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How VSANs Work
S e n d d o c u m e n t a t i o n c o m m e n t s t o m d s f e e d b a c k - d o c @ c i s c o . c o m .
How VSANs Work
A VSAN is a virtual storage area network (SAN). A SAN is a dedicated network that interconnects hosts
and storage devices primarily to exchange SCSI traffic. In SANs you use the physical links to make these
interconnections. A set of protocols run over the SAN to handle routing, naming, and zoning. You can
design multiple SANs with different topologies.
With the introduction of VSANs, the network administrator can build a single topology containing
switches, links, and one or more VSANs. Each VSAN in this topology has the same behavior and
property of a SAN. A VSAN has the following additional features:
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•
•
•
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As displayed in both
any switch in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family.
Figure 16-1
switches and the attached devices is independent of their segmentation into logical VSANs. Between
VSANs no communication is possible. Within each VSAN, all members can talk to one another.
Figure 16-1
Switch 1
Switch 2
Switch 3
Cisco MDS 9000 Family Configuration Guide
16-2
Multiple VSANs can share the same physical topology.
The same Fibre Channel IDs (FCIDs) can be assigned to a host in another VSAN, thus increasing
VSAN scalability.
Every instance of a VSAN runs all required protocols such as FSPF, domain manager, and zoning.
Fabric-related configurations in one VSAN do not affect the associated traffic in another VSAN.
Events causing traffic disruptions in one VSAN are contained within that VSAN and are not
propagated to other VSANs.
Figure 16-1
shows a fabric with three switches, one on each floor. The geographic location of the
Logical VSAN Segmentation
Engineering
VSAN
and
Figure
16-2, the switch icons indicate that these features apply to
Marketing
Accounting
VSAN
VSAN
Chapter 16
Configuring and Managing VSANs
Floor 3
Floor 2
Floor 1
OL-6973-03, Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release 2.x
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