Cisco Nexus 7000 Series User manual

Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
First Published: July 12, 2011
Last Modified: November 01, 2012
Americas Headquarters
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134-1706
USA
http://www.cisco.com
Tel: [phone]
800 553-NETS (6387)
Fax: [phone]
Text Part Number: OL-25809-02

THE SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION REGARDING THE PRODUCTS IN THIS MANUAL ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. ALL STATEMENTS,
INFORMATION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS MANUAL ARE BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE BUT ARE PRESENTED WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. USERS MUST TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR APPLICATION OF ANY PRODUCTS.
THE SOFTWARE LICENSE AND LIMITED WARRANTY FOR THE ACCOMPANYING PRODUCT ARE SET FORTH IN THE INFORMATION PACKET THAT SHIPPED WITH
THE PRODUCT AND ARE INCORPORATED HEREIN BY THIS REFERENCE. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO LOCATE THE SOFTWARE LICENSE OR LIMITED WARRANTY,
CONTACT YOUR CISCO REPRESENTATIVE FOR A COPY.
The Cisco implementation of TCP header compression is an adaptation of a program developed by the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) as part of UCB's public domain version
of the UNIX operating system. All rights reserved. Copyright ©1981, Regents of the University of California.
NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER WARRANTY HEREIN, ALL DOCUMENT FILES AND SOFTWARE OF THESE SUPPLIERS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS" WITH ALL FAULTS.
CISCO AND THE ABOVE-NAMED SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE.
IN NO EVENT SHALL CISCO OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS OR LOSS OR DAMAGE TO DATA ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS MANUAL, EVEN IF CISCO OR ITS SUPPLIERS
HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: http://
www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership
relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)
Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses. Any examples, command display output, and figures included in the document are shown
for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.
©2011-2012 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS
Preface Preface vii
Audience vii
Document Conventions vii
Related Documentation viii
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request ix
Preface New and Changed Information xi
Cisco Nexus 7000: New and Changed Information xi
Cisco MDS 9500: New and Changed Information xii
CHAPTER 1 Overview 1
Information About Fibre Channel Over Ethernet 1
Fibre Channel Forwarder 1
Fibre Channel Bridge 2
CHAPTER 2 FCoE 3
Information About FCoE 3
FCoE and FIP 3
FCoE Initiation Protocol 3
FIP Virtual Link Instantiation 4
FCoE Frame Format 4
VLAN Tagging for FCoE Frames 4
FIP Ethernet Frame Format 5
DCBX 5
Data Center Bridging Exchange Protocol 5
Lossless Ethernet 6
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
OL-25809-02 iii

Logical Link Up/Down 6
Converged Network Adapters 6
STP Lite 7
Default Settings for FCoE 7
Licensing Requirements for FCoE 7
Guidelines and Limitations 8
Cisco Nexus 7000: Guidelines and Limitations 8
Cisco MDS 9500: Guidelines and Limitations 9
Configuring FCoE 10
Enabling FCoE 10
Cisco Nexus 7000: Enabling FCoE 10
Cisco MDS 9500: Enabling FCoE 11
Disabling FCoE 13
Cisco Nexus 7000: Disabling FCoE 13
Cisco MDS 9500: Disabling FCoE 14
Configuring the FC-Map 15
Configuring the Fabric Priority 16
Setting the Advertisment Interval 17
Disabling LAN Traffic on an FCoE Link 18
Verifying the FCoE Configuration 19
Additional References for FCoE 20
CHAPTER 3 Configuring FCoE VLANs and Virtual Interfaces 21
Information About Virtual Fibre Channel (VFC) Interfaces 21
VF Port 21
VE Port 22
Default Settings for FCoE 22
Licensing Requirements for FCoE 22
Guidelines and Limitations 23
Cisco Nexus 7000: Guidelines and Limitations 23
Cisco MDS 9500: Guidelines and Limitations 24
Configuring Virtual Interfaces 25
Mapping a VSAN to a VLAN 25
Creating a Virtual Fibre Channel Interface 26
Creating a Virtual Fibre Channel Port Channel Interface 28
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
iv OL-25809-02
Contents

Associating a Virtual Fibre Channel Interface to a VSAN 29
Enabling VE Loopback Configuration 31
Verifying the Virtual Interface 32
Example:Mapping VSANs to VLANs 33
Additional References for FCoE 34
CHAPTER 4 Storage VDC on Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches 37
Information About Storage VDC 37
Licensing Requirements for FCoE 38
Guidelines and Limitations 38
Cisco Nexus 7000: Guidelines and Limitations 38
Cisco MDS 9500: Guidelines and Limitations 39
Configuring FCoE VDCs 40
Creating a Dedicated Storage VDC 40
Cisco Nexus 7000:Licensing an FCoE Module 42
Allocating the FCoE VLAN Range 43
Allocating Shared Interfaces 44
Example: Storage VDC Configuration 46
APPENDIX A Feature History by Platform 49
Cisco Nexus 7000:Supported Features 49
Cisco MDS 9500:Supported Features 49
APPENDIX B Guidelines and Limitations 51
Verified Limits for FCoE for the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series and Cisco MDS 9500 51
Cisco Nexus 7000: Guidelines and Limitations 51
Cisco MDS 9500: Guidelines and Limitations 53
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
OL-25809-02 v
Contents

Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
vi OL-25809-02
Contents

Preface
This preface describes the audience, organization, and conventions of the Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration
Guide. It also provides information on how to obtain related documentation.
•Audience, page vii
•Document Conventions, page vii
•Related Documentation, page viii
•Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request, page ix
Audience
This publication is for experienced users who configure and maintain Cisco NX-OS devices.
Document Conventions
Command descriptions use the following conventions:
DescriptionConvention
Bold text indicates the commands and keywords that you enter literally
as shown.
bold
Italic text indicates arguments for which the user supplies the values.
Italic
Square brackets enclose an optional element(keyword or argument).[x]
Square brackets enclosing keywords or arguments separated by a vertical
bar indicate an optional choice.
[x | y]
Braces enclosing keywords or arguments separated by a vertical bar
indicate a required choice.
{x | y}
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
OL-25809-02 vii

DescriptionConvention
Nested set of square brackets or braces indicate optional or required
choices within optional or required elements. Braces and a vertical bar
within square brackets indicate a required choice within an optional
element.
[x {y | z}]
Indicates a variable for which you supply values, in context where italics
cannot be used.
variable
A nonquoted set of characters. Do not use quotation marks around the
string or the string will include the quotation marks.
string
Examples use the following conventions:
DescriptionConvention
Terminal sessions and information the switch displays are in screen font.screen font
Information you must enter is in boldface screen font.boldface screen font
Arguments for which you supply values are in italic screen font.
italic screen font
Nonprinting characters, such as passwords, are in angle brackets.< >
Default responses to system prompts are in square brackets.[ ]
An exclamation point (!) or a pound sign (#) at the beginning of a line
of code indicates a comment line.
!, #
This document uses the following conventions:
Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to material not covered in the
manual.
Note
Means reader be careful. In this situation, you might do something that could result in equipment damage
or loss of data.
Caution
Related Documentation
The Cisco Nexus 7000 Series documentation is available at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/us/products/ps9402/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
The Cisco MDS 9500 Series documentation is available at the following URL:
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
viii OL-25809-02
Preface
Related Documentation

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps5989/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information,
see the monthly What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco
technical documentation, at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html
Subscribe to the What's New in Cisco Product Documentation as a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed
and set content to be delivered directly to your desktop using a reader application. The RSS feeds are a free
service and Cisco currently supports RSS version 2.0.
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
OL-25809-02 ix
Preface
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
xOL-25809-02
Preface
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

New and Changed Information
This chapter includes the following sections:
•Cisco Nexus 7000: New and Changed Information, page xi
•Cisco MDS 9500: New and Changed Information, page xii
Cisco Nexus 7000: New and Changed Information
This section provides release-specific information for each new and changed features documented for the
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series switches.
The latest version of this document is available at the following Cisco website:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9670/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html
To check for additional information about Cisco Nexus 7000 software, see the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS
Release Notes available at the following Cisco website:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9670/prod_release_notes_list.html
Table 1: New and Changed Features
Changed in ReleaseDescriptionFeature
6.1(2)FCoE support on F2e Series modulesF2e Series Module support (SPF+ only)
6.1(1)FCoE support on F2 Series modulesF2 Series Module support
6.0(1)
—
No changes in this release
5.2(1)Initial FCoE supportFCoE
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
OL-25809-02 xi

Cisco MDS 9500: New and Changed Information
This section provides release-specific information for each new and changed features documented for the
Cisco MDS 9500 Series switches.
The latest version of this document is available at the following Cisco website:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9670/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html
To check for additional information about Cisco MDS 9500 software, see the Cisco MDS 9000 Series NX-OS
Release Notes available at the following Cisco website:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9670/prod_release_notes_list.html
Table 2: New and Changed Features
Where DocumentedChanged in ReleaseDescriptionFeature
———
There are no changes since
Release 5.2(1)
This document5.2(1)Initial FCoE supportFCoE
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
xii OL-25809-02
New and Changed Information
Cisco MDS 9500: New and Changed Information

CHAPTER 1
Overview
This chapter includes the following sections:
•Information About Fibre Channel Over Ethernet, page 1
•Fibre Channel Forwarder, page 1
•Fibre Channel Bridge, page 2
Information About Fibre Channel Over Ethernet
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) allows Fibre Channel traffic to be encapsulated over a physical Ethernet
link. FCoE and FIP frames use a unique EtherType so that FCoE traffic and standard Ethernet traffic can be
carried on the same link.
Classic Ethernet is a best-effort protocol, which means that in a congested network, Ethernet discards packets
and relies on higher level protocols to provide retransmission and other reliability mechanisms.
Fibre Channel traffic requires a lossless transport layer; as a data storage protocol, it is unacceptable to lose
a single data packet. Native Fibre Channel implements a lossless service at the transport layer using a
buffer-to-buffer credit system.
Ethernet links on Cisco NX-OS switches provide two mechanisms to ensure lossless transport for FCoE traffic:
link-level flow control and priority flow control.
IEEE 802.3x link-level flow control allows a congested receiver to signal the far end to pause the data
transmission for a short period of time. The pause functionality is applied to all traffic on the link.
The priority flow control (PFC) feature on Cisco NX-OS platforms applies pause functionality to specific
classes of traffic on the Ethernet link. For example, PFC can provide lossless service for the FCoE traffic and
best-effort service for the standard Ethernet traffic using IEEE 802.1p traffic classes.
Fibre Channel Forwarder
Fibre Channel traffic requires a lossless transport layer, which means that it requires a data storage protocol
that does not lose a single data packet. A FCoE Forwarder (FCF) communicates with FCoE end devices, such
as converged network adapters (CNAs). The FCF accepts the Fibre Channel frame that is encapsulated in an
Ethernet packet and forwards that packet over a VLAN across an Ethernet network to a remote FCoE end
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
OL-25809-02 1

device. The FCF has a unique FC-MAC address in the FCoE network. An FCF can also assign FC address
IDs to the CNAs. An FCF can assign Fabric Provide MAC Addresses (FPMA) to the CNAs consisting of the
FC-Map Value for the Fabric and the Fibre Channel IDs (FC IDs) assigned during Fabric Login.
Fibre Channel Bridge
A Fibre Channel Bridge connects an FCoE network to a Fibre Channel network. A Fibre Channel Bridge
decapsulates an FCoE frame and sends the Fibre Channel frame to the Fibre Channel network. A Fibre Channel
Bridge also encapsulates FC frames from a Fibre Channel network and forwards them to the FCoE network.
Cisco MDS 9500 switches support Fibre Channel Bridge functions.
The Cisco Nexus 7000 series switches do not offer native Fibre Channel ports and do not support FC
Bridge functions.
Note
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
2OL-25809-02
Overview
Fibre Channel Bridge

CHAPTER 2
FCoE
This chapter includes the following sections:
•Information About FCoE, page 3
•Default Settings for FCoE, page 7
•Licensing Requirements for FCoE, page 7
•Guidelines and Limitations, page 8
•Configuring FCoE, page 10
•Verifying the FCoE Configuration, page 19
•Additional References for FCoE, page 20
Information About FCoE
FCoE provides a method of transporting Fibre Channel traffic over a physical Ethernet connection. FCoE
requires the underlying Ethernet to be full duplex and to provide lossless behavior for Fibre Channel traffic.
Lossless behavior on Ethernet is provided by using a priority flow control (PFC) mechanism that prevents
packet loss during congestion conditions.
Note
The Cisco NX-OS software supports T11-compliant FCoE on all 10-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.
FCoE and FIP
FCoE Initiation Protocol
The FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) allows the switch to discover and initialize FCoE-capable entities that
are connected to an Ethernet LAN. Cisco NX-OS switches support the Converged Enhanced Ethernet Data
Center Bridging Exchange (CEE-DCBX) protocol for T11-compliant Generation 2 CNAs.
The following switches do not support Pre-FIP on Generation 1 CNAs:
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
OL-25809-02 3

•Cisco Nexus 7000
•Cisco MDS 9500
FIP Virtual Link Instantiation
FIP is used to perform device discovery, initialization, and link maintenance. FIP performs the following
tasks:
•FIP VLAN discovery—Discovers the FCoE VLAN that will be used by all other FIP protocols as well
as by the FCoE encapsulation for Fibre Channel payloads on the established virtual link. FIP VLAN
discovery occurs in the native VLAN used by the initiator or target to exchange Ethernet traffic. The
FIP VLAN discovery protocol is the only FIP protocol running on the native VLAN; all other FIP
protocols run on the discovered FCoE VLANs.
•FIP FCF discovery—When a FCoE device is connected to the fabric, it sends a Discovery Solicitation
message. A Fibre Channel Forwarder (FCF) or a switch responds to the message with a Solicited
Advertisement that provides an FCF MAC address to use for subsequent logins.
•FCoE virtual link instantiation—FIP defines the encapsulation of fabric login (FLOGI), fabric discovery
(FDISC), logout (LOGO), and exchange link parameter (ELP) frames along with the corresponding
reply frames. The FCoE devices use these messages to perform a fabric login.
•FCoE virtual link maintenance—FIP periodically sends maintenance messages between the switch and
the CNA to ensure that the connection is still valid.
FCoE Frame Format
FCoE is implemented when the switch encapsulates a Fibre Channel frame in an Ethernet packet with a
dedicated Ethernet type, 0x8906. The packet has a 4-bit version field. The other header fields in the frame
(the source and destination MAC addresses, VLAN tags, and frame markers) are all standard Ethernet fields.
Reserved bits pad the FCoE frame to the IEEE 802.3 minimum packet length of 64 bytes.
A Fibre Channel frame consists of 36 bytes of headers and up to 2112 bytes of data for a total maximum size
of 2148 bytes. The encapsulated Fibre Channel frame has all the standard headers, which allow it to be passed
to the storage network without further modification. To accommodate the maximum Fibre Channel frame in
an FCoE frame, the class-fcoe is defined with a default Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) of 2240 bytes.
VLAN Tagging for FCoE Frames
The Ethernet frames that are sent by the switch to the adapter include the IEEE 802.1Q tag. This tag includes
a field for the class of service (CoS) value used by the priority flow control (PFC). The IEEE 802.1Q tag also
includes a VLAN field.
The switch expects frames from a FIP T11-compliant CNA to be tagged with the VLAN tag for the FCoE
VLAN. Frames that are not correctly tagged are discarded.
You cannot map VLAN 1 or the native VLAN to an FCoE VSAN.Note
The following switches do not support Pre-FIP on Generation 1 CNAs:
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
4OL-25809-02
FCoE
FCoE and FIP

•Cisco Nexus 7000
•Cisco MDS 9500
FIP Ethernet Frame Format
FIP is encapsulated in an Ethernet packet with a dedicated EtherType, 0x8914. The packet has a 4-bit version
field. Along with the source and destination MAC addresses, the FIP packet also contains a FIP operation
code and a FIP operation subcode. The following table describes the FIP operation codes and subcodes.
Table 3: FIP Operation Codes
FIP OperationFIP SubcodeFIP Operation Code
Discovery Solicitation0x010x0001
Discovery Advertisement0x02
Virtual Link Instantiation Request0x010x0002
Virtual Link Instantiation Reply0x02
FIP Keepalive0x010x0003
FIP Clear Virtual Links0x02
FIP VLAN Request0x010x0004
FIP VLAN Notification0x02
DCBX
Data Center Bridging Exchange Protocol
The Data Center Bridging Exchange (DCBX) protocol is an extension of the Link Layer Discovery Protocol
(LLDP). DCBX end points exchange request and acknowledgment messages. For flexibility, parameters are
coded in a type-length-value (TLV) format. Cisco NX-OS switches support the Converged Enhanced Ethernet
Data Center Bridging Exchange (CEE-DCBX) is supported on all T11-compliant Generation 2 CNAs.
DCBX runs on the physical Ethernet link between the switch and the CNA. By default, DCBX is enabled on
Ethernet interfaces. When an Ethernet interface is brought up, the switch automatically starts to communicate
with the CNA.
During the normal operation of FCoE between the switch and the CNA, DCBX provides link-error detection.
DCBX is also used to negotiate capabilities between the switch and the CNA and to send configuration values
to the CNA.
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
OL-25809-02 5
FCoE
DCBX

The CNAs that are connected to a switch are programmed to accept the configuration values that are sent by
the switch, allowing the switch to distribute configuration values to all attached CNAs, which reduces the
possibility of configuration errors and simplifies CNA administration.
Lossless Ethernet
Standard Ethernet is a best-effort medium which means that it lacks any form of flow control. In the event of
congestion or collisions, Ethernet drops packets. The higher level protocols detect the missing data and
retransmit the dropped packets.
To properly support Fibre Channel, Ethernet has been enhanced with a priority flow control (PFC) mechanism.
Logical Link Up/Down
On a native Fibre Channel link, some configuration actions (such as changing the VSAN) require that you
reset the interface status. When you reset the interface status, the switch disables the interface and then
immediately reenables the interface.
Caution:
If an Ethernet link provides FCoE service, do not reset the physical link because this action is disruptive to
all traffic on the link.
The logical link up/down feature allows the switch to reset an individual virtual link. The logical link down
is signaled with a FIP Clear Virtual Link message.
Caution:
If the CNA does not support the logical link level up/down feature, the CNA resets the physical link, which
means that all traffic on the Ethernet interface is disrupted.
Converged Network Adapters
Cisco NX-OS switches support the following CNA types:
•Hardware adapter
◦Works with the existing Fibre Channel host bus adapter (HBA) driver and Ethernet Network
Interface Card (NIC) driver in the server.
◦Server operating system view of the network is unchanged; the CNA presents a SAN interface and
a LAN interface to the operating system.
•FCoE software stack
◦Runs on existing 10-Gigabit Ethernet adapters.
The following Cisco NX-OS series and platforms support Generation 2 CNAs that use the FIP to exchange
information about its available capabilities and to negotiate the configurable values with the switch:
•Cisco Nexus 2232
•Cisco Nexus 5000
•Cisco Nexus 5500
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
6OL-25809-02
FCoE
Lossless Ethernet

•Cisco Nexus 7000
•Cisco MDS 9500
To reduce configuration errors and simplify administration, the switch distributes the configuration data to
all the connected adapters.
STP Lite
FCoE does not require full Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) because FCoE has no bridging functionality, which
means that no STP loops are created in the network. STP Lite on FCoE interfaces ensures rapid convergence
across the network by sending an agreement Bridge Protocol Data Unit (BPDU) whenever it receives a proposal
BPDU. The FCoE link sends the identical agreement BPDU in response to either an Multiple Spanning Tree
(MST) or a Per VLAN Rapid Spanning Tree Plus (PVRST+) proposal BPDU. Additionally, STP Lite suppresses
the MAC address flushing function for FCoE VLANs.
STP Lite is enabled automatically by default across the entire device for FCoE VLANs as soon as the first
FCoE VLAN comes up. At the same time, the system automatically converts all FCoE links as the STP-type
normal ports. This feature runs only in FCoE VLANs.
Default Settings for FCoE
This table lists the default settings for FCoE parameters.
Table 4: Default FCoE Parameter Settings
DefaultParameters
Not installed, disabledFCoE feature
0E.FC.00FC-Map
128Fabric priority
8 secondsAdvertisement interval
Licensing Requirements for FCoE
LicenseProduct
Each F Series module that runs FCoE requires an
FCoE license. FCoE enabled in a nondefault VDC
does not require the Advanced Services License. For
a complete explanation of the Cisco NX-OS licensing
scheme and how to obtain and apply licenses, see the
Cisco NX-OS Licensing Guide.
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
OL-25809-02 7
FCoE
STP Lite

LicenseProduct
FCoE does not require a license. For a complete
explanation of the Cisco NX-OS licensing scheme
and how to obtain and apply licenses, see the Cisco
NX-OS Licensing Guide.
Cisco MDS 9500 Series
Guidelines and Limitations
Cisco Nexus 7000: Guidelines and Limitations
•You cannot enable FCoE on default VLAN.
•The QoS policy must be the same on all Cisco FCoE switches in the network.
•Beginning with Cisco NX-OS Release 6.1, FCoE is supported on F2 and F2e Series modules.
◦FCoE supports only F2e (SFP+) modules.
◦FCoE does not support F2e (Copper) modules.
FCoE VDC
FCoE in a dedicated storage VDC has the following guidelines:
•Enable the FCoE feature set in only one VDC.
•Create VLANs in the FCoE allocated VLAN range.
•Do not enable any other features other than storage-related features in the dedicated FCoE VDC.
•Allocate resources for the dedicated FCoE VDC from an F Series module, such as the 32-port 1- and
10-Gigabit Ethernet I/O module (PID N7K-F132XP-15) .
•Rollback is not supported in a storage VDC.
•FCoE support on F2 and F2e Series modules, SF248XP-25 requires Supervisor 2 module.
•F2 and F2e series modules cannot exist in the same VDC with any other module type. This applies to
both LAN and storage VDCs.
Shared Interfaces
Any change in protocol state that flaps the parent port of a shared interface because of any port feature
also affects the FCOE traffic on the storage vdc.
Note
The following interface config modes are not allowed while sharing an interface from Ethernet vdc to a storage
vdc:
•SPAN destination
Cisco NX-OS FCoE Configuration Guide for Nexus 7000 and MDS 9500
8OL-25809-02
FCoE
Guidelines and Limitations