Zoning Schemes; Zone Aliases; Zone Configurations - HP A7533A - Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch Base Administrator's Manual

• When a zone object is the node WWN name, only the specified device is in the zone.
• When a zone object is the port WWN name, only the single port is in the zone.
The types of zone objects used to define a zone can be mixed. For example, a zone defined with the zone
objects 2,12; 2,14; 10:00:00:80:33:3f:aa:1 1 contains the devices connected to domain 2, ports 12 and
14, and a device with the WWN (either node name or port name) 10:00:00:80:33:3f:aa:1 1 that is
connected on the fabric.

Zoning schemes

You can establish a zone by identifying zone objects using one or more of the following zoning schemes:
Domain,index—All members are specified by Domain ID, port number, or domain, index number
•
pair or aliases, described in
• World Wide Name (WWN)—All members are specified only by World Wide Name (WWNs) or
aliases of WWNs. They can be node or port versions of the WWN.
Mixed zoning—A zone containing members specified by a combination of domain,port or
•
domain,index, and WWN.
NOTE: If your fabric has a switch with a Fabric OS version earlier than 5.2.0, you cannot use
domain,port zoning with port numbers of 256 or greater. You must use WWN zoning instead.

Zone aliases

A zone alias is a name assigned to a device or a group of devices. By creating an alias, you can assign a
familiar name to a device or group multiple devices into a single name. This simplifies cumbersome data
entry and allows an intuitive naming structure (such as using "NT_Hosts" to define all NT hosts in the
fabric).
Zone aliases also simplify repetitive entry of zone objects such as port numbers or a WWN. For example,
you can use the name Eng as an alias for 10:00:00:80:33:3f:aa:1 1.
Naming zones for the initiator they contain can also be useful. For example, if you use the alias
SRV_MAILSERVER_SLT5 to designate a mail server in PCI slot 5, the alias for the associated zone is
ZNE_MAILSERVER_SLT5. This clearly identifies the server host bus adapter (HBA) associated with the zone.
Zone configuration naming is flexible. One configuration should be named PROD_fabricname, where
fabricname is the name that the fabric has been assigned. The purpose of the PROD configuration is to
easily identify the configuration that can be implemented and provide the most generic services. If other
configurations are used for specialized purposes, names such as BACKUP_A, RECOVERY_2, and
TEST_18jun02 can be used.

Zone configurations

A zone configuration is a group of one or more zones. A zone can be included in more than one zone
configuration. When a zone configuration is in effect, all zones that are members of that configuration are
in effect.
Several zone configurations can reside on a switch at once, and you can quickly alternate between them.
For example, you might want to have one configuration enabled during the business hours and another
enabled overnight. However, only one zone configuration can be enabled at a time.
The different types of zone configurations are:
• Defined Configuration—The complete set of all zone objects defined in the fabric.
• Effective Configuration—A single zone configuration that is currently in effect. The effective configuration
is built when you enable a specified zone configuration.
• Saved Configuration—A copy of the defined configuration plus the name of the effective configuration,
which is saved in flash memory by the cfgSave command. (You can also use the configUpload
command to provide a backup of the zoning configuration and the configDownload command to
restore the zoning configuration.) There might be differences between the saved configuration and the
198 Administering Advanced Zoning
"Zone aliases" on page 198.