# US 2020/0396174 A1 · Adaptive fibre channel switch port role configuration system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2020/0396174 A1 - Document ID: US20200396174A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/439,479 - Filed: 2019-06-12 - Published: 2020-12-17 - Earliest claimed: 2019-06-12 - Assignees: Dell Products L.P. - Applicants: Dell Products L.P. - Inventors: Ramesh Kumar Subbiah; Vibin Varghese - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200396174A1 ## CPC - H04L 49/15: Interconnection of switching modules - H04L 49/357: {Fibre channel switches} - H04L 49/30: {Peripheral units, e.g. input or output ports} - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract An adaptive switch port role configuration system includes a first switch coupled to port on a second switch by an ISL, with end devices coupled to the second switch. The second switch transmits a port reconfiguration message to the first switch via the ISL while operating as a leaf switch with the port configured as an E port and, in response to an acceptance, performs link reset operations including reconfiguring the port as an N port. The second switch then transmits a FLOGI message for the port configured as the N port to the first switch via the ISL and, in response to an acceptance, transmits a respective FDISC message via the first ISL to the first switch for each of the end devices. The second switch then receives a response for each FDISC message, and uses end device addresses included in the responses to operate as an NPIV gateway. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An adaptive switch port role configuration system, comprising: a plurality of end devices; a first switch device; and a second switch device that is coupled to each of the plurality of end devices, and that includes a first port that is coupled to the first switch by a first Inter-Switch Link (ISL) and a second port, wherein the second switch device is configured to: transmit, to the first switch device via the first ISL while operating as a leaf switch with the first port configured as an Extender port (E port), a first port reconfiguration message; perform, in response to receiving an acceptance of the first port reconfiguration message, link reset operations that include reconfiguring the first port as a Network port (N port); transmit, to the first switch device via the first ISL while the first port is configured as the N port, a first Fabric LOGIn (FLOGI) message for the first port configured as the N port; transmit, to the first switch device via the first ISL and in response to receiving an acceptance of the first FLOGI message, a respective Fabric DISCovery (FDISC) message for each of the plurality of end devices; receive, for each FDISC message, an FDISC message response; operate, using end device addresses for each of the plurality of end devices included in the FDISC message responses, as an N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) gateway; determine, while operating as an NPIV gateway, that a second ISL has become available via the second port that is configured as an N port; transmit, via the second ISL, a second FLOGI message for the second port configured as the N port; receive an acceptance of the second FLOGI message and, in response, determine that the acceptance of the second FLOGI message was received from the first switch device; and aggregate, in response to receiving the acceptance of the second FLOGI message from the first switch device, the second ISL and the first ISL. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the second switch device is configured to: identify the first ISL as the only ISL connected to the second switch device and, in response, determine that the second switch device is configured as a leaf switch. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the first port reconfiguration message is an Extended Link Service (ELS) message. ### Claim 4 (canceled) ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising: a third switch device, wherein the second switch device includes a third port and is configured to: determine, while operating as an NPIV gateway, that a third ISL has become available via the third port that is configured as an N port; transmit, via the third ISL, a third FLOGI message for the third port configured as the N port; receive an acceptance of the third FLOGI message and, in response, determine that the acceptance of the third FLOGI message was received from the third switch device; and perform, in response to receiving the acceptance of the third FLOGI message from the third switch device, link reset operations that include reconfiguring the third port as an E port. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The system of claim 5, wherein the second switch device is configured to: verify a domain identifier that was reserved using the first FLOGI message and, in response, complete zone merge operations. ### Claim 7 An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising: a processing system; and a memory system that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a switch engine that is configured to: transmit, to a first switch device via a first ISL that is coupled to the processing system while operating as a leaf switch with a first port that is coupled to the processing system configured as an Extender port (E port), a first port reconfiguration message; perform, in response to receiving an acceptance of the first port reconfiguration message, link reset operations that include reconfiguring the first port as a Network port (N port); transmit, to the first switch device via the first ISL while the first port is configured as the N port, a first Fabric LOGIn (FLOGI) message for the first port configured as the N port; transmit, to the first switch device via the first ISL and in response to receiving an acceptance of the first FLOGI message, a respective Fabric DISCovery (FDISC) message for each of a plurality of end devices that are coupled to the processing system; receive, for each FDISC message, an FDISC message response; operate, using end device addresses for each of the plurality of end devices included in the FDISC message responses, as an N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) gateway; determine, while operating as an NPIV gateway, that a second ISL has become available via a second port that is coupled to the processing system and configured as an N port; transmit, via the second ISL, a second FLOGI message for the second port configured as the N port; receive an acceptance of the second FLOGI message from a second switch device and, in response, determine that the acceptance of the second FLOGI message was received from the second switch device; and perform, in response to receiving the acceptance of the second FLOGI message from the second switch device, link reset operations that include reconfiguring the second port as an E port. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The IHS of claim 7, wherein the switch engine is configured to: identify the first ISL as the only ISL that is coupled to the processing system and, in response, determine that the IHS is configured as a leaf switch. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The IHS of claim 7, wherein the first port reconfiguration message is an Extended Link Service (ELS) message. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The IHS of claim 7, wherein the switch engine is configured to: determine, while operating as an NPIV gateway, that a third ISL has become available via a third port that is coupled to the processing system and configured as an N port; transmit, via the third ISL, a third FLOGI message for the third port configured as the N port; receive an acceptance of the third FLOGI message and, in response, determine that the acceptance of the third FLOGI message was received from the first switch device; and aggregate, in response to receiving the acceptance of the third FLOGI message from the first switch device, the third ISL and the first ISL. ### Claim 11 (canceled) ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The IHS of claim 7, wherein the switch engine is configured to: verify a domain identifier that was reserved using the first FLOGI message and, in response, complete zone merge operations. ### Claim 13 (depends on 7) The IHS of claim 7, wherein the switch engine is configured to: determine that a domain identifier cannot be verified and, in response, either select a disruptive build fabric or isolate the second port configured as an E port. ### Claim 14 A method for adaptively configuration switch port roles, comprising: transmitting, by a first switch device to a second switch device via a first ISL while operating as a leaf switch with a first port configured as an Extender port (E port), a first port reconfiguration message; performing, by the first switch device in response to receiving an acceptance of the first port reconfiguration message, link reset operations that include reconfiguring the first port as a Network port (N port); transmitting, by the first switch device to the second switch device via the first ISL while the first port is configured as the N port, a first Fabric LOGIn (FLOGI) message for the first port configured as the N port; transmitting, by the first switch device to the second switch device via the first ISL and in response to receiving an acceptance of the first FLOGI message, a respective Fabric DISCovery (FDISC) message for each of a plurality of end devices that are coupled to the first switch device; receiving, by the first switch device for each FDISC message, an FDISC message response; operating, by the first switch device using end device addresses for each of the plurality of end devices included in the FDISC message responses, as an N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) gateway; determining, by the first switch device while operating as an NPIV gateway, that a second ISL has become available via a second port configured as an N port; transmitting, by the first switch device via the second ISL, a second FLOGI message for the second port configured as the N port; receiving, by the first switch device, an acceptance of the second FLOGI message from the second switch device and, in response, determine that the acceptance of the second FLOGI message was received from the second switch device; and aggregating, by the first switch device in response to receiving the acceptance of the second FLOGI message from the second switch device, the second ISL and the first ISL. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: identifying, by the first switch device, the first ISL as the only ISL that is coupled to the first switch device and, in response, determine that the first switch device is configured as a leaf switch. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the first port reconfiguration message is an Extended Link Service (ELS) message. ### Claim 17 (canceled) ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: determining, by the first switch device while operating as an NPIV gateway, that a third ISL has become available via a third port configured as an N port; transmitting, by the first switch device via the third ISL, a third FLOGI message for the third port configured as the N port; receiving, by the first switch device, an acceptance of the third FLOGI message and, in response, determining that the acceptance of the third FLOGI message was received from a third switch device; and performing, by the first switch device in response to receiving the acceptance of the third FLOGI message from the third switch device, link reset operations that include reconfiguring the third port as an E port. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, further comprising: verifying, by the first switch device, a domain identifier that was reserved using the first FLOGI message and, in response, completing zone merge operations. ### Claim 20 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: determining, by the first switch device, that a domain identifier cannot be verified and, in response, either selecting a disruptive build fabric or isolating the second port configured as an E port.