Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch CLI Software Configuration Guide (OL-16597-01, July 2009)

CHAPTER 41
Configuring Fibre Channel Routing Services and
Protocols
This chapter contains the following sections:
• Configuring Fibre Channel Routing Services and Protocols, page 577
Configuring Fibre Channel Routing Services and Protocols
Fabric Shortest Path First (FSPF) is the standard path selection protocol used by Fibre Channel fabrics. The
FSPF feature is enabled by default on the E mode and TE mode Fibre Channel interfaces on Cisco Nexus
5000 Series switches. Except in configurations that require special consideration, you do not need to configure
any FSPF services. FSPF automatically calculates the best path between any two switches in a fabric. FSPF
provides the following capabilities:
• Dynamically computes routes throughout a fabric by establishing the shortest and quickest path between
any two switches.
• Selects an alternative path in the event of the failure of a given path. FSPF supports multiple paths and
automatically computes an alternative path around a failed link. It provides a preferred route when two
equal paths are available.
Information About FSPF
FSPF is the protocol currently standardized by the T11 committee for routing in Fibre Channel networks. The
FSPF protocol has the following characteristics and features:
• Supports multipath routing.
• Bases path status on a link state protocol.
• Routes hop by hop, based only on the domain ID.
• Runs only on E ports or TE ports and provides a loop free topology.
• Runs on a per VSAN basis. Connectivity in a given VSAN in a fabric is guaranteed only for the switches
configured in that VSAN.
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