HP Cisco MDS 9020 Cisco MDS 9000 Family Fabric Manager Configuration Guide - R - Page 680

Zone Set Distribution Chapter 30 Configuring and Managing Zones Send documentation comments to [email protected] Zone Enforcement Zoning can be enforced in two ways: soft and hard. Each end device (N port or NL port) discovers other devices in the fabric by querying the name server. When a device logs in to the name server, the name server returns the list of other devices that can be accessed by the querying device. If an Nx port does not know about the FC IDs of other devices outside its zone, it cannot access those devices. In soft zoning, zoning restrictions are applied only during interaction between the name server and the end device. If an end device somehow knows the FC ID of a device outside its zone, it can access that device. Hard zoning is enforced by the hardware on each frame sent by an Nx port. As frames enter the switch, source-destination IDs are compared with permitted combinations to allow the frame at wirespeed. Hard zoning is applied to all forms of zoning. Note Hard zoning enforces zoning restrictions on every frame, and prevents unauthorized access. Switches in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family support both hard and soft zoning. Zone Set Distribution You can distribute full zone sets using one of two methods: one-time distribution or full zone set distribution. Table 30-1 lists the differences between these distribution methods. Table 30-1 Zone Set Distribution Differences One-Time Distribution Full Zone Set Distribution Distributes the full zone set immediately. Does not distribute the full zone set information along with the active zone set during activation, deactivation, or merge process. Does not distribute the full zone set immediately. Remembers to distribute the full zone set information along with the active zone set during activation, deactivation, and merge processes. This section describes zone set distribution and includes the following topics: • Enabling Full Zone Set Distribution, page 30-26 • Enabling a One-Time Distribution, page 30-27 • About Recovering from Link Isolation, page 30-28 • Importing and Exporting Zone Sets, page 30-28 Enabling Full Zone Set Distribution All switches in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family distribute active zone sets when new E port links come up or when a new zone set is activated in a VSAN. The zone set distribution takes effect while sending merge requests to the adjacent switch or while activating a zone set. To enable full zone set and active zone set distribution to all switches on a per VSAN basis using Fabric Manager, follow these steps: 30-26 Cisco MDS 9000 Family Fabric Manager Configuration Guide OL-17256-03, Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 4.x