Cisco MDS 9500 Series Multilayer Directors

March 17, 2008

NOTICE:

THIS FIELD NOTICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS AND DOES NOT IMPLY ANY KIND OF GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY, INCLUDING THE WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY. YOUR USE OF THE INFORMATION ON THE FIELD NOTICE OR MATERIALS LINKED FROM THE FIELD NOTICE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. CISCO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR UPDATE THIS FIELD NOTICE AT ANY TIME.

Revision History

Products Affected

Problem Description

Dynamic Port VSAN Membership (DPVM) could terminate due to the following two situations:

1- If there are multiple nx_ports with same NWWN in the same switch, and the device owning that NWWN has a link flap for any reason, the DPVM process may terminate.

2- If there are a large number of logged in ports (more than 64 F-ports FLOGI'd in a single switch), and a logged-in device flaps, then there is a possibility of DPVM terminating.

Background

DPVM has multiple tables to maintain login information of devices. During the two scenarios mentioned above, tables might get out of sync and may lead to the DPVM process terminating.

Problem Symptoms

The DPVM process could terminate under the following conditions:

If there are more than 64 devices logged into a single switch, and a device logs out and log back in.

or

If there are multiple nx_ports with same NWWN , and the device owning the NWWN either logs out or has another port login.

Either of these conditions could lead to a switch reload.

Workaround/Solution

The issue has been fixed in SAN-OS release 3.1.1 and higher. Customer can upgrade to SAN-OS 3.1.1 or a later release to resolve the issue.

Customers who are not planning to upgrade their SAN-OS release can resolve the issue by disabling DPVM. Please use the following steps to disable DPVM:

Step 1. Follow the steps to configure port vsan:

 

Switch(config) # vsan database 

Switch(config-vsan-db) # vsan [vsan no.] interface [interface id]

Step 2. Disable DPVM distribution to the neighboring switches.

switch(config)# no dpvm distribute

Step 3. Deactivate the currently active DPVM database

switch(config)# no dpvm activate 

switch(config)# dpvm commit

Step 4. Disable DPVM on that switch

switch(config)# no dpvm enable

DDTS

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For More Information

If you require further assistance, or if you have any further questions regarding this field notice, please contact the Cisco Systems Technical Assistance Center (TAC) by one of the following methods:

• Open a service request on Cisco.com
• By email
• By telephone

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