HP StorageWorks 2/24 FW 07.00.00/HAFM SW 08.06.00 McDATA Products in a SAN Env - Page 115

Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies 3 RSCNs are transmitted to all registered device N_Ports attached to the fabric if either of the following occur: - A fabric-wide event occurs, such as a director logging in to the fabric, a director logging out of the fabric, or a reconfiguration because of a director or ISL failure. - A zoning configuration change. • Zoning configurations for joined fabrics - In a multiswitch fabric, zoning is configured on a fabric-wide basis, and any change to the active zone set is applied to all directors and switches. To ensure zoning is consistent across a fabric, the following rules are enforced when two fabrics (zoned or unzoned) join through an ISL. - Fabric A unzoned and Fabric B unzoned - The fabrics join successfully, and the resulting fabric remains unzoned. - Fabric A zoned and Fabric B unzoned - The fabrics join successfully, and fabric B automatically inherits the zoning configuration from fabric A. - Fabric A unzoned and Fabric B zoned - The fabrics join successfully, and fabric A automatically inherits the zoning configuration from fabric B. - Fabric A zoned and Fabric B zoned - The fabrics join successfully only if the zone sets can be merged. If the fabrics cannot join, the connecting E_Ports segment and the fabrics remain independent. Zone sets for two directors or switches are compatible (the fabrics can join) only if the zone names for each fabric element are unique. The zone names for two fabric elements can be the same only if the zone member WWNs are identical for each duplicated zone name. General Fabric Design Considerations To be effective, the fabric topology design must: • Solve the customer's business problem and provide the required level of performance. • Meet the customer's requirements for high availability. • Be scalable to meet future requirements. Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies 3-29