EMC DS-32B2 User Manual

Test for Cascaded switch ISLs.

spinfab [-nmegs nmill][-ports list][-setfail failmode]

[-domain domain]

Admin

Use this command to verify the intended functional operation of the 
ISLs between switches at the maximum speed of 2 Gb/s by setting up 
the routing hardware such that test frames received by each E_Port 
retransmitted on the same E_Port. Several frames are then sent to the 
neighbor port attached to each active E_Port specified. Since the 
default action for such frames (which never occur for normal traffic) 
is to route them back to the sender, the frames that are sent in this 
manner will circulate until the test stops them.

The frames are continuously transmitted and received in all ports in 
parallel. The port LEDs flicker green rapidly while the test is running. 
While the frames are circulating, the RX frame count and port CRC 
and encoder error statistics will be monitored and errors will be 
generated if a port stops or a low-level error occurs. Every one- 
million frames the circulating frames will be captured to verify that 
they are still circulating and that they are still in order. In this manner 
the entire path to the remote switch may be verified.

The switch remains in normal operation while this test runs; however 
some performance degradation occurs due to the ISLs being 
saturated with test frames. Because of this, you should use caution 
when running this test on live fabrics. Consider only testing one ISL 
at a time, and do not run the tests for extended periods of time.

This test is best combined with the online 

crossPorttest

 for ISL 

failure isolation. If this test fails, replace the cable with a loop-back 
plug and run the crossport test to verify the local switch and GBIC. If 
these pass, then the fault lies in the cable or remote switch/GBIC.

The frames are continuously transmitted and received in all ports in 
parallel. The port LEDs flicker green rapidly while the test is running.