HP StorageWorks Director and Edge Switch release notes (5697-8176, April 2009)

CTP controls port lights
Port lights on the Edge Switches and Directors are controlled by the CTP. Certain activities such as
firmware updates, IPLing the CTP, or switching over to the backup CTP (Director) can cause these port
lights to extinguish momentarily until control is reasserted by the CTP. The actual Fibre Channel traffic
is not affected during these times.
Full-fabric capability for Edge Switch 2/12
Unlike other Edge Switch and Director products, a PFE key controls Edge Switch 2/12 E_Port-to-E_Port
connections. After purchasing and installing the feature key, you can configure for E_Port connections
on any of the active ports.
The feature key includes distance support. With firmware 06.00.00 and later, the Edge Switch 2/12
ships with five BB_Credits allocated to each port. After activation of the Full Fabric feature on a switch,
each port has 12 BB_Credits allocated to support up to 12-km links at 2-Gb/s speed.
Support for speed Auto-Negotiate
Auto-negotiate is supported. However, HP recommends that the port speed for E_Ports (for ISLs) be
set to a specific port speed (1Gb/sec, 2Gb/sec, or 4Gb/sec, as appropriate for the speed of the
Directors or Edge Switches being connected) instead of to Negotiate. Using a specific port speed
decreases the time required for a fabric build in response to some perturbation in the fabric. Similarly,
setting a specific port speed for N_Ports also decreases fabric build time. However, setting a specific
port speed for N_Ports is not required.
There are some older HBA devices that do not always succeed in logging in to a switch port when
the port speed is set for auto-negotiate.
Workaround
If an older HBA has difficulty logging into a switch port that has its port speed configured as Negotiate,
configure that port speed to 1Gb/sec, 2Gb/sec, or 4Gb/sec, according to the operating speed of
the HBA connected to that port.
SNMP object returns incorrect value
SNMP object t11NsInfoSubsetTableLastChange object does not return the proper value of the last
change in the Name Server timestamp, but instead always returns the value “0 days
00h:00m:00s.00th”.
Preferred Path may be cleared when a port card is replaced
When replacing a port card module, a configured Preferred Path with a source port that is part of
the newly installed port card module is cleared, while a configured Preferred Path with an exit port
that is part of the newly installed port card module is not cleared. If the Preferred Path entry is cleared
when a port card module is replaced, the Preferred Path must be reentered.
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