350-601 Storage Network Practice Question
A company is deploying FCoE in their data center. The design includes a Cisco Nexus 9000 switch with FEX modules. The storage team insists on using dedicated FCoE VLANs. Which best practice should be followed to ensure lossless behavior for FCoE traffic?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that flow control (IEEE 802.3x) is sufficient for FCoE, but the trap here is that standard link-level flow control pauses all traffic on the link, whereas PFC provides granular per-priority lossless handling required for FCoE.
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
✓
Enable PFC on the switch for the FCoE VLAN
FCoE requires lossless transport to prevent frame drops that could corrupt Fibre Channel frames. Priority Flow Control (PFC), defined in IEEE 802.1Qbb, enables pause frames on a per-priority basis, allowing the FCoE VLAN to be configured with a dedicated priority class that receives no-drop treatment. On Cisco Nexus 9000 switches, this is achieved by enabling PFC on the specific VLAN used for FCoE traffic, ensuring lossless behavior without affecting other traffic classes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure traffic shaping on FCoE interfaces
Why it's wrong here
Traffic shaping can introduce jitter and is not recommended for FCoE.
- ✗
Use the same VLAN for FCoE and IP traffic to reduce VLAN count
Why it's wrong here
FCoE should be on a dedicated VLAN to isolate lossless traffic.
- ✗
Disable flow control on all interfaces
Why it's wrong here
Flow control is needed for lossless operation.
- ✓
Enable PFC on the switch for the FCoE VLAN
Why this is correct
PFC provides lossless behavior for the CoS used by FCoE.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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