Mdisk Group; Host; Separating Hosts And Storage Devices - Cisco MDS 9216 Configuration Manual

Separating Hosts and Storage Devices

MDisk Group

A set of MDisks form a MDisk group. Storage for a VDisk originates from MDisks in a single MDisk
group.

Host

One of more initiator Fibre Channel ports (pWWNs) form a host. A host is mapped to one or more
VDisks. Hosts cannot directly access a MDisk.
Separating Hosts and Storage Devices
In order for SVC to virtualize the back-end storage to hosts, you must ensure that the hosts do not
directly access the storage. You can separate hosts or disks using the concept of VSANs. The VSAN
feature is specific to Cisco MDS 9000 Family switches. Alternatively, you can also use zones to separate
hosts or disks.
Refer to the Cisco MDS 9000 Family Configuration Guide for further information on VSANs or zones.
Each SVC interface is assigned a nWWN. A SVC interface consists of three N-ports:
•
•
•
Each N-port within an SVC interface is assigned a port World Wide Name (pWWN). The pWWNs and
node World Wide Names (nWWNs) are preserved across switch reboots (see
Figure 2-2
In Figure
hosts do not have direct access to the disks.
Cisco MDS 9000 Family SAN Volume Controller Configuration Guide
2-6
Target N-ports: used for traffic between SVC nodes and hosts.
Initiator N-ports: used for traffic between SVC nodes and disks
Management N-ports: used for traffic to and from other SVC nodes.
Logical Representation of an SVC Interface
VSAN 1
Host H
Host T
Target
N-Port B
2-3, provides a logical view of four SVC nodes in a SAN. These nodes are configured so the
VSAN 2 VSAN 3
Node 1
Node 2
Node 3
Node 4
Node 5
Node 6
Mgmt
N-Port C
Node 2
Chapter 2
Figure 2-2).
Initiator
N-Port A
78-16119-01, Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release 1.3
Getting Started