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What LIFs are
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A LIF (logical interface) is an IP address or WWPN with associated characteristics, such as a role, a home port, a home node, a list of ports to fail over to, and a firewall policy. You can configure LIFs on ports over which the cluster sends and receives communications over the network.
LIFs can be hosted on the following ports:
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Physical ports that are not part of interface groups
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Interface groups
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VLANs
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Physical ports or interface groups that host VLANs
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Virtual IP (VIP) ports
Starting with ONTAP 9.5, VIP LIFs are supported and are hosted on VIP ports.
While configuring SAN protocols such as FC on a LIF, it will be associated with a WWPN.
The following figure illustrates the port hierarchy in an ONTAP system:
![image illustrating the port hierarchy in a clustered Data ONTAP system](../media/port-hierarchy-in-a-cluster-mode-system.gif)