Fibre Channel Link Aggregation

Question

quick question. Is there a Port-Channel/EtherChannel Link Aggregation equivalent for Fibre Channel? Is it possible to aggregate FC Links for High Availability? For instance if I have two Fabrics and I want a Host with 4 WWPN to have High Availability into each Fabric..is it possible to bond and aggregate 2 WWPN links to each fabric using a similar protocol like LACP or EtherChannel does in the Ethernet world?

Thank you!

Solution

FC doesn't use LAG to achieve link redundancy or aggregation. It uses MultiPath IO (MPIO) to establish multiple logical communications channels and presents them to the storage subsystem as a single device.

Comments

[longneck]

You need support on both sides. A FC controller that doesn't support MPIO is unlikely unless you're using something REALLY old. MPIO usually requires configuration on the initiator side, or (on Linux) at least paying attention to which device the MPIO mapper attached your LUN to. See serverfault.com/questions/532644/… for an example.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Our Cisco MDS and UCS fabric interconnects form port-channels between each other?

[Jim]

So it sounds like the FC Port-Channel is only for inter-switch links?

[longneck]

In standard FC, there is no link bonding. That's a proprietary feature of Cisco FC devices.