Brocade Fabric OS Administrators Guide (Supporting Fabric OS v7.3.0) - Manual (Page 302)

Zoning enforcement
Zoning enforcement describes a set of predefined rules that the switch uses to determine where to
send incoming data. Fabric OS uses hardware-enforced zoning. Hardware-enforced zoning means
that each frame is checked by hardware (the ASIC) before it is delivered to a zone member and is
discarded if there is a zone mismatch. When hardware-enforced zoning is active, the Fabric OS switch
monitors the communications and blocks any frames that do not comply with the effective zone
configuration. The switch performs this blocking at the transmit side of the port on which the
destination device is located.
There are two methods of hardware enforcement:
• Frame-based hardware enforcement: All frames are checked by the hardware.
• Session-based hardware enforcement: The only frames checked by hardware are the ELS frames
(such as PLOGI and RNID) used to establish a session.
The hardware-enforcement method used depends on how the zones are configured.
A zone can contain all WWN members, or all D,I members, or a combination of WWN and D,I
members.
Frame-based hardware enforcement is in effect if all members of a zone are identified the same way,
either using WWNs or D,I notation, but not both. If the zone includes aliases, then the aliases must
also be defined the same way as the zone.
Session-based hardware enforcement is in effect if the zone has a mix of WWN and D,I members.
If a port is in multiple zones, and is defined by WWN in one zone and by D,I in another, then session-
based hardware enforcement is in effect.
Identifying the enforced zone type
Use the following procedure to identify zones and zone types:
1. Connect to the switch and log in using an account with admin permissions.
2. Enter the portZoneShow command.
Considerations for zoning architecture
Table 63 lists considerations for zoning architecture.
Considerations for zoning architecture TABLE 63
Item Description
Type of zoning
enforcement: frame- or
session-based If security is a priority, frame-based hardware enforcement is recommended. The best
way to do this is to use WWN identification exclusively for all zoning configurations.
Use of aliases The use of aliases is optional with zoning. Using aliases requires structure when
defining zones. Aliases aid administrators of zoned fabrics in understanding the
structure and context.
Zoning enforcement
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