User guide

13
CHAPTER
2
Managing Fabrics
This chapter describes the following tasks that manage fabrics:
■ Fabric Services
■ Rediscovering a Fabric
■ Adding a New Switch to a Fabric
■ Replacing a Failed Switch
■ Event Browser
■ Device Information and Nicknames
■ Zoning
Fabric Services
Fabric services security includes SNMP and In-band management. Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) is the protocol governing network management and
monitoring of network devices. SNMP security consists of a read community string
and a write community string, that are basically the passwords that control read and
write access to the switch. The read community string ("public") and write
community string ("private") are set at the factory to these well-known defaults and
should be changed if SNMP is enabled using the System Services or SNMP
Properties dialogs. If SNMP is enabled (default) and the read and write community
strings have not been changed from their defaults, you risk unwanted access to the
switch. Refer to Enabling SNMP Configuration for more information. SNMP is
enabled by default.
In-band management is the ability to manage switches across inter-switch links
using QuickTools, SNMP, management server, or the application programming
interface. The switch comes from the factory with in-band management enabled. If