Summary
This knowledge article provides instructions on how to identify and change Forward Error Correction (FEC) settings on Cisco switches when 25Gbps iSCSI ports on storage arrays and Cisco switches fail to connect. It includes verification steps for SFP health and switch speed, as well as configuration commands for enabling FEC.
Objective
How to identify and change FEC settings on Cisco switch when SFPs have been verified.
Environment
Connectivity port effected:
- 25-Gbps iSCSI ports
Storage Array:
- Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform G/Fx00 models (VSP G130, G/F350, G/F370, G/F700, G/F900)
- Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform E Series (VSP E590, VSP E790, VSP E990, VSP E1090)
- VSP 5000 Series (DKC910I, R900, R10K)
- Virtual Storage Platform 5100 (VSP 5100)
- Virtual Storage Platform 5100H (VSP 5100H)
- Virtual Storage Platform 5200 (VSP 5200)
- Virtual Storage Platform 5500 (VSP 5500)
- Virtual Storage Platform 5500H (VSP 5500H)
- Virtual Storage Platform 5600 (VSP 5600)
- VSP One 20 Series (B24, B26, B28)
Cisco switch type:
- Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX
- Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX2
- Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX3
Procedure
Please review the Cisco documentation on the FEC settings with the following link: Reference in the Cisco ACI Auto-Negotiation and Forwarding Error Correction

Procedure
- Verify the SFP health on the array via one of the following methods.
- Confirm shipped SFPs via Asset shipment
- Confirm with Customer and Customer Engineer SFP Speed installed
- Verify on HRO Website under asset > Port > Port Speed Column
- Verify Switch speed with customer by reviewing the configuration by using the following command:
- Command:
show interface brief - Example Output:
`show interface brief`
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Interface Vsan Admin Admin Status SFP Oper Oper Port LogicalMode Trunk Mode Speed Channel TypeMode (Gbps)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------fc1/1 --- auto off up swl F 25 -- edgefc1/2 --- auto off up swl F 25 -- edgefc1/3 --- auto off up swl F 25 -- edgefc1/4 --- auto off notConnected swl -- -- -- --fc1/5 --- auto off down swl -- -- -- --fc1/6 --- auto off notConnected swl -- -- -- --fc1/7 --- auto off notConnected swl -- -- -- --fc1/8 --- auto off up swl F 25 -- edgefc1/9 --- auto off up swl F 25 -- edgefc1/10 --- auto off up swl F 25 -- edgefc1/11 --- auto off up swl F 25 -- edge
- Command:
-
- Please verify the FEC settings by reviewing the confirmation using the following command:
- Command:
show interface Ethernet<port> - Example Output: FEC is enabled by Default
switch1# show interface Ethernet1/2Ethernet1/2 is upadmin state is up, Dedicated InterfaceHardware: 40000/100000 Ethernet, address: 00eb.d56e.9fd0 (bia 00eb.d56e.9fd0)MTU 9216 bytes, BW 40000000 Kbit, DLY 10 usecreliability 255/255, txload 1/255, rxload 1/255Encapsulation ARPA, medium is broadcastPort mode is accessfull-duplex, 40 Gb/s, media type is 40GBeacon is turned offAuto-Negotiation is turned onInput flow-control is off, output flow-control is offAuto-mdix is turned offRate mode is dedicatedSwitchport monitor is offEtherType is 0x8100EEE (efficient-ethernet) : n/aadmin fec state is auto, oper fec state is off
- Configuring FEC to ieee-rs-fec
- Enter Configuration mode:
switch1#configure terminal - Enter Interface configuration mode
switch1 (config)#interface Ethernet<port> - Enable Auto-Negotiate
switch1 (config-if)#negotiate auto-negotiation - Enable FEC mode ieee-rs-fec
switch1 (config-if)#fec ieee-rs-fec- Options
- auto-fec
- cl74-fc-fec
- cl91-rs-fec
- cons16-rs-fec
- disable-fec
- ieee-rs-fec
- inherit
- kp-fec
- switch1 (config-if):
exit - Save configuration across reboots: switch(config)#
copy running-config startup-config
- Enter Configuration mode:
- Each Array type has reference to these settings under section "25-Gbps iSCSI channel board ports". The following links are provided in the Documentation page
CAUTION: Auto negotiation cannot be set as the transfer speed. Set the transfer speed of the CHB to 10Gbps or 25 Gbps to mat the port transfer speed of the connection-target NIC or switch. - If you use Router Advertisement (RA) to automatically set the default gateway, do NOT manually set the IP address of the default gateway. If you set it manually, performance delays might occur when multiple IPv6 routers exist in the same network. You can avoid manual setting in the following ways:
- Device Manager - Storage Navigator: In the window for setting iSCSI ports, specify a blank for the IP address.
- CCI: When you run the
raidcom modify portcommand, do not use the option for which an IP address must be specified.
