> # Switch Interoperability

> Interoperability enables the products of multiple vendors to interact with each other. Fibre Channel standards guide vendors towards common external Fibre Channel interfaces.

> If all vendors followed the standards in the same manner, then interconnecting different products would become a trivial exercise. However, not all vendors follow the standards in the same way, thus resulting in interoperability modes. This section briefly explains the basic concepts of these modes.

> Each vendor has a regular mode and an equivalent interoperability mode, which specifically turns off advanced or proprietary features and provides the product with a more amiable standards-compliant implementation.

> Note For more information on configuring interoperability for the Cisco MDS 9000 Family switches, refer to the Cisco MDS 9000 Family Switch-to-Switch Interoperability Configuration Guide.

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