Best practices regarding SAN Switch Zoning

Best practices regarding zoning are as follows:

n   The zones should always be 2 – member zones. That is, a zone should contain a single  initiator and a single target.

n   The same initiator or target can be a part of multiple zones. For eg: If you have to zone one server HBA port with 2 storage ports, then create 2 zones, with HBA port <->36

n  Storage port 1, and HBA port <-> Storage port 2. Do not create a single zone with the HBA port, and both the storage ports.

n   The alias-name should be easily identifiable and unambiguous. For eg: Rather than a  name like ‘database_port’ you can give ‘hostname_HBA1_P1’ which is more

unambiguous.

n   The zone name should be alias1_alias2. This establishes a clear pattern, and easily tells us which members are present in a particular zone.

n   The common switch administration commands are as follows:

switchshow: This is a frequently used command, and can give you data about which devices are plugged into the switch at the time of the command fire. It shows a port-byport

listing of WWPNs plugged into the switch. This is very useful to note down the WWPN of any particular device which may be required further. It also shows the currently effective configuration in the switch.

n   cfgshow: This shows the currently enabled configuration. This is useful to see exactly which zones are currently enabled in the switch.

n   alicreate “aliasname”,”<WWPN>”: This is used to create an alias, which is an easily understandable name for a WWPN of a device.

n   zonecreate “zonename”,”member1;member2”: This is used to create a zone. Here member1 and member2 should be aliases.

n   cfgadd “cfgname”,”member1;member2;member3…”: This is used to add the 3 members (in this case, zones) to the configuration.

n   cfgsave: Will save changes to the configuration. These changes are not applied as of yet.

n   cfgenable cfgname: Will apply changes to the current fabric.

n   cfgremove “cfgname”,”member1; member2…”: Will remove zones from the configuration.

n   zonedelete: deletes a zone.

n   alidelete: deletes an alias.

n   licenseshow: Lists the licensed features.

n   licenseadd <licensekey>: Adds licenses to the switch.

n   configshow: this command shows the fabric configuration in the switch. This command is different from cfgshow in that it shows the fabric parameters as opposed to the zoneset.

n   Remember, after any sequence of operations, you have to fire cfgsave and cfgenable to actually commit the changes.

Example: Configuring 2 WWPNs in the fabric:

n   2 WWPNs are available, one as the host port and one as the storage port. The configuration name is KB3001_Config. All these details are obtained from switchshow

output. The 2 WWPNs are 21:00:00:1b:32:86:40:8c and 20:27:00:a0:b8:47:ac:ce.

n   The command sequence is as follows:

§ alicreate “Node1_Pci2”,” 10:00:00:00:c9:89:7a:e1”

§ alicreate “Storage_B1”,” 20:13:00:a0:b8:56:4e:fc”

§ zonecreate “Storage_B1_Node2_Pci3”,” Node2_Pci3; Storage_B1”

§ cfgadd “switch1_config”,”M4000_HBA1_P1_Stor_B2”

§ cfgsave

§ cfgenable switch1_config

This will enable communication between the 2 WWPNs.