Brocade Fabric OS Administrator's Guide Supporting Fabric OS v6.3.0 (53-1001336-02, November 2009)

6 Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide
53-1001336-02
The Ethernet interface on your switch
1
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The Ethernet interface on your switch
The Ethernet (network) interface provides management access, including direct access to the
Fabric OS CLI, and allows other tools, such as Web Tools, to interact with the switch. You can use
either DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) or static IPs for the Ethernet network interface
configuration. On Brocade enterprise-class platforms you must set IP addresses for the following:
• both CPs (CP0 and CP1)
• chassis management IP
On the Brocade switches, you must set the Ethernet and chassis IP management interfaces.
Setting the chassis management IP eliminates the need to know which CP is active and connects to
the currently active CP.
You can continue to use a static Ethernet addressing system or allow the DHCP client to
automatically acquire Ethernet addresses. Configure the Ethernet interface IP, subnet mask, and
gateway addresses in one of the following manners:
• “Static Ethernet addresses” on page 8
• “DHCP activation” on page 9
NOTE
When you change the Ethernet interface settings, open connections such as SSH or Telnet may be
dropped. Reconnect using the new Ethernet IP information or change the Ethernet settings using a
console session through the serial port to maintain your session through the change. You must
connect through the serial port to set the Ethernet IP address if the Ethernet network interface is not
configured already. See “Connecting to Fabric OS through the serial port” on page 2 for details.
Virtual Fabrics and the Ethernet interface
On the Brocade 48000, DCX, and DCX-4S, the single-chassis IP address and subnet mask is
assigned to the management Ethernet ports on the front panels of the CPs. These addresses allow
access to the chassis, more specifically the active CP of the chassis, and not individual logical
switches. The IP addresses can also be assigned to each CP individually. This allows for direct
communication with a CP including the standby CP. On the Brocade DCX and DCX-4S Backbones,
each CP has two management Ethernet ports on its front panel. These two physical ports are
bonded together to create a single, logical Ethernet port and it is the logical Ethernet port to which
IP addresses are assigned.