Dell PowerVault 56F (16P Fibre Channel Switch) - Manual (Page 15)

support.dell.com Zones, Components, and Configurations 2-1
This chapter provides information about the requirements of a zone, its components,
and zone configurations.
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A zone is a set of devices that access one another. Devices that are connected to a
fabric may be configured into one or more zones. Devices that are in the same zone
can see each other, while devices that are in different zones cannot.
The following are other characteristics of zones:
Every zone has a name that begins with a letter and is followed by any number of
letters, digits, and the underscore character (_).
Spaces are not allowed when naming zones.
Names are case sensitive. Therefore, “Zone_1” and “zone_1” are different
zones.
Every zone has a member list, consisting of one or more members. Empty zones
are not allowed. See “Zone Members,” found later in this chapter, for more infor-
mation on member-list specifications.
Memory usage determines the maximum number of zones and the maximum
number of members in a zone. However, because these limits are far larger than
the number of devices connected to a fabric, the number of zones and their
members are virtually unlimited.
Zone definitions are persistent. That is, the definition remains in effect across
reboots and power cycles until it is deleted or changed.
A device may be a member of multiple zones.
The remainder of this chapter discusses the components that make up a zone. For
information about creating and managing zones and configurations, refer to Chapter 3,
“Using Zoning.”