Request for Comments: 4438 V. Gaonkar
Category: Standards Track H.K. Vivek
K. McCloghrie
Cisco Systems
S. Gai
Retired
April 2006
Fibre Channel Name Server MIB
Status of This Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).
Abstract
This memo defines a portion of the Management Information Base (MIB)
for use with network management protocols in the Internet community.
In particular, it describes managed objects for information related
to the Name Server function of a Fibre Channel network. The Fibre
Channel Name Server provides a means for Fibre Channel ports to
register and discover Fibre Channel names and attributes.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................3
2. The Internet-Standard Management Framework ......................3
3. Short Overview of Fibre Channel .................................3
4. Relationship to Other MIBs ......................................5
5. MIB Overview ....................................................5
5.1. Fibre Channel Management Instance ..........................5
5.2. Name Server Information Subset .............................5
5.3. Fabric Index ...............................................6
5.4. The MIB Groups .............................................6
5.4.1. The t11NsDBGroup Group ..............................6
5.4.2. Three Statistics Groups .............................7
5.4.3. The t11NsNotifyGroup Group ..........................7
5.4.4. The t11NsNotifyControlGroup Group ...................7
5.5. The Actual Values of Objects ...............................7
6. The T11-FC-NAME-SERVER-MIB Module ...............................8
7. Acknowledgements ...............................................31
8. Normative References ...........................................32
9. Informative References .........................................33
10. IANA Considerations ...........................................33
11. Security Considerations .......................................33
1. Introduction
This memo defines a portion of the Management Information Base (MIB)
for use with network management protocols in the Internet community.
In particular, it describes managed objects for information related
to the Fibre Channel network’s Name Server function, which provides a
means for Fibre Channel ports to register and discover Fibre Channel
attributes. Such attributes include names, addresses, types,
features, etc., at various protocol layers.
2. The Internet-Standard Management Framework
For a detailed overview of the documents that describe the current
Internet-Standard Management Framework, please refer to section 7 of
RFC 3410 [RFC3410].
Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
the Management Information Base or MIB. MIB objects are generally
accessed through the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
Objects in the MIB are defined using the mechanisms defined in the
Structure of Management Information (SMI). This memo specifies a MIB
module that is compliant to the SMIv2, which is described in STD 58,
RFC 2578 [RFC2578], STD 58, RFC 2579 [RFC2579] and STD 58, RFC 2580
[RFC2580].
3. Short Overview of Fibre Channel
The Fibre Channel (FC) is logically a bidirectional point-to-point
serial data channel, structured for high performance. Fibre Channel
provides a general transport vehicle for higher-level protocols such
as Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) command sets, the High-
Performance Parallel Interface (HIPPI) data framing, IP (Internet
Protocol), IEEE 802.2, and others.
Physically, Fibre Channel is an interconnection of multiple
communication points, called N_Ports, interconnected either by a
switching network, called a Fabric, or by a point-to-point link. A
Fibre Channel "node" consists of one or more N_Ports. A Fabric may
consist of multiple Interconnect Elements, some of which are
switches. An N_Port connects to the Fabric via a port on a switch
called an F_Port. When multiple FC nodes are connected to a single
port on a switch via an "Arbitrated Loop" topology, the switch port
is called an FL_Port, and the nodes’ ports are called NL_Ports. The
term Nx_Port is used to refer to either an N_Port or an NL_Port. The
term Fx_Port is used to refer to either an F_Port or an FL_Port. A
switch port, which is interconnected to another switch port via an
Inter-Switch Link (ISL), is called an E_Port. A B_Port connects a
bridge device with an E_Port on a switch; a B_Port provides a subset
of E_Port functionality.
Many Fibre Channel components, including the Fabric, each node, and
most ports, have globally-unique names. These globally-unique names
are typically formatted as World Wide Names (WWNs). More information
on WWNs can be found in [FC-FS]. WWNs are expected to be persistent
across agent and unit resets.
Fibre Channel frames contain 24-bit address identifiers, which
identify the frame’s source and destination ports. Each FC port has
both an address identifier and a WWN. When a fabric is in use, the
FC address identifiers are dynamic and are assigned by a switch.
Each octet of a 24-bit address represents a level in an address
hierarchy, with a Domain_ID being the highest level of the hierarchy.
The Fibre Channel Name Server provides a way for N_Ports and NL_Ports
to register and discover Fibre Channel attributes. Such attributes
include names, addresses, types, features, etc., at various protocol
layers, including upper layer protocols specific to Fibre Channel
(which are sometimes called "FC-4s"). Communication with the Name
Server is via Fibre Channel’s CT (Common Transport for Generic
Services) using "Information Units" (called CT_IUs) as either
requests, responses, or unsolicited.
Registrations may be performed by a third party. However, the Name
Server may refuse such third-party registration for unspecified
reasons. Once registered, the attributes are made available to
requestors.
Requestors could learn about new registrations via periodic polling
of the Name Server, but such polling would generate a considerable
overhead. To avoid this overhead, the Registered State Change
Notification (RSCN) mechanism defined in FC-FS [FC-FS] allows an
Nx_Port to register to receive an RSCN whenever an event occurs that
may affect the state of other Nx_Port(s), including changes in the
information registered with the Name Server.
The Fibre Channel Name Server is defined in the FC-GS specification,
The latest specification is [FC-GS-4]; the previous version was
[FC-GS-3].
4. Relationship to Other MIBs
The first standardized MIB for Fibre Channel [RFC2837] was focused on
Fibre Channel switches. It was obsoleted by the more generic Fibre
Channel Management MIB [FC-MGMT], which defines basic information for
Fibre Channel hosts and switches, including extensions to the
standard IF-MIB [IF-MIB] for Fibre Channel interfaces.
This MIB extends beyond [FC-MGMT] to cover the functionality, in
Fibre Channel switches, of providing Fibre Channel’s Name Server
function.
This MIB also imports some common textual conventions from
T11-TC-MIB, defined in [FC-FAM-MIB].
5. MIB Overview
This MIB module provides the means for monitoring the operation of,
and configuring some parameters of, one or more instances of Fibre
Channel Name Server functionality. (Note that there are no
definitions in this MIB module of "managed actions" that can be
invoked via SNMP.)
5.1. Fibre Channel Management Instance
A Fibre Channel management instance is defined in [FC-MGMT] as a
separable managed instance of Fibre Channel functionality. Fibre
Channel functionality may be grouped into Fibre Channel management
instances in whatever way is most convenient for the
implementation(s). For example, one such grouping accommodates a
single SNMP agent having multiple AgentX [RFC2741] sub-agents, with
each sub-agent implementing a different Fibre Channel management
instance.
The object, fcmInstanceIndex, is IMPORTed from the FC-MGMT-MIB
[FC-MGMT] as the index value to uniquely identify each Fibre Channel
management instance within the same SNMP context ([RFC3411], section
3.3.1).
5.2. Name Server Information Subset
In addition to allowing for multiple Fibre Channel management
instances, this MIB is based on the notion that the information
registered with the Name Server is available as one or more subsets.
The MIB allows the different subsets to be accessed either:
- via different SNMP agents/contexts,
- via different Fibre Channel management instances within the
same SNMP agent/context, and/or
- via the same Fibre Channel management instance within the
same SNMP agent/context.
The union of these subsets (across all agents/contexts in the
network) represents the total set of information registered with the
Name Server. Note that the intersection of the subsets is often
non-empty, and the use of the term "subset" does not preclude any
subset from containing the complete set of Name Server information.
Each of these subsets is identified using an index value called a
Name Server Information Subset Index.
Thus, all objects in this MIB are in tables that are INDEXed by at
least fcmInstanceIndex and t11NsInfoSubsetIndex, where the latter
contains a Name Server Information Subset Index value.
5.3. Fabric Index
The [FC-SW-3] standard for an interconnecting Fabric consisting of
multiple Fabric Switch elements describes the operation of a single
Fabric in a physical infrastructure. The current [FC-SW-4] standard
also supports the operation of multiple Virtual Fabrics operating
within one (or more) physical infrastructures. In such a scenario,
each Fabric has, of course, its own management instrumentation. In
order to accommodate this scenario, this MIB module defines all
Fabric-related information in tables that are INDEXed by an arbitrary
integer, named a "Fabric Index". In a Fabric that is conformant to
[FC-SW-3], the value of this Fabric Index will always be 1.
5.4. The MIB Groups
This section describes the six MIB groups contained in the MIB.
5.4.1. The t11NsDBGroup Group
This group contains information about the operation of the Name
Server function acting upon a Name Server Information Subset,
including an indication of whether such operation is performed local
to a particular Fibre Channel switch, or independently of a Fibre
Channel switch. It also contains the information currently
registered in a particular Name Server Information Subset.
5.4.2. Three Statistics Groups
There are three groups of Name Server statistics objects:
t11NsRequestStatsGroup -- stats about requests
t11NsRscnStatsGroup -- stats about (Name Server) RSCNs
t11NsRejectStatsGroup -- stats about rejects
Each of these groups is conditionally mandatory; specifically, each
group contains objects for particular statistics such that
implementation of the group is mandatory only for an implementation
that counts/captures the group’s particular statistics.
The intent here is not to force implementations to capture these
statistics, but rather to have all implementations that do capture
them, provide access to them via the same MIB objects.
5.4.3. The t11NsNotifyGroup Group
This group contains a set of notifications that provide for
monitoring the rejections of Name Server Registration Requests.
5.4.4. The t11NsNotifyControlGroup Group
This group contains objects for controlling the generation of, and
for information to be included in, the notifications defined in the
t11NsNotifyGroup group.
5.5. The Actual Values of Objects
The objects defined in the t11NsRegTable represent the values
registered with the Name Server. The SNMP agent MUST report the
actual values, even if they are incorrectly formatted. This is the
reason why, for example, the two objects that represent IP addresses,
t11NsNodeIpAddress and t11NsPortIpAddress, have the SYNTAX of OCTET
STRING, so that they are able to represent invalid values (which
could not be represented using InetAddressType and InetAddress).
Similarly, each set of (t11NsRejectReasonCode, t11NsRejReasonCodeExp,
t11NsRejReasonVendorCode) objects must hold the values of the actual
reject, explanation, and vendor-specific codes that were present in
the generated Reject message (the "Reject CT_IU"), irrespective of
whether or not such code values were appropriate.
6. The T11-FC-NAME-SERVER-MIB Module
T11-FC-NAME-SERVER-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN
-- The MIB for management of the Fibre Channel functionality which
-- implements the Name Server function.
IMPORTS
MODULE-IDENTITY,OBJECT-TYPE,
NOTIFICATION-TYPE, Unsigned32,
Counter32, Integer32, mib-2 FROM SNMPv2-SMI -- [RFC2578]
MODULE-COMPLIANCE, OBJECT-GROUP,
NOTIFICATION-GROUP FROM SNMPv2-CONF -- [RFC2580]
SnmpAdminString FROM SNMP-FRAMEWORK-MIB -- [RFC3411]
TruthValue, TEXTUAL-CONVENTION,
TimeStamp FROM SNMPv2-TC -- [RFC2579]
fcmInstanceIndex, FcPortType,
FcAddressIdOrZero, FcClasses,
FcNameIdOrZero FROM FC-MGMT-MIB -- [FC-MGMT]
T11FabricIndex FROM T11-TC-MIB -- [FC-FAM-MIB]
t11FamLocalSwitchWwn
FROM T11-FC-FABRIC-ADDR-MGR-MIB; -- [FC-FAM-MIB]
t11FcNameServerMIB MODULE-IDENTITY
LAST-UPDATED "200603020000Z"
ORGANIZATION "T11"
CONTACT-INFO
" Claudio DeSanti
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134 USA
Phone: +1 408 853-9172
EMail: cds@cisco.com
Keith McCloghrie
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA USA 95134
Phone: +1 408-526-5260
EMail: kzm@cisco.com"
DESCRIPTION
"The MIB module for the management of the functionality,
which realizes the FC-GS-4 requirements for Name
Server (NS).
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006). This version of
this MIB module is part of RFC 4438; see the RFC itself for
full legal notices."
REVISION "200603020000Z"
DESCRIPTION
"Initial version of this MIB module, published as RFC 4438."
::= { mib-2 135 }
t11NsNotifications OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { t11FcNameServerMIB 0 }
t11NsMIBObjects OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { t11FcNameServerMIB 1 }
t11NsMIBConformance OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { t11FcNameServerMIB 2 }
t11NsStatus OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { t11NsMIBObjects 1 }
t11NsStatistics OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { t11NsMIBObjects 2 }
-- Textual Conventions
T11NsGs4RejectReasonCode ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The FC-GS-4 reject reason code for a request.
none(1)
- no error.
invalidCmdCode(2)
- request contained an invalid command code.
invalidVerLevel(3)
- request contained an invalid version number.
logicalError(4)
- there was a logical error.
invalidIUSize(5)
- the CT_IU (Information Unit) size was invalid.
logicalBusy(6)
- the module is busy.
protocolError(7)
- there was a protocol error.
unableToPerformCmdReq(8)
- the command specified in the req could not be
executed. The details of exactly what failed
will be in the corresponding reason code
explanation.
cmdNotSupported(9)
- the command is not supported.
serverNotAvailable(10)
- the identified server was not available.
couldNotEstabSession(11)
- a server session could not be established.
vendorError(12)
- a vendor-specific error."
REFERENCE
"ANSI INCITS 387-2004, Fibre Channel - Generic
Services-4 (FC-GS-4), section 4.4.3."
SYNTAX INTEGER {
none(1),
invalidCmdCode(2),
invalidVerLevel(3),
logicalError(4),
invalidIUSize(5),
logicalBusy(6),
protocolError(7),
unableToPerformCmdReq(8),
cmdNotSupported(9),
serverNotAvailable(10),
couldNotEstabSession(11),
vendorError(12)
}
T11NsRejReasonCodeExpl ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The reject reason code explanation:
noAdditionalExplanation(1)
- no additional explanation.
portIdentifierNotRegistered(2)
- Port Identifier not registered.
portNameNotRegistered(3)
- Port Name not registered.
nodeNameNotRegistered(4)
- Node Name not registered.
classOfServiceNotRegistered(5)
- Class of Service not registered.
nodeIpAddressNotRegistered(6)
- ’IP Address (Node)’ value not registered.
ipaNotRegistered(7)
- Initial Process Associator (IPA) not registered.
fc4TypeNotRegistered(8)
- FC-4 TYPEs not registered.
symbolicPortNameNotRegistered(9)
- Symbolic Port Name not registered.
symbolicNodeNameNotRegistered(10)
- Symbolic Node Name not registered.
portTypeNotRegistered(11)
- ’Port Type’ not registered.
portIpAddressNotRegistered(12)
- ’IP Address (Port)’ value not registered.
fabricPortNameNotRegistered(13)
- Fabric Port Name not registered.
hardAddressNotRegistered(14)
- ’Hard Address’ not registered.
fc4DescriptorNotRegistered(15)
- FC-4 Descriptor not registered.
fc4FeaturesNotRegistered(16)
- FC-4 Features not registered.
accessDenied(17)
- Access denied.
unacceptablePortIdentifier(18)
- Unacceptable Port Identifier.
databaseEmpty(19)
- Database is empty.
noObjectRegInSpecifiedScope(20)
- no object has been registered in the specified
scope.
domainIdNotPresent(21)
- Domain ID not present.
portIdNotPresent(22)
- Port number not present.
noDeviceAttached(23)
- No device attached.
authorizationException(24)
- Authorization Exception.
authenticationException(25)
- Authentication Exception.
databaseFull(26)
- Database full."
REFERENCE
"ANSI INCITS 387-2004, Fibre Channel - Generic
Services-4 (FC-GS-4), sections 4.4.4 and 5.2.4"
SYNTAX INTEGER {
noAdditionalExplanation(1),
portIdentifierNotRegistered(2),
portNameNotRegistered(3),
nodeNameNotRegistered(4),
classOfServiceNotRegistered(5),
nodeIpAddressNotRegistered(6),
ipaNotRegistered(7),
fc4TypeNotRegistered(8),
symbolicPortNameNotRegistered(9),
symbolicNodeNameNotRegistered(10),
portTypeNotRegistered(11),
portIpAddressNotRegistered(12),
fabricPortNameNotRegistered(13),
hardAddressNotRegistered(14),
fc4DescriptorNotRegistered(15),
fc4FeaturesNotRegistered(16),
accessDenied(17),
unacceptablePortIdentifier(18),
databaseEmpty(19),
noObjectRegInSpecifiedScope(20),
domainIdNotPresent(21),
portIdNotPresent(22),
noDeviceAttached(23),
authorizationException(24),
authenticationException(25),
databaseFull(26)
}
--
-- Information about a Name Server Information Subset
--
t11NsInfoSubsetTable OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SEQUENCE OF T11NsInfoSubsetEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"This table contains one entry for each Name Server
Information Subset within each Fibre Channel
management instance."
::= { t11NsStatus 1 }
t11NsInfoSubsetEntry OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX T11NsInfoSubsetEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION