What is the recommended Fillword setting for using 8GBps Brocade switches?
Applies to
- Brocade 8GBps Switches
- Brocade 300
- Brocade 5100
Question
- What are Fillwords in a fibre channel environment and what does NetApp recommend they be set at?
- What is the recommended Fillword setting for using 8GBps Brocade switches?
Answer
- Fillwords are 4-byte words without a special task. A port sends them when it does not have to send something else. They are used to maintain the synchronization of the link
E ports and ISL ports may require different settings depending on xWDM vendors. Contact the vendors in both of these situations. |
- The available Fillword values are as follows:
0 | -idle-idle
Sets IDLE mode in the Link Init and IDLE as the fill word (default)1 | -arbff-arbff
Sets ARB(ff) in the Link Init and ARB(ff) as the fill word2 | -idlef-arbff
Sets IDLE mode in the Link Init and ARB(ff) as the fill word3 | -aa-then-ia
Attempts hardware arbff-arbff (mode 1) first. If the attempt fails to go into active state, this command executes software idle-arb (mode 2)
- The recommended Fillword mode is 3 as it captures more cases then 1 or 2
- The difference is that '3' attempts '1' and then '2'
Note:
- Changing fillword is a disruptive event as the port will bounce when this change is made.
- Some third-party storage vendors might require different Fillwords for their storage than
- E ports and ISL ports may require different settings depending on xWDM vendors. Contact the vendors in both of these situations.