HP Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch for HP BladeSystem c-Class - Manual (Page 93)

Fabric OS 5.0.0 Advanced Web Tools user guide 93
5 Zone administration
This chapter briefly describes zoning and provides the procedures for managing zoning using Advanced
Web Tools. This chapter contains the following sections:
• Introduction to zoning , page 93
• Managing zoning with Advanced Web Tools , page 93
• Managing zone aliases , page 98
• Managing zones , page 99
• Managing QuickLoops , page 101
• Managing Fabric Assist zones , page 102
• Managing zoning configurations , page 104
• Managing the zoning database , page 110
Introduction to zoning
Zoning enables you to partition your storage area network (SAN) into logical groups of devices that can
access each other. For example, you can partition your SAN into two zones, winzone and unixzone, so
that your Windows servers and storage do not interact with your UNIX® servers and storage.
Zones can be configured dynamically. They can vary in size, depending on the number of
fabric-connected devices, and devices can belong to more than one zone. Because zone members can
access only other members of the same zone, a device not included in a zone is not available to members
of that zone.
When using a mixed fabric—that is, a fabric containing v4.x, v3.x and v2.x switches—you should use the
most advanced switches to perform zoning tasks.
When zone or Fabric Assist (FA) zone members are specified by fabric location (domain, area) only, or by
device name (node name or port WWN) only, zone boundaries can be enforced at the hardware level
and the zone is called a hard zone.
When zone elements are specified by fabric location (domain, area) and other elements of the same zone
are specified by device name (node name or port WWN), zone enforcement depends on Name Server
lookups, and the zone is called a soft zone.
For more specific information about zoning concepts, refer to the HP StorageWorks Secure Fabric OS user
guide.
Managing zoning with Advanced Web Tools
You can monitor and manage zoning through the Zone Admin module. Click the Zone Administration icon
in the Fabric Toolbar to access the Zone Admin module shown in Figure 31 . The Zone Admin icon is
displayed in the Fabric Toolbar only if an Advanced Zoning license is installed on the switch.