This is an administrative cost metric assigned to this specific FCIP link, used by the Fibre Channel routing logic to prefer lower-cost routes when multiple paths exist between fabrics. In a SAN extension deployment with redundant FCIP links, say a primary low-latency circuit and a backup higher-latency one, setting a lower cost on the preferred path ensures normal traffic favors it while the backup only carries traffic if the primary fails. A primary FCIP link over a dedicated dark-fiber circuit might be assigned a cost of 10, while a backup FCIP link over a shared MPLS WAN is assigned a cost of 100, ensuring FC traffic prefers the fiber path whenever it is available.