Distributed Device Alias Services - Cisco MDS 9000 Series Configuration Manual

Fabric Overview
• LUN zoning—When combined with N port zoning, LUN zoning helps ensure that LUNs are accessible
• Read-only zones—An attribute can be set to restrict I/O operations in any zone type to SCSI read-only
Note
LUN zoning and read-only zones are not supported from Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 5.x and later.
• Broadcast zones—An attribute can be set for any zone type to restrict broadcast frames to members of
To provide strict network security, zoning is always enforced per frame using access control lists (ACLs) that
are applied at the ingress switch. All zoning polices are enforced in hardware, and none of them cause
performance degradation. Enhanced zoning session-management capabilities further enhance security by
allowing only one user at a time to modify zones.

Distributed Device Alias Services

All switches in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family support Distributed Device Alias Services (device alias) on a
per-VSAN basis and on a fabric-wide basis. Device alias distribution allows you to move host bus adapters
(HBAs) between VSANs without manually reentering alias names.
Fibre Channel Routing Services and Protocols
Fabric Shortest Path First (FSPF) is the standard path selection protocol used by Fibre Channel fabrics. The
FSPF feature is enabled by default on all Fibre Channel switches. You do not need to configure any FSPF
services except in configurations that require special consideration. FSPF automatically calculates the best
path between any two switches in a fabric. Specifically, FSPF is used to perform these functions:
• Dynamically compute routes throughout a fabric by establishing the shortest and quickest path between
• Select an alternative path in the event of the failure of a given path. FSPF supports multiple paths and
Multiprotocol Support
In addition to supporting Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP), Cisco NX-OS software supports IBM Fibre Connection
(FICON), Small Computer System Interface over IP (iSCSI), and Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) in a single
platform. Native iSCSI support in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family switches helps customers consolidate storage
for a wide range of servers into a common pool on the SAN.
only by specific hosts, providing a single point of control for managing heterogeneous storage-subsystem
access.
commands. This feature is especially useful for sharing volumes across servers for backup, data
warehousing, etc.
the specific zone.
any two switches.
automatically computes an alternative path around a failed link. FSPF provides a preferred route when
two equal paths are available.
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Fabric Configuration Guide, Release 8.x
Distributed Device Alias Services
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