HP Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch for HP BladeSystem p-Class - Manual (Page 131)

Fabric OS 5.0.0 procedures user guide 131
• If the fabric includes an HP StorageWorks switch and you support a third-party switch product, the
third-party switches are able to use only WWN zoning; other types of zoning, including QuickLoop,
are not supported.
• QuickLoop
Evaluate whether the fabric will also use QuickLoop Fabric Assist (QLFA) or QuickLoop (QL). If you
are running HP Fabric OS v4.x, consider the following before creating and setting up QLFA zones:
• QuickLoop and QuickLoop zones cannot run on switches running Fabric OS v4.x. However,
Fabric OS v4.x can still manage (create, remove, update) QuickLoop zones on any non-v4.x
switch.
• QuickLoop Fabric Assist. Fabric OS v4.x cannot have a Fabric Assist host directly connected to it.
However, targets on a Fabric OS v4.x switch can still be part of a Fabric Assist zone if a Fabric
Assist host is connected to a non-v4.x switch.
• Zone changes
Zone changes in a production fabric can cause a disruption of I/O when an RSCN is generated
because of the zone change and the HBA is unable to process the RSCN fast enough. Although
RSCNs are a normal part of a functioning SAN, the pause in I/O might not be acceptable. For these
reasons, you should perform zone changes only when the resulting behavior is predictable and
acceptable. Changing HBA drivers can rectify the situation.
• Final verification
After changing or enabling a zone configuration, confirm that the nodes and storage can identify and
access one another. Depending on the platform, you might need to reboot one or more nodes in the
fabric with the new changes.
The zone configuration is managed on a fabric basis. Zoning can be implemented and administered
from any switch in the fabric that has an Advanced Zoning license enabled. When a change in the
configuration is saved, enabled, or disabled per the transactional model, it is automatically (by closing
the transaction) distributed to all switches in the fabric, preventing a single point of failure for zone
information.
NOTE: Zoning commands make changes that affect the entire fabric. When executing fabric-level
configuration tasks, allow time for the changes to propagate across the fabric before executing any
subsequent commands. For a large fabric, you might want to wait several minutes between commands.
Creating and managing zone aliases
A zone alias is a logical group of ports, WWNs, or AL_PAs. You can simplify the process of creating
zones by first specifying aliases, which eliminates the need for long lists of individual zone
member names.
To create an alias:
1. Connect to the switch and log in as admin.
2. Issue the
alicreate
command.
3. Issue the
cfgsave
command to save the change to the defined configuration.