18 Access Gateway Administrator’s Guide
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Access Gateway mapping
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FIGURE 6 Example device mapping to an N_Port
Static versus dynamic mapping
Device mapping can be classified as either “static” or “dynamic” as follows:
• Device mapping to an N_Port and to an N_Port Group are considered static. Static mappings
persist across reboots and can be saved and restored with Fabric OS configUpload and
configDownload commands.
• Automatic WWN load balancing, if enabled, is considered dynamic. These mappings exist only
while a device is logged in. Dynamic mappings cannot be saved or edited by the administrator
and do not persist across reboots. Dynamic mapping shows the current mapping for devices as
opposed to original static mapping, if one had been specified. If a device is mapped to N_port
group, then all mapping is dynamic.
These mappings only apply to NPIV devices and cannot redirect devices that are directly attached to
Access Gateway, since physically-attached devices use the port maps to connect to the fabric.
Device mapping to port groups (recommended)
Mapping NPIV devices to a port group is an ideal choice when a reasonably sized set of devices
must connect to the same group of N_Ports, and you want the flexibility of moving the devices to
any available F_Port. This type of mapping is recommended because the device will automatically
connect to the least-loaded N_Port in the group if the N_Port to which the device is currently
connected goes offline or is not yet online. For more information on port groups, refer to “Port
Grouping policy” on page 33.
