

Cannot upgrade supervisor system image.

Wrong Cisco SAN-OS image type.

Use the appropriate Cisco SAN-OS image for your supervisor. See the "Selecting the Correct Software Images" section. In Device Manager, choose Physical > Modules to find the supervisor type.

Or use the show module CLI command to determine the supervisor type.


Selecting the Correct Software Images

The Supervisor-1 and Supervisor-2 modules supported by Cisco MDS 9100, 9200 and 9500 Series switches require different system and kickstart images. You can determine which images to use on your switch by the naming conventions shown in Table 5-12.

Table 5-12 Supervisor Module Software Image Naming Conventions

Cisco MDS 9500 Series Switch Type
Supervisor Module Type
Naming Convention

9120 or 9140

Supervisor-1 module

Filename begins with m9100-s1ek9

9134

Cisco Fabric Switch for HP-c Class BladeSystem

Cisco Fabric Switch for IBM BladeCenter

Supervisor-2 module

Filename begins with m9100-s2ek9

9221i

Supervisor-2 module

Filename begins with m9200-s2ek9

9216, 9216A or 9216i

Supervisor-1 module

Filename begins with m9200-s1k9

9506 or 9509

Supervisor-1 module

Filename begins with m9500-sf1ek9

Supervisor-2module

Filename begins with m9500-sf2ek9

9513

Supervisor-2 module

Filename begins with m9500-sf2ek9