Hold time controls enable port link damping timers that reduce the number of link transitions reported to upper layer protocols.
The 7210 SAS port link damping feature guards against excessive port transitions. Any initial port transition is immediately advertised to upper layer protocols, but any subsequent port transitions are not advertised to upper layer protocols until a configured timer has expired.
An ‟up” timer controls the dampening timer for link up transitions, and a ‟down” timer controls the dampening timer for link down transitions.