Considerations For Zoning Architecture; Best Practices For Zoning; Broadcast Zones - HP A7533A - Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch Base Administrator's Manual

2. Enter the portZoneShow command, using the following syntax:
portzoneshow

Considerations for zoning architecture

Table 60 lists considerations for zoning architecture.
Table 60

Considerations for zoning architecture

Item
Type of zoning: hard
or soft (session-based)
Use of aliases
Interoperability mode
Testing
Effect of changes in a
production fabric
Confirming operation
Zoning can be implemented and administered from any switch in the fabric, although HP recommends that
you use a switch running the latest Fabric OS version. If the switch is running Fabric OS 6.0.x or earlier, it
must have an Advanced Zoning license enabled.
The zone configuration is managed on a fabric basis. When a change in the configuration is saved,
enabled, or disabled according to the transactional model, it is automatically (by closing the transaction)
distributed to all switches in the fabric, preventing a single point of failure for zone information.
IMPORTANT:
configuration tasks, allow time for the changes to propagate across the fabric before executing any
subsequent commands. For a large fabric, you should wait several minutes between commands.

Best practices for zoning

HP recommends the following for the use of zoning:
• Always zone using the highest Fabric OS-level switch.
Switches with earlier Fabric OS versions do not have the capability to view all the functionality that a
newer Fabric OS provides, as functionality is backwards compatible but not forward compatible.
• Zone using the core switch versus an edge switch.
• Zone using an enterprise-class platform rather than a switch. An enterprise-class platform has more
resources to handle zoning changes and implementations.

Broadcast zones

Fibre Channel allows sending broadcast frames to all Nx_Ports if the frame is sent to a broadcast
well-known address (FFFFFF); however, many target devices and HBAs cannot handle broadcast frames. To
Description
HP recommends hard zoning if security is a priority.
Optional with zoning. Using aliases requires structure when defining zones.
Aliases will aid administrators of zoned fabrics in understanding the structure and
context.
See Chapter 12, "Interoperability for merged
interoperability mode considerations when using zoning.
Before implementing a new zone, you should run the Zone Analyzer from Web
Tools to isolate any possible problems. This is especially useful as fabrics increase
in size.
Zone changes in a production fabric can result in a disruption of I/O under
conditions when an RSCN is entered because of the zone change and the HBA is
unable to process the RSCN fast enough. Although RSCNs are a normal part of a
functioning SAN, the pause in I/O might not be acceptable. For these reasons,
you should perform zone changes only when the resulting behavior is predictable
and acceptable. Ensuring that the HBA drivers are current can shorten the
response time in relation to the RSCN.
After changing or enabling a zone configuration, you should confirm that the
nodes and storage can identify and access one another. Depending on the
platform, you might need to reboot one or more nodes in the fabric with the new
changes.
Zoning commands make changes that affect the entire fabric. When executing fabric-level
SANs" on page 291 for
Fabric OS 6.2 administrator guide 241