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    <title>N Port Virtualization </title>
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<a name="wp1072643"> </a><h1 class="pTitle">
N Port Virtualization

</h1>
<a name="wp1072644"> </a><p class="pBody">
Typically, Fibre Channel networks are deployed using a core-edge model with a large number of fabric 
switches connected to edge devices. Such a model is cost-effective because the per port cost for director 
class switches is much higher than that of fabric switches. However, as the number of ports in the fabric 
increases, the number of switches deployed also increases, and you can end up with a significant increase 
in the number of domain IDs (the maximum number supported is 239). This challenge becomes even 
more difficult when additional blade chassis are deployed in Fibre Channel networks.

</p>
<a name="wp1072645"> </a><p class="pBody">
NPV addresses the increase in the number of domain IDs needed to deploy a large number of the ports 
by making a fabric or blade switch appear as a host to the core Fibre Channel switch, and as a Fibre 
Channel switch to the servers in the fabric or blade switch. NPV aggregates multiple locally connected 
N ports into one or more external NP links, which shares the domain ID of the NPV core switch among 
multiple NPV switches. NPV also allows multiple devices to attach to same port on the NPV core switch, 
which reduces the need for more ports on the core.

</p>
<a name="wp1103557"> </a><p class="pBodyRelative">

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<a name="wp1090756"> </a><p class="pBody">
While NPV is similar to N port identifier virtualization (NPIV), it does not offer exactly the same 
functionality. NPIV provides a means to assign multiple FC IDs to a single N port, and allows multiple 
applications on the N port to use different identifiers. NPIV also allows access control, zoning, and port 
security to be implemented at the application level. NPV makes use of NPIV to get multiple FCIDs 
allocated from the core switch on the NP port.

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<hr /><br><p class="pBody">Copyright 2010-2013, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.</p> 

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