Changing From Basic Zoning To Enhanced Zoning - Cisco Nexus 5500 Series NX-OS Configuration Manual

Configuring and Managing Zones
Basic Zoning
If a zone is part of multiple zone
sets, you create an instance of this
zone in each zone set.
The default zone policy is defined
per switch. To ensure smooth
fabric operation, all switches in the
fabric must have the same default
zone setting.
To retrieve the results of the
activation per switch basis, the
managing switch provides a
combined status about the
activation. It does not identify the
failure switch.
To distribute the zoning database,
you must reactivate the same zone
set. The reactivation may affect
hardware changes for hard zoning
on the local switch and on remote
switches.
The Cisco-specific zone member
types (symbolic node name, and
other types) may be used by other
non-Cisco switches. During a
merge, the Cisco-specific types can
be misunderstood by the non-Cisco
switches.
The fWWN-based zone
membership is only supported in
Cisco interop mode.

Changing from Basic Zoning to Enhanced Zoning

You can change to the enhanced zoning mode from the basic mode.
OL-30895-01
Enhanced Zoning
References to the zone are used by
the zone sets as required once you
define the zone.
Enforces and exchanges the default
zone setting throughout the fabric.
Retrieves the activation results and
the nature of the problem from
each remote switch.
Implements changes to the zoning
database and distributes it without
reactivation.
Provides a vendor ID along with a
vendor-specific type value to
uniquely identify a member type.
Supports fWWN-based
membership in the standard interop
mode (interop mode 1).
Cisco Nexus 5500 Series NX-OS SAN Switching Configuration Guide, Release 7.x
Enhanced Zoning
Enhanced Zoning Advantages
Reduced payload size as the zone
is referenced. The size is more
significant with bigger databases.
Fabric-wide policy enforcement
reduces troubleshooting time.
Enhanced error reporting eases the
troubleshooting process
Distribution of zone sets without
activation avoids hardware changes
for hard zoning in the switches.
Unique vendor type.
The fWWN-based member type is
standardized.
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