> # Static IP Peers for CFS over IP

> Multicast forwarding is disabled by default in some devices. For example, the IBM Blade chassis has multicast forwarding disabled, especially on external Ethernet ports, and there is no method to enable it. N port virtualization devices use only IP as the transport medium and do not have ISL connectivity or a Fibre Channel domain.

> To enable CFS over IP on the switches that do not support multicast forwarding, multicast forwarding has to be enabled on the Ethernet IP switches all along the network that physically connects the switch. In such cases, you can configure static IP peers for CFS distribution over IP.

> CFS uses the list of configured IP addresses to communicate with each peer and learn the peer switch WWN. After learning the peer switch WWN, CFS marks the switch as CFS-capable and triggers application-level merging and database distribution.

> The following MDS 9000 features require static IP peer configuration for CFS over IP distribution:

> - N port virtualization devices have IP as the communication channel because NPV switches do not have FC domain. NPV devices use CFS over IP as the transport medium.
> - FlexAttach virtual pWWN distribution on CFS region 201 that links only the NPV-enabled switches.

> Copyright 2010-2013, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.