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

Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide 471
53-1001336-02
Integrated Routing
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Integrated Routing
Integrated Routing is a licensed feature that allows 8-Gbps FC ports to be configured as EX_Ports
supporting Fibre Channel routing. This license eliminates the need to add an FR4-18i blade to the
Brocade DCX and DCX-4S, or to use the Brocade 7500 for FC-FC routing purposes. Using 8-Gbps
ports for Fibre Channel routing provides double the bandwidth for each FCR connection (when
connected to another 8-Gbps-capable port).
You need an Integrated Routing license for the following:
• Brocade DCX and DCX-4S (FC8-16, FC8-32, FC8-48, and FX8-24 blades)
• Brocade 5100 switch
• Brocade 5300 switch
• Brocade 7800 Extension Switch
You do not need a license for EX_Ports on the Brocade 7500 Extension Switch or FR4-18i blade.
Enabling the Integrated Routing license and capability does not require a switch reboot.
For the Brocade DCX and DCX-4S, if you do not have an Integrated Routing license, you cannot use
EX_Ports on the 8-Gbps port blades; you can, however, use EX_Ports on the FR4-18i blade without
a license.
NOTE
You cannot use EX_Ports on the FR4-18i blade and Integrated Routing in the same chassis.
Integrated Routing is not supported on 8-Gbps blades in the Brocade 48000.
Fibre Channel routing concepts
Fibre Channel routing introduces the following concepts:
• Fibre Channel router (FC router)
A switch running the FC-FC routing service. See “Supported platforms for Fibre Channel
routing” on page 470 for a list of platforms that can be FC routers.
• EX_Port, VEX_Port
An EX_Port and VEX_Port function similarly to an E_Port and VE_Port respectively, but
terminate at the switch and do not propagate fabric services or routing topology information
from one edge fabric to another. See the Fibre Channel over IP Administrator’s Guide for
details about VE_Ports.
• Edge fabric
An edge fabric is a Fibre Channel fabric with targets and initiators connected through the
supported platforms by using an EX_Port or VEX_Port.
• Backbone fabric
A backbone fabric is an intermediate network that connects one or more edge fabrics. In a
SAN, the backbone fabric consists of at least one FC router and possibly a number of
Fabric OS-based Fibre Channel switches (see Figure 73 on page 474).