Switch Internal Resources

Internal resources are components that are integrated with a switch. Components that you can view include trunks, switches, and ports.

Internal Resources

Use the Switch details page to view information about the following internal resources for switches that are monitored by IBM Storage Insights.
Tips:
  • If performance data was collected for a switch, you can view detailed metrics that measure its performance and the performance of its ports. For example, right-click a port and select View Performance to view its total data rate and overall bandwidth percentage. For information about the performance view and the resources for which it is available, see Performance view.
  • For trunks, performance metadata is collected only for ISL connection types. Performance metadata is not collected for the other types of trunks, such as ISL Trunks.

Trunks

Trunks include the following types of link:
Inter-switch link (ISL)
A link between two ports on different switches. The link is typically between two expansion ports (E_ports). Both of the switches operate in native mode.
N_Port Virtualization (NPV) link
A single physical link between a switch that is in native mode and an NPV switch. An NPV switch is a Cisco switch that is in NPV mode or a Brocade switch that is in Access Gateway mode. The port on the switch that is in native mode is a fabric port (F_port). The port on the switch that is in NPV mode or Brocade Access Gateway mode is a proxy node port (NP_port).
Expansion port (E_port) channel (also known as an ISL trunk)
A logical aggregation of ISLs.
Fabric port (F_port) channel (also known as an F_port trunk)
A logical aggregation of NPV links.
Port channel
A logical aggregation of links. If the port channel has no links, it is not possible to determine whether the port channel is an E_port channel or an F_port channel. In this case, the connection is referred to as a port channel.
Inter-chassis link (ICL) trunk
A logical aggregation of ICLs between the core routing blades of two Brocade director switches. The core blades have special ICL E_ports that are used only for links to core blades on other director switches.

To view information about ISLs, click Trunks. The number in parentheses shows the number of ISLs that are associated with the switch. For example, Trunks (2) indicates that there are two inter-switch links available on a switch.

The following information is available for ISLs, NPV links, ISL trunks, F_port trunks, and ICL trunks:
Status
The status values help you to decide whether you need to investigate or resolve issues with inter-switch links.
The following statuses might be displayed for the ISL, NPV link, ISL trunk, F_port trunk, or ICL trunk:
Acknowledged
Shows whether a user marked the status of an ISL as acknowledged. If the status of the ISL was reviewed, and the status is either resolved or can be ignored, the status is acknowledged. To acknowledge the status of an ISL, right-click the ISL in the list and select Acknowledge Status.
Error
The ISLs and NPV links have an error status because one or both of the ports have an error status.
ISL trunks, F_port trunks, and ICL trunks have an error status if half or more than half of the links in the trunk or channel have ports that have an error status.
Normal
ISLs and NPV links have a normal status if both of the ports have a normal status.
ISL trunks, F_port trunks, and ICL trunks have a normal status if half or more than half of the ports on the link have a normal status, all of the ports are configured correctly, and none of the links has an error status.
Unknown
The status of the ISL cannot be determined.
Unreachable
ISLs and NPV links have an unreachable status if both of the ports have an unreachable status.
ISL trunks, F_port trunks, and ICL trunks have an unreachable status if half or more than half of the ports on the link have an unreachable status, all of the ports are configured correctly, and none of the links has an error status.
Warning
ISLs and NPV links have a warning status if one or both of the ports have a warning status.
ISL trunks, F_port trunks, and ICL trunks have a warning status if less than half of the links have a port that has an error status. ISL trunks also have a warning status if half or more than half of the links have ports that have a warning status.
The following information is available for E_port channels and F_port channels:
Status
The status values help you to decide whether you need to investigate or resolve issues with port channels.
The following statuses might be displayed for a port channel:
Error
One or both of the ports have an error status. If the port channel has no member ports, you get a no ports error.
Normal
Both of the ports have a normal status.
Port not in port channel
A port on a switch has a link to a port on another switch, but that switch is not configured to be in the port channel.
Port with no link
A port on one of the two switches in the port channel has no link.
Unknown
The status of the port channel cannot be determined.
Warning
One or both of the ports have a warning status.

Ports

Switch ports can be expansion ports (E_ports), fabric ports (F_ports), or fabric loop ports (FL_ports). To view information about ports, click Ports. The number in parentheses shows the number of ports that are associated with the switch. For example, Ports (6) indicates that there are six ports available on a switch. The following information is available for each port:

Acknowledged
Shows whether a user marked the status of a port as acknowledged. An acknowledged status indicates that the status was reviewed and is either resolved or can be ignored. An acknowledged status is not used when determining the status of related, higher-level resources.
For example, if the status of a port is Error, the status of the related switch is also Error. If the Error status for the port is acknowledged, then its status is not used to determine the overall status of the switch. In this case, if the other internal resources of the switch are Normal, then the status of the switch is also Normal.
Blade Slot
If the port is on a blade, this column shows the slot on a switch to which the blade is attached. If the port is on the switch, this column is blank.
Connected NPIV Ports
The number of ports that use NPIV and that are logically connected to the port. Ports must be online to be connected. Click the number of ports to view the properties notebook Connected NPIV Ports tab for the switch port. If IBM Storage Insights does not differentiate between physically connected ports and logically connected ports, the Connected NPIV Ports tab is not displayed. All of the connected ports are instead displayed in a table on the Connectivity tab.
Connected Port
The Port Name of the remote port that is physically connected to the switch port. Both ports must be online to be connected. Click the name to view the properties notebook Connectivity tab for the port. When the switch port has connections that use NPIV, the number of connections is displayed if IBM Storage Insights does not differentiate between physically connected ports and logically connected ports. If the physically connected port unregisters from the switch port, the fields on the Connectivity tab show the value Unknown.
Connected Resource
If the port is actively connected to another port, this column displays the name of the resource that is communicating with that port. The resource can be a switch, a host, or a storage system. This field can also display a port alias or a host connection name, if that information is available. For Cisco switch ports, the zone alias is displayed, if available. Cisco device aliases are not supported. When the switch port has connections that use N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV), the number of connections is displayed if IBM Storage Insights does not differentiate between physically connected ports and logically connected ports. If a port has one connected resource with multiple names, either alias names or host names, the properties notebook for that port displays the Connected Resource Names tab. This tab shows the name and WWPN of each alias or host name. If a port has more than one connected resource, the ports table shows the number of connected resources for that port. Click the number to see a table that lists the names and WWPNs of the connected resources for that port. The following values might also be shown:
Blank
This column is blank if the port is disabled or does not have an active connection. A port can be enabled but offline if no resources have an active connection to it.
Unavailable
The value Unavailable is shown if a resource is attached to the port but IBM Storage Insights is not monitoring that resource. For example, if only the WWPN of the connected resource is known, the value Unavailable is shown.
Connected WWPN
The WWPN of the remote port that is connected to the port. When the switch port has connections that use NPIV, the number of connections is displayed if IBM Storage Insights does not differentiate between physically connected ports and logically connected ports.
Domain, Port
The domain ID of a switch, followed by the port index of a switch. In switches that have blades, the port index can differ from the port number.
Name
The name of the port. With Brocade switches, the name shown can be displayed as:
  • the user-defined port name on the switch.
  • the blade and port number, if the switch has blades.
  • the port number, if the switch does not have blades.
Port Number
The number of the port.
Port Type
The type of port, such as E_PORT, F_PORT, or G_PORT. If this information is unknown, this column is blank.
Speed (Gbps)
The negotiated speed of a port.
State
The state of a port, such as Unavailable, Disabled, Online, and Enabled but offline. A port that is online means that the port is communicating with an attached resource. A port that is enabled but offline means that the port is enabled, but no resources are attached to it. It might not always be possible to determine the state of a port. For example, it is only possible to determine the state of ports on Brocade switches, and it sometimes not possible to determine the state of those ports. If it is not possible to determine the state of a port, the state of the port is Unavailable.
Status
The status of a Fibre Channel port. Use the status to determine the condition of a port, and if any actions must be taken. For example, if a port has an Error status, take immediate action to correct the problem. The following statuses might be displayed for a port:
  • Error
  • Operational
  • Unknown
  • Other
  • Ok
  • Degraded
  • Stressed
  • Predictive Failure
  • Error
  • Non-recoverable error
  • Starting
  • Stopping
  • Stopped
  • In service
  • No contact
  • Lost communication
  • Aborted
  • Dormant
  • Supporting entity in error
  • Completed
  • Power® mode
  • cpsoutofsync
  • cpfailed
  • cpsfailed
Switch
The logical name of the switch where a Fibre Channel port is located, or the name that was defined when the switch was added for monitoring. If neither name is available, IBM Storage Insights uses the WWN of the switch.
WWPN
The worldwide port name (WWPN) of a port. A WWPN is the unique 64-bit identifier for a port in a Fibre Channel fabric.