HP Cisco Nexus 5000 Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch CLI Software Configuration - Page 507

Chapter 37 Configuring and Managing VSANs Information About VSANs Send feedback to [email protected] Figure 37-2 Example of Two VSANs H2 H3 AS1 AS2 AS3 H1 FC FC FC FC SA1 SA2 Link in VSAN 2 Link in VSAN 7 Trunk link SA3 SA4 79533 The four switches in this network are interconnected by VSAN trunk links that carry both VSAN 2 and VSAN 7 traffic. You can configure a different inter-switch topology for each VSAN. In Figure 37-2, the inter-switch topology is identical for VSAN 2 and VSAN 7. Without VSANs, a network administrator would need separate switches and links for separate SANs. By enabling VSANs, the same switches and links may be shared by multiple VSANs. VSANs allow SANs to be built on port granularity instead of switch granularity. Figure 37-2 illustrates that a VSAN is a group of hosts or storage devices that communicate with each other using a virtual topology defined on the physical SAN. The criteria for creating such groups differ based on the VSAN topology: • VSANs can separate traffic based on the following requirements: - Different customers in storage provider data centers - Production or test in an enterprise network - Low and high security requirements - Backup traffic on separate VSANs - Replicating data from user traffic • VSANs can meet the needs of a particular department or application. VSAN Advantages VSANs offer the following advantages: OL-16597-01 Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch CLI Software Configuration Guide 37-3