Uplink ports and uplink port states

The physical port of the interconnect module is assigned to the uplink set. When adding uplink ports, a menu of available uplink ports is displayed.

Use the Logical interconnects screen to verify that the uplink ports used by the uplink set are enabled, linked, and correctly configured.

You can designate an uplink port as Preferred, which applies when you create an uplink set and the connection mode is set to Failover. In failover mode, the preferred port is the port you want to be active and carry the traffic in the uplink set. All other ports in the uplink set are in standby mode. If the preferred port fails for any reason, a standby port takes over. If the connection mode is set to Automatic, the Virtual Connect interconnect decides which port is active or standby.

Preferred can be selected if connection mode is Failover. Select Preferred if you want a single link to be the active link to the external networks. The other ports are standby connections. If the preferred uplink loses connectivity, a new active uplink from the available standby uplinks is selected as the active network path. Selecting a new active uplink typically takes less than 5 seconds. If the previous preferred uplink is restored, connectivity fails back to it automatically.

Port states

Shows the link status and connectivity of the port. If the port is not linked or no connectivity exists, the port state and status can help identify any errors and possible cause for the error condition.

The possible states for the uplink port are:

Linked

Uplink port is linked with, typically, a top-of-rack port.

Linked standby

Ethernet networks status. For FCoE uplink sets, this state indicates that there are only FCoE networks and no Ethernet networks present in the uplink set. If there is a defined Ethernet network in the uplink set, the status displays Linked active, FCoE active.

Unlinked

Uplink port is not physically linked with an interconnect, typically, a top-of-rack port.

For FC uplink sets, this state also indicates that FC fabric connectivity has not been established. The port status can help you identify any errors and possible cause for the error condition. For example:

  • Not Logged In – The port is not logged in to the remote device.

  • Incompatible storage – The port is connected to an unsupported storage device.

  • Incomplete login – The port detected an incomplete fabric login from the connected device.

  • Fabric mismatch – The port detected a fabric mismatch. A mismatch can occur when the port is configured for a Fabric-Attach fabric, but is attached to a storage device or when the port is configured for a Direct-Attach fabric, but is attached to an external SAN switch.

Disabled

The port has been disabled from the Edit interconnect screen.

Unmanaged

The QSFP+ port is empty but requires a splitter cable for the Virtual Connect FlexFabric 20/40 F8 Module to be installed.

FCoE

Active if the FCoE network has been defined, uplinks are connected, and an FCoE-capable switch has been configured correctly.

None if the FCoE network has been defined and uplinks are connected, but the switch is not FCoE-capable or has not been configured correctly.