350-601 Storage Network Practice Question
A storage engineer is planning to migrate from an existing 2 Gbps Fibre Channel fabric to a new 16 Gbps fabric while maintaining connectivity during the cutover. The legacy and new switches are connected via ISL and use the same VSAN. What is a best practice to ensure a seamless migration?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that simply connecting a higher-speed switch to a lower-speed fabric via ISL will auto-negotiate correctly, but the trap here is that without manually setting the speed, the link may fail to establish or cause instability due to incompatible buffer-to-buffer credit management.
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
✓
Set the ISL port speed to 2 Gbps on both sides until the migration is complete
Setting the ISL port speed to 2 Gbps on both sides ensures that the new 16 Gbps switch negotiates down to the legacy fabric's speed, preventing buffer-to-buffer credit mismatches and frame corruption during the cutover. This allows both fabrics to operate at a common speed, maintaining stable connectivity until all devices are migrated and the ISL speed can be safely increased.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Assign the new switches to a separate VSAN to prevent mixing
Why it's wrong here
Separate VSANs prevent fabric integration.
- ✓
Set the ISL port speed to 2 Gbps on both sides until the migration is complete
Why this is correct
Ensures compatibility and stable fabric merge.
- ✗
Use a dedicated ISL for the migration and move zones gradually
Why it's wrong here
Fabric may segment if speed mismatches.
- ✗
Disable zoning on both fabrics and re-apply after migration
Why it's wrong here
Disabling zoning is a security risk.
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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.