350-601 Storage Network Practice Question
A company has two Cisco MDS 9700 switches in a dual-fabric SAN. Each fabric has its own set of storage arrays and hosts. The company wants to enable selective communication between specific devices in Fabric A and Fabric B without merging the fabrics. Which Cisco technology should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between technologies that merge fabrics (like FCIP or trunking) versus those that enable selective inter-fabric communication without merging (like IVR), and the trap here is confusing FCIP's WAN extension capability with IVR's selective routing within a local dual-fabric design.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
IVR
Cisco IVR (Inter-VSAN Routing) allows selective communication between devices in different VSANs without merging the fabrics. In this dual-fabric SAN scenario, IVR enables specific hosts in Fabric A to communicate with specific storage arrays in Fabric B while keeping the VSANs and fabrics logically isolated, preserving fault domains and administrative boundaries.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
FCIP
Why it's wrong here
FCIP is used to connect remote Fibre Channel fabrics over IP networks.
- ✗
NPV
Why it's wrong here
NPV is used to simplify edge switch configuration, not for inter-fabric communication.
- ✓
IVR
Why this is correct
IVR enables selective communication between devices in different VSANs while keeping fabrics separate.
- ✗
Port channels
Why it's wrong here
Port channels provide increased bandwidth and redundancy on a single link, not inter-fabric routing.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 350-601 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 350-601 exam.