HP B-series Fabric OS 7.1.0c Release Notes (5697-2892, October 2013 - includes all 7.1.0x versions)

SAN Backbone Director, HP DC04 SAN Director Switch, or HP SN8000B SAN Director
switches.
CommentsArea
There are special configuration considerations for environments with three or more switches
(domain IDs) in a FICON fabric. Contact HP technical support to ensure proper configuration.
Cascading
Fiber ICL configurations (with HP SN8000B SAN Directors) supported for FICON are the
same as the supported configurations for copper ICLs (with HP DC SAN Backbone Director
and HP DC04 SAN Director).
Cascading
Encryption and compression is supported on IP links but not on Fibre Channel ISLs.Cascading
The switch name is replaced with underscores ( ____ ) after the first time CUP (FMS mode) is
enabled. Use the switch configuration panels to reset the switch name.
CUP
VEX ports are not supported on the HP 1606 SAN Extension Switch and HP DC SAN Director
Multiprotocol Extension Blade in a FICON environment.
FCIP
When performing multiple cabling changes to the SAN fabric in a FICON Emulating FCIP
Tunnel configuration with the HP 1606 SAN Extension Switch or HP DC SAN Director
FCIP
Multiprotocol Extension Blade, either disable all of the FCIP Tunnels, or issue the switch disable
command on all FCIP interconnected switches to avoid IFCCs in a mainframe environment.
Issuing either a switch disable or an FCIP Tunnel disable command allows the FCIP FICON
Emulation processing state-machine to execute an orderly cleanup process and allow normal
activation of the new configuration. When all cabling and Traffic Isolation Zone manipulations
have been completed, enable the switches or the FCIP Tunnels.
A disabled XGE or GE port is re-enabled after a code upgrade/downgrade. To prevent
XGE/GE ports from being re-enabled after a code load, they should be persistently disabled.
FCIP
Firmware upgrades for FICON are supported only from Fabric OS 7.0.0c or Fabric OS
7.0.0d.
Firmware Downloads
Non-disruptive Hot Code Load is supported only on director class switches (HP DC SAN
Backbone Director, HP DC04 SAN Director Switch, or HP SN8000B SAN Director switches.
Firmware Downloads
Comprehensive non-disruptive Hot Code Load is not supported on the HP 1606 SAN Extension
Switch or HP DC SAN Backbone Director, HP DC04 SAN Director Switch, or HP SN8000B
SAN Director switches with an HP DC SAN Director Multiprotocol Extension Blade since the
FCIP tunnels will go down for 10-15 seconds and all traffic in the tunnels will be disrupted.
IFCCs may result if traffic is not stopped while downloading firmware.
The CUP device must be varied offline to all MVS partitions before starting a code load. The
CUP device can be varied back online after the code load completes. Failure to vary off the
CUP devices may result in missing interrupt.
Firmware Downloads
When connecting an 8 Gb/s or 16 Gb/s capable port in a switch to an IBM Virtualization
Engine TS7700, the port must be configured to a minimum of 16 buffers to avoid IFCCs at
Interoperability
the channel and loss of FICON paths to the control unit. This requires the Extended Fabric
license on the switch.
Port Fencing should be used to avoid taking ports down for normal fabric events. The
recommended fencing criteria and settings are listed in Table 7 (page 39).
Manageability
NOTE: Port fencing should not be set for C3 discards.
As a best practice for deploying Fabric OS switches and directors into a FICON environment,
verify the Fabric OS version shipped with the most current Fabric OS recommendation. HP
Manageability
recommends that you update all Fabric OS switches and directors to the same Fabric OS
levels for production.
FMS must be enabled on the local switch for the remote CUP to work.Manageability
The FICON merge wizard feature in HP Network Advisor cannot be used to merge an HP
4/256 SAN Director with an HP DC SAN Backbone Director, HP DC04 SAN Director Switch,
or HP SN8000B SAN Director switches.
Manageability
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