HP A7533A - Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch Base Administrator's Manual page 222

If Secure Fabric OS is enabled on one switch, it must be enabled on all switches in the fabric;
however, Secure Fabric OS is not supported in Fabric OS 6.0.0 or later.
• Default Zone: The switch being merged into the existing fabric should be configured with the
same default zone mode as the existing switches.
• Merging and segmentation
The fabric is checked for segmentation during power-up or when a switch is disabled or enabled, or
when a new switch is added.
The database is the zone configuration database. This is the data displayed as the defined
configuration in the cfgShow command. It is stored in nonvolatile memory by the cfgSave
command. This database is a replicated database, which means that all switches in the fabric will
have a copy of this database. When a change is made to the defined configuration, the switch
where the changes were made must close its transaction for the change to be propagated
throughout the fabric.
If you have implemented default zoning you must set the switch you are adding into the fabric to the
same default zone mode setting as the rest of the fabric to avoid segmentation.
• Merging rules: observe these rules when merging zones:
• Local and adjacent configurations: If the local and adjacent zone database configurations are the
same, they will remain unchanged after the merge.
• Effective configurations: If there is an effective configuration between two switches, the effective
zone configurations must match.
• Zone object naming: If a zoning object has the same name in both the local and adjacent defined
configurations, the object types and member lists must match. When comparing member lists, the
content and order of the members are important.
• Objects in adjacent configurations: If a zoning object appears in an adjacent defined
configuration, but not in the local defined configuration, the zoning object is added to the local
defined configuration. The modified zone database must fit in the nonvolatile memory area allotted
for the zone database.
• Local configuration modification: If a local defined configuration is modified because of a merge,
the new zone database is propagated to other the switches within the merge request.
• Merging Two Fabrics
Both fabrics have identical zones and configurations enabled, including the default zone mode. The
two fabrics will join to make one larger fabric with the same zone configuration across the newly
created fabric.
If two fabrics have different zoning configurations, they will be merged. If the two fabrics cannot
join, the ISL between the switches will segment.
• Merge Conflicts
When a merge conflict is present, a merge will not take place and the ISL will segment. Use the
switchShow or errDump commands to obtain additional information about possible merge
conflicts, because many non-zone related configuration parameters can cause conflicts. See the
Fabric OS Command Reference for detailed information about these commands.
A merge is not possible if any of the following conditions exist:
• Configuration mismatch: Zoning is enabled in both fabrics and the zone configurations that are
enabled are different in each fabric.
• Type mismatch: The name of a zone object in one fabric is used for a different type of zone
object in the other fabric.
• Content mismatch: The definition of a zone object in one fabric is different from the definition of
zone object with the same name in the other fabric.
• Zone Database Size: If the zone database size exceeds the maximum limit of another switch.
222 Administering Advanced Zoning