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What Do WWNN and WWPN Identify in Fibre Channel?

A Fibre Channel WWN identifies a node or port; it is not the dynamic address assigned within a fabric.
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A World Wide Name (WWN) is an identifier associated with a Fibre Channel (FC) entity. Its suffix tells you what is named: a WWNN identifies a node or device, while a WWPN identifies a port. Neither is the same as the switch-assigned FC address used within a fabric.

What does WWN mean?

WWN stands for World Wide Name. In Fibre Channel, it names an entity such as a node or port. RFC 4044 defines a WWN as the name associated with an FC entity and says WWNs are expected to persist across agent and unit resets. That persistence distinguishes a name from an address that can change as the fabric operates. RFC 4044, Fibre Channel Management MIB.

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What is the difference between WWNN and WWPN?

  • WWNN (World Wide Node Name): identifies an FC node or device. In the iSNS specification, the FC Node Name is a 64-bit WWNN for the corresponding FC device. RFC 4171 also describes the WWNN as a device key; node-level attributes can be associated with more than one FC port. RFC 4171, Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS).
  • WWPN (World Wide Port Name): identifies an individual FC port. A device with multiple ports can therefore have a node name and separate port names.

Is a WWN the same as an FC address?

No. An FC address identifier is a 24-bit value unique within a fabric’s address space. When a fabric is in use, a switch dynamically assigns the address. A WWN is the name associated with an FC entity; the FC address is a fabric-scoped identifier used for communication. Do not treat a WWN as the switch-assigned fabric address. RFC 4044.

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How long is a WWN?

The answer depends on the standards context. RFC 4044 says WWNs were initially defined as 64 bits and gives 128 bits as the latest definition “for future use.” It represents the value as an octet string of 8 or 16 bytes, with an empty value allowed for an unassigned or unknown name. In the narrower iSNS context, RFC 4171 explicitly defines the FC Node Name (WWNN) attribute as 64 bits. These statements should not be reduced to an unqualified claim that every WWN in every context has one length.

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Why the distinction matters

When identifying FC equipment or reading storage-network configuration, check whether a field refers to a node name, a port name, or a fabric address. A device-level WWNN and its port-level WWPNs identify different things, while an FC address is assigned for use within a fabric. NIST’s glossary also places the term in the Fibre Channel SAN context: NIST CSRC glossary: World-Wide Name.

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