Qlogic Storage Networking (Unified Fabric Pilot), Installation Manual

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5–Validation Methods for DCB and FCoE
Validation Step 2—FIP Validation
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Validation Step 2—FIP Validation
The next step is to verify FCoE initialization protocol (FIP). FIP performs the FCoE
link initialization and maintenance to enable FCoE traffic in the unified fabric.
FIP ensures that:

FCoE switches advertise themselves in broadcast messages.

End devices query for the VLAN ID to be used for FCoE.

End devices query for other FCoE characteristics.

End devices log in to or log out from the switch.

End devices advertise to the switch that they are present so that the FCoE
connection does not timeout.
FIP can be communicated either between the adapter and the FCoE switch (FCF)
or between the FCoE target and the FCoE switch (FCF). The FIP test setup is
shown in
Figure 5-5 .
Figure 5-5. FIP Test Setup
Within TraceView, normal FIP operation begins with FIP discovery advertisement
broadcast messages from each FCoE switch, which are repeated every eight
seconds. These messages contain the MAC address of the switch and the version
of the FIP protocol. FIP operation proceeds in the following sequence:
1. The adapter/storage requests the FCoE VLAN ID using the FIP VLAN
request message. The 3-bit VLAN priority for FCoE is broadcast through
DCBX exchanges every 30 seconds.
2. The FCoE switch responds with the FCoE VLAN ID in the FIP VLAN
notification message.
3. The adapters/storage request the FCoE characteristics in an FIP Discovery
Solicitation message. This message also transmits the maximum FCoE
frame size supported by the end device.
4Gbps
10Gbps