Fabric Binding Enforcement
Fabric Binding
Authorizes only the configured sWWN stored in the
fabric binding database to participate in the fabric.
Requires activation on a per VSAN basis.
Allows specific user-defined switches that are allowed
to connect to the fabric, regardless of the physical port
to which the peer switch is connected.
Does not learn about switches that are logging in.
Cannot be distributed by CFS and must be configured
manually on each switch in the fabric.
Uses a set of sWWNs and a persistent domain ID.
Port-level checking for xE ports is as follows:
• The switch login uses both port security binding and fabric binding for a given VSAN.
• Binding checks are performed on the port VSAN as follows:
While port security complements fabric binding, they are independent features and can be enabled or disabled
separately.
Fabric Binding Enforcement
To enforce fabric binding, configure the switch world wide name (sWWN) to specify the xE port connection
for each switch. Enforcement of fabric binding policies are done on every activation and when the port tries
to come up. In a FICON VSAN, the fabric binding feature requires all sWWNs connected to a switch and
their persistent domain IDs to be part of the fabric binding active database. In a Fibre Channel VSAN, only
the sWWN is required; the domain ID is optional.
Note
All switches in a Fibre Channel VSAN using fabric binding must be running Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release
3.0(1) and NX-OS Release 4.1(1b) or later.
Fabric Binding Configuration
To configure fabric binding in each switch in the fabric, follow these steps:
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Security Configuration Guide, Release 8.x
252
• E port security binding check on port VSAN
• TE port security binding check on each allowed VSAN
Port Security
Allows a preconfigured set of Fibre Channel devices
to logically connect to a SAN ports. The switch port,
identified by a WWN or interface number, connects
to a Fibre Channel device (a host or another switch),
also identified by a WWN. By binding these two
devices, you lock these two ports into a group (or list).
Requires activation on a per VSAN basis.
Allows specific user-defined physical ports to which
another device can connect.
Learns about switches or devices that are logging in
if learning mode is enabled.
Can be distributed by CFS.
Uses pWWNs/nWWNs or fWWNs/sWWNs.
Configuring Fabric Binding