HP Mainframe Connectivity Design Guide

Table 21 ISL maximums for C-series FICON directors
Number of ports allowed as ISLs
Total number of available user
portsDirector
48 at 16 Gb/s48HP SN8500C 48-port16Gb FC Module
48 at 8 Gb/s48SN6000C
32 at 8 Gb/s, 24 at 10Gb/s32
HP SN8000C 8Gb 32-Port Advanced Fibre
Channel Module
48 at 8 Gb/s, 24 at 10Gb/s48
HP SN8000C 8Gb 48-Port Advanced Fibre
Channel Module
48 at 1 Gb/s48
MDS 9xxx 48-port 8 Gb/s Host-Optimized Fibre
Channel Switching Module
48 at 2 Gb/s48
MDS 95xx 48-port 8 Gb/s Performance Fibre
Channel Switching Module
24 at 4 Gb/s24
MDS 95xx 24-port 8 Gb/s Fibre Channel
Switching Module
48 at 1 Gb/s48
MDS 9xxx 48-port 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel
Switching Module
24 at 2 Gb/s24
MDS 9xxx 24-port 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel
Switching Module
12 at 4 Gb/s12
MDS 9xxx 12-port 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel
Switching Module
4 at 10 Gb/s4
MDS 9xxx 4-port 10 Gb/s Fibre Channel
Switching Module
18 at 2 Gb/s18MDS 9xxx 18/4 Multiservice Module
24 at 4 Gb/s24MDS 9124 Fabric
8 at 4 Gb/s8MDS 9124e Fabric
32 at 4 Gb/s
34MDS 9134 Fabric
2 at 10 Gb/s
PortChannels
You can add or remove physical interfaces from a PortChannel bundle without interrupting the
flow of traffic, which allows nondisruptive configuration changes in production environments.
You use PortChannels to construct a single, logical ISL between directors from as many as 16
physical ISLs. This provides higher-throughput connectivity between directors and a high-resiliency
connection. You build PortChannels using ports from any line card on any module. Traffic across
a PortChannel bundle is automatically load balanced, providing granular traffic distribution across
physical interfaces while preserving in-order frame delivery.
NOTE: PortChannels do not support encryption on FICON directors.
Zoning limits and enforcement
Table 22 (page 60) lists the zoning limits for C-series FICON directors.
Table 22 Zoning limits for C-series FICON directors
DescriptionRule number
Maximum number of zones for a fabric with VSANs is 8,000.1
Maximum number of zone members for a fabric with VSANs is 20,000.2
60 C-series FICON directors and fabric rules