Chapter 8. Hosts 321
The failover host attach port is not currently active. Figure 8-2 shows what happens when the 
partner node fails. After the node failure, the failover host attach ports on the remaining node 
become active and take on the WWPN of the failed node’s primary host attach port.
Figure 8-2   Allocation of NPIV virtual WWPN ports per physical port after a node failure
With V7.7 onwards, this process happens automatically when NPIV is enabled at a system 
level in Storwize V7000. This failover happens only between the two nodes in the same I/O 
Group.
A transitional mode allows migration of hosts from previous non-NPIV enabled systems to 
enabled NPIV system, allowing for a transition period as hosts are rezoned to the primary 
host attach WWPNs.
The process for enabling NPIV on a new IBM Storwize V7000 system is slightly different than 
on an existing system. For more information, see IBM Knowledge Center.
8.3.1  NPIV prerequisites
Consider the following key points for NPIV enablement:
/SM590000The IBM Storwize V7000 system must be running V7.7 or later.
/SM590000A V7.7 or later system with NPIV enabled as backend storage for a system that is earlier 
than V7.7 is not supported.
Note: Figure 8-2 shows only two ports per node in detail, but the same applies for all 
physical ports. The effect is the same for NVMe ports because they use the same NPIV 
structure, but with the NVMe topology instead of regular SCSI.
Note: NPIV is supported for Fibre Channel protocol only. It is not supported for FCoE or 
iSCSI protocols.