FW V06.XX/HAFM SW V08.02.00 HP StorageWorks SAN High Availability Planning Guide (AA-RS2DD-TE, July 2004)

Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies
116 SAN High Availability Planning Guide
However, the firmware and HAFM application do not prevent FCP and FICON
device configurations that may interfere with each other. A successful intermix
environment requires a set of best practice conventions as follows:
1. Upgrade fabric element firmware to a common version — Ensure fabric
elements are operating at a common firmware level. This reduces errors due
to director or switch incompatibility. Firmware Version 4.0 or higher is
required to support FICON cascading. Firmware Version 6.0 or higher is
recommended.
2. Upgrade fabric element software to a common version — Ensure fabric
elements are operating at a common software level. This simplifies fabric
fault isolation and reduces errors due to director or switch incompatibility.
— When a director or switch is set to open systems management style, a
traditional Fibre Channel fabric is supported. Inband management
through the FMS or OSMS is also supported. The key concern is to avoid
disrupting installed FCP devices when connecting FICON devices to a
fabric element, and modifying configurations to facilitate FICON
communication. The Element Manager application does not use logical
port addressing or display the Configure Allow/Prohibit Matrix -
Active dialog box. A PDCM array is not supported, and the HCD defined
by an attached host describes FICON connectivity requirements.
— When a director or switch is set to FICON management style, either
multiple domains (fabric elements) are supported, or only a single domain
(fabric element) is supported, depending on the firmware release level.
Inband management through the FMS or OSMS is also supported. The
Element Manager application for a PDCM array is configured at the
Configure Allow/ Prohibit Matrix - Active dialog box. The array
activates all or a subset of the connectivity paths established by a
host-based HCD.
When using firmware prior to version 4.0 and the FICON management
style, ports are set to F_Port operation, thus eliminating E_Port capability
(ISL and fabric capability).
— When using inband director or switch management, either (or both) of the
FMS or OSMS features can be enabled. When either (or both) features are
enabled, the director or switch can be set to open systems or FICON
management style.
3. Upgrade fabric elements to a common feature set — Ensure that a
common set of PFE-keyed optional features (refer to “Optional Features” on
page 163) are installed on each fabric element. This reduces errors due to