Reference Guide

634 | NPIV Proxy Gateway
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Figure 34-1. NPIV Proxy Gateway Example
An S5000 FC port is configured as an N (node) port that logs in to an F (fabric) port on the upstream FC
core switch and creates a channel for N-port identifier virtualization. NPIV allows multiple N-port fabric
logins at the same time on a single, physical Fibre Channel link.
Converged Network Adapter (CNA) ports on servers connect to S5000 Ten-Gigabit Ethernet ports and log
in to an upstream FC core switch through the S5000 N port. Server fabric login (FLOGI) requests are
converted into fabric discovery (FDISC) requests before being forwarded by the S5000 to the FC core
switch.
Servers use CNA ports to connect over FCoE to an Ethernet port in ENode mode on the NPIV proxy
gateway. FCoE transit with FIP snooping is automatically enabled and configured on the S5000 gateway to
prevent unauthorized access and data transmission to the SAN network (see FCoE Transit). FIP is used by
server CNAs to discover an S5000 FCoE switch operating as an FCoE forwarder (FCF).
The NPIV proxy gateway aggregates multiple locally connected server CNA ports into one or more
upstream N port links, conserving the number of ports required on an upstream FC core switch while
providing an FCoE-to-FC bridging functionality. The upstream N ports on an S5000 can connect to the
same or multiple fabrics.