Planning for Brocade

IBM Spectrum® Control can monitor Brocade switches and fabrics by connecting directly to the switches, or by using the SMI agent that is embedded in Brocade Network Advisor (BNA).

Supported Brocade models

To see the Brocade models, firmware versions, and agents that are used by IBM Spectrum Control, see the External link icon IBM Spectrum Control interoperability matrix.

Monitoring fabrics and switches

IBM Spectrum Control can monitor Brocade switches and fabrics in either of the following ways:

For switches with Fabric OS 8.2.1 or later, connect directly to the switch and use the REST API to manage the switches and fabrics.
IBM Spectrum Control connects to the switch that you added, and automatically discovers the fabrics and switches that they manage. The discovered fabrics and switches are automatically added for monitoring, if they have the same credentials as the switches that you added. When you add switches, you can schedule probes and performance monitors to collect data for your switches and fabrics.
For switches with a Fabric OS version earlier than 8.2.1, use the BNA Storage Management Initiative (SMI) agent to manage the switches and fabrics. The SMI agent is embedded in the BNA. BNA can manage multiple fabrics within and across data centers. When you configure BNA, you set up one switch to be the seed switch that interconnects to all the other switches in the fabric.
When you add fabrics and switches for monitoring, you can specify the SMI agent that manages them. IBM Spectrum Control connects to the agent and automatically discovers the fabrics and switches that it manages.
BNA can manage multiple fabrics within and across data centers. When you configure BNA, you set up one switch to be the seed switch that interconnects to all the other switches in the fabric.
Important: The embedded SMI agent is only available in the Professional Plus and Enterprise editions of BNA. BNA is no longer available for purchase, although it is supported by Broadcom until February 2022. For more information about end of support for BNA, see https://www.broadcom.com/support/fibre-channel-networking/eol.
Updating BNA: You can access Brocade FOS firmware and Network Advisor updates (not new installations) through IBM® Fix Central. You no longer need to open a case with IBM support to request them. For more information, see Brocade FOS and Network Advisor uppdates.

Choosing whether to use REST API or BNA to monitor switches

Use the following table to help decide how to monitor your Brocade switches:

Monitoring method	Use in these situations
Direct REST API (No other software is required)	BNA is not available to you. You are not monitoring any switches or fabrics yet. Your models of Brocade switches are not supported by BNA. You are adding a new fabric to IBM Spectrum Control. Consider the following additional information when you are connecting directly to switches: If you are connecting directly to Brocade switches, you need to add only one switch from each fabric to IBM Spectrum Control. If other switches that are on the same fabric are running Fabric OS 8.2.1 or later and have the same username, password, protocol, and port, they are added to IBM Spectrum Control automatically. The switches are probed automatically and the performance monitoring starts running. Switches that have different authentication credentials or that are running a version of Fabric OS earlier than 8.2.1, are added to the Switches page with a Not Monitored condition. You can add the switches that are not monitored by following the usual process to add switches. If you are monitoring a switch through BNA and want to use the REST API instead, you must first remove that switch and then add it again for monitoring. When you remove a switch, its history of performance metadata is automatically deleted and no longer available.
SMI-S (Network Advisor is required)	You are already monitoring switches by using BNA. You are adding switches that are supported by BNA.

Monitoring method

Use in these situations

Direct REST API (No other software is required)

BNA is not available to you.
You are not monitoring any switches or fabrics yet.
Your models of Brocade switches are not supported by BNA.
You are adding a new fabric to IBM Spectrum Control.

Consider the following additional information when you are connecting directly to switches:

If you are connecting directly to Brocade switches, you need to add only one switch from each fabric to IBM Spectrum Control. If other switches that are on the same fabric are running Fabric OS 8.2.1 or later and have the same username, password, protocol, and port, they are added to IBM Spectrum Control automatically. The switches are probed automatically and the performance monitoring starts running.
Switches that have different authentication credentials or that are running a version of Fabric OS earlier than 8.2.1, are added to the Switches page with a Not Monitored condition. You can add the switches that are not monitored by following the usual process to add switches.
If you are monitoring a switch through BNA and want to use the REST API instead, you must first remove that switch and then add it again for monitoring. When you remove a switch, its history of performance metadata is automatically deleted and no longer available.

SMI-S (Network Advisor is required)

You are already monitoring switches by using BNA.
You are adding switches that are supported by BNA.

Tip:

After you add a switch, you can modify its connection. For example, if you add a switch by using its IP address, or a switch was automatically discovered and added by IBM Spectrum Control using an IP address, you can later modify its connection to use a host name instead. To save time, if you want to collect metadata for multiple switches in the same way (host name or IP address), it is recommended that you use that method when you add the switches for monitoring.
When you add switches through the REST API, the Brocade model name for IBM-branded OEM switch models is shown in the GUI. To help you identify a switch with IBM support, edit the Custom Tag in the properties for that switch.

Restriction:

BNA is supported by Broadcom until February 2022. However, support for new models of switch will not be added to the SMI agent.
You cannot manage a mixture of directly connected switches and switches that are managed by BNA on the same fabric. It is recommended that you move switches that are monitored through BNA to a separate fabric from REST-enabled switches.
If you are adding switches that are not supported by BNA, then you must connect to the new switches directly and use Fabric OS REST API to manage them.

Restrictions for connecting directly to Brocade switches

Consider the following information when you are planning to monitor directly connected switches that are running Fabric OS 8.2.1 or later:

Brocade switches and their associated fabrics can be monitored only through one data source at a time. If you upgrade from an earlier version of IBM Spectrum Control, you must remove the fabrics that are monitored through BNA before you can add the switches in those fabrics by direct connection.
To schedule probes for Brocade switches, use the Switches page, not the Fabrics page.
ISLs and trunks are shown for switches only after both the switch and the connected switch are probed.
In rollup mode, information is only displayed for the default logical switch when virtualization is enabled on the switch. Information is not displayed for the physical switch.
You can't receive asynchronous events from your switches if you are monitoring your fabrics and switches by using Fabric OS REST API.