Reference Guide

FCoE Transit | 347
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FCoE Transit
The Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Transit feature is supported on the S5000 switch on Ethernet
interfaces. When you enable an S5000 for FCoE transit, the switch functions as a FIP snooping bridge.
This chapter describes FCoE transit concepts and the FIP snooping configuration procedure:
• Fibre Channel over Ethernet
• Ensuring Robustness in a Converged Ethernet Network
• FIP Snooping on Ethernet Bridges
• FIP Snooping on an NPIV Proxy Gateway
• Configuring FIP Snooping
• Displaying FIP Snooping Information
• FCoE Transit Configuration Example
Fibre Channel over Ethernet
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) provides a converged Ethernet network that allows the combination
of storage-area network (SAN) and LAN traffic on a Layer 2 link by encapsulating Fibre Channel data into
Ethernet frames.
FCoE works with the Ethernet enhancements provided in data center bridging (DCB) to support lossless
(no-drop) SAN and LAN traffic. In addition, DCB provides flexible bandwidth sharing for different traffic
types, such as LAN and SAN, according to 802.1p priority classes of service. For more information, refer
to the Data Center Bridging (DCB) chapter.
Ensuring Robustness in a Converged Ethernet Network
Fibre Channel networks used for SAN traffic employ switches that operate as trusted devices. End devices
log into the switch to which they are attached in order to communicate with other end devices attached to
the Fibre Channel network. Because Fibre Channel links are point-to-point, a Fibre Channel switch
controls all storage traffic that an end device sends and receives over the network. As a result, the switch
can enforce zoning configurations, ensure that end devices use their assigned addresses, and secure the
network from unauthorized access and denial-of-service attacks.
Note: FCoE transit with FIP snooping is not supported on Fibre Channel interfaces, in an S5000 switch
stack, or on links between VLT peer switches.