> # Domain Manager Fast Restart

> As of Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release 3.0(2), when a principal link fails, the domain manager must select a new principal link. By default, the domain manager starts a build fabric (BF) phase, followed by a principal switch selection phase. Both of these phases involve all the switches in the VSAN and together take at least 15 seconds to complete. To reduce the time required for the domain manager to select a new principal link, you can enable the domain manager fast restart feature.

> When fast restart is enabled and a backup link is available, the domain manager needs only a few milliseconds to select a new principal link to replace the one that failed. Also, the reconfiguration required to select the new principal link only affects the two switches that are directly attached to the failed link, not the entire VSAN. When a backup link is not available, the domain manager reverts to the default behavior and starts a BF phase, followed by a principal switch selection phase. The fast restart feature can be used in any interoperability mode.

> Tip We recommend using fast restart on most fabrics, especially those with a large number of logical ports (3200 or more), where a logical port is an instance of a physical port in a VSAN.

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