Hardware-Enforced Zoning In An Hp Fabric; Fabrics Composed Of Only Storageworks 1 Gb San Switch Models - HP A7340A - Surestore FC 1Gb/2Gb Switch 16B User Manual

Hardware-Enforced Zoning in an HP Fabric

All zoning employs the nameserver to limit the information returned to an initiator
in response to a nameserver query. This is referred to as soft zoning. If an initiator
has knowledge of the network address of a target device, it does not need to query
the nameserver to access it. This allows for undesired access to a target device
with the potential for data corruption. HP switches augment the nameserver
zoning with hardware enforcement. Nameserver or soft zoning is always active
whenever a zone configuration is in effect. However, there are conditions that
determine when hardware enforcement will be active.
When hardware enforced or hard zoning is active, the HP switch will monitor the
communications and block any frames that do not comply with the effective zone
configuration. This blocking is performed at the transmit side of the port where
the destination device is located. A zone configuration will typically be comprised
of many zones, and the hardware enforcement decision is made on a per zone
basis. The exact methodology varies on different switch models. The use of
hardware enforcement is decided by the Fabric OS whenever the fabric
membership or zone configuration changes.
A few definitions are in order before proceeding with this discussion.

Fabrics Composed of Only StorageWorks 1 Gb SAN Switch Models

The StorageWorks 1 Gb SAN switches enable hardware-enforced zoning only on
Domain/Port zones. Any WWN or mixed zones will not be hardware enforced.
Any Domain Port zone that overlaps with a mixed or WWN zone will not be
hardware enforced. Note that an overlap will occur when a member specified by
WWN is connected to a port in a Domain/Port zone. The Domain/Port zone will
lose its hardware enforcement, even though a review of the zone configuration
would not indicate this.
Zoning Version 3.1.x/4.1.x User Guide
Domain/Port zone - All members of this zone are specified with
Domain/Port pairs only. Area values may be used when zoning on a
StorageWorks Core switch.
WWN zone - All members of this zone are specified with WWN numbers
only. They may be Node or Port versions of the WWN.
MIXED zone- This zone contains members specified by either Domain/Port
or WWN, and it contains at least one member specified by each method.
Overlapping zones - Two or more zones that contain a common member. The
member may be specified by Domain/Port or WWN.
Zoning Concepts and Guidelines
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