This enumerated value reports the functional role this FCoE SAN port-channel plays as a network interface — for instance whether it acts as a network uplink, a peer link, or another defined interface role in the fabric topology. UCS Manager and the admin both rely on ifRole to distinguish, at a glance, whether this FCoE SAN port-channel is carrying north-bound uplink traffic versus some other special-purpose link, which changes how faults on it should be triaged. A common value here is 'network', meaning this FCoE SAN port-channel is functioning as a standard northbound network uplink rather than, say, a server-facing or peer link.