Re: FC - NPIV in 2.6.23-rc2

Re: FC - NPIV in 2.6.23-rc2

[Seokmann Ju]

Abhishek Kane wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> With the NPIV support been merged into 2.6.23-rc2, i was interested in
> trying it out on my setup. But i understand from the code that this support
> (NPIV) is only for 24xx cards.
> I need to undertand what are the problems in making it available for 23xx
> cards.
It is not supported. There is no technical issues, though, it won't be supported.

> Also, when going through various docs i came across these 2 terms related to
> port virtualization, viz. NPIV & Multiport id. But i couldn't understand the
> inherent difference in these 2 technologies. So if you guys are aware of
> some sought of documentation for this, please let me know.
NPIV is a feature to provide multiple path available on one physical port and it has implemented based on the multiport ID (MID) capability on the switch.
So, you have to have the switch with MID capable on the configuration to support NPIV, besides the controller.

Thank you,
Seokmann

Re: FC - NPIV in 2.6.23-rc2

[Matthew Jacob]

> > some sought of documentation for this, please let me know.
> NPIV is a feature to provide multiple path available on one physical port and it has implemented based on the multiport ID (MID) capability on the switch.
> So, you have to have the switch with MID capable on the configuration to support NPIV, besides the controller.
>

No, if the switch doesn't suport NP-IV, the 24XX f/w will come up in
Public Loop mode (FL).

Re: FC - NPIV in 2.6.23-rc2

[Seokmann Ju]

Matthew Jacob wrote:
>>> some sought of documentation for this, please let me know.
>> NPIV is a feature to provide multiple path available on one physical port and it has implemented based on the multiport ID (MID) capability on the switch.
>> So, you have to have the switch with MID capable on the configuration to support NPIV, besides the controller.
>>
> 
> No, if the switch doesn't suport NP-IV, the 24XX f/w will come up in
> Public Loop mode (FL).
That is correct. 
As it should, the F/W with NPIV capability also works on the configuration with non-NPIV switches.

Thank you,
Seokmann

RE: FC - NPIV in 2.6.23-rc2

[Duane Grigsby]

-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Jacob [mailto:lydianconcepts@gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 9:47 AM
To: Seokmann Ju
Cc: Abhishek Kane; linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org; Linux Driver;
linux-scsi@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: FC - NPIV in 2.6.23-rc2

> > some sought of documentation for this, please let me know.
> NPIV is a feature to provide multiple path available on one physical
port and it has implemented based on the multiport ID (MID) capability
on the switch.
> So, you have to have the switch with MID capable on the configuration
to support NPIV, besides the controller.
>

>> No, if the switch doesn't suport NP-IV, the 24XX f/w will come up in
>> Public Loop mode (FL).
Yes, NPIV is optional, if the switch is NPIV capable then you can create
virtual ports, otherwise it works as it does today. NPIV is a standard
technology that allows sharing a single physical Fabric port (N-port)
among multiple virtual fabric ports. Multiple ID(s) is a HBA feature
that allows multiple virtual Loop ID(s) on a public or private loop
topology.          

RE: FC - NPIV in 2.6.23-rc2

[Duane Grigsby]

-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Jacob [mailto:lydianconcepts@gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 9:47 AM
To: Seokmann Ju
Cc: Abhishek Kane; linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org; Linux Driver;
linux-scsi@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: FC - NPIV in 2.6.23-rc2

> > some sought of documentation for this, please let me know.
> NPIV is a feature to provide multiple path available on one physical
port and it has implemented based on the multiport ID (MID) capability
on the switch.
> So, you have to have the switch with MID capable on the configuration
to support NPIV, besides the controller.
>

>> No, if the switch doesn't suport NP-IV, the 24XX f/w will come up in
>> Public Loop mode (FL).
Yes, NPIV is optional, if the switch is NPIV capable then you can create
virtual ports, otherwise it works as it does today. NPIV is a standard
technology that allows sharing a single physical Fabric port (N-port)
among multiple virtual fabric ports. Multiple ID(s) is a HBA feature
that allows multiple virtual Loop ID(s) on a public or private loop
topology.