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

Table 89 Approaches to fabric-based Zoning
Zoning
approach
Operating
system
Port allocation
No fabric
Zoning

Zone objects

zone object
A
• Physical port number or area ID on the switch
• Node World Wide Name (N-WWN)
Port World Wide Name (P-WWN)
•
Zone objects identified by port number or area number are specified as a pair of decimal numbers in the
d, area d
form (
For example, on SAN Director 2/128 models, "4, 46" specifies port 14 in slot number 3 (domain ID 4,
area 46). On fixed-port models, "3,13" specifies port 13 in switch domain ID 3.
When the physical port number specifies a zone object, then all devices connected to that port are in the
zone. If the physical port is an arbitrated loop, then all devices on the loop are part of the zone.
World Wide Names are specified as 8-byte (16-digit) hexadecimal numbers, separated by colons: for
example, 10:00:00:90:69:00:00:8a. When a node name specifies a zone object, all ports on such a
device are in the zone. When a port name specifies a zone object, only the single port is in the zone.
The types of zone objects used to define a zone can be mixed and matched. 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.

Zone aliases

zone alias
A 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).
Description
Zoning by operating system has issues similar to Zoning by application. In a
large site, this type of zone can become very large and complex. When
zone changes are made, they typically involve applications rather than a
particular server type. If members of different operating system clusters can
see storage assigned to another cluster, they might attempt to own the other
cluster's storage and compromise the stability of the clusters.
Avoid Zoning by port allocation unless the administration team has very
rigidly enforced processes for port and device allocation in the fabric. It
does, however, provide some positive features. For instance, when a storage
port, server HBA, or tape drive is replaced, the change of WWN for the
new device is of no consequence. As long as the new device is connected to
the original port, it continues to have the same access rights. The ports on
the edge switches can be pre-associated to storage ports, and control of the
fan-in ratio (the ratio of the input port to output port) can be established.
With this pre-assigning technique, the administrative team cannot overload
any one storage port by associating too many servers with it.
Using no fabric Zoning is the least desirable Zoning option because it allows
devices to have unrestricted access on the fabric. Additionally, any device
attached to the fabric, intentionally or maliciously, likewise has unrestricted
access to the fabric. This form of Zoning should only be utilized in a small
and tightly controlled environment, such as when host-based Zoning or LUN
masking is deployed.
is any device in a zone, such as the:
is the domain ID of the switch and
area
is the area number on that switch).
Fabric OS 5.3.0 administrator guide 371