Description:

N Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) is an ANSI T11 standard that describes how a single Fibre Channel HBA port can register with the fabric using several worldwide port names (WWPNs). This allows a fabric attached Nport to claim multiple fabric addresses. Each address appears as a unique entity on the Fibre Channel fabric.The primary source of information on configuring NPIV in a VMware Infrastructure 3 environment is the Fibre Channel SAN Configuration Guide, available on the VMware Web site. This technical note provides additional details about certain specific NPIV configurations and information on diagnostic techniques that may be helpful as you configure NPIV. It also includes information to help you understand error messages that may appear as you are working with NPIV in a VMware Infrastructure environment.