HP StorageWorks 8/80 HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.2 administrator guide (5697-0 - Page 243

2. Enter the portZoneShow command, using the following syntax: portzoneshow Considerations for zoning architecture Table 60 lists considerations for zoning architecture. Table 60 Considerations for zoning architecture Item Description Type of zoning: hard HP recommends hard zoning if security is a priority. or soft (session-based) Use of aliases Optional with zoning. Using aliases requires structure when defining zones. Aliases will aid administrators of zoned fabrics in understanding the structure and context. Interoperability mode See Chapter 12, "Interoperability for merged SANs" on page 291 for interoperability mode considerations when using zoning. Testing Effect of changes in a production fabric Confirming operation Before implementing a new zone, you should run the Zone Analyzer from Web Tools to isolate any possible problems. This is especially useful as fabrics increase in size. Zone changes in a production fabric can result in a disruption of I/O under conditions when an RSCN is entered 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. Ensuring that the HBA drivers are current can shorten the response time in relation to the RSCN. After changing or enabling a zone configuration, you should 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. Zoning can be implemented and administered from any switch in the fabric, although HP recommends that you use a switch running the latest Fabric OS version. If the switch is running Fabric OS 6.0.x or earlier, it must have an Advanced Zoning license enabled. The zone configuration is managed on a fabric basis. When a change in the configuration is saved, enabled, or disabled according to 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. IMPORTANT: 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 should wait several minutes between commands. Best practices for zoning HP recommends the following for the use of zoning: • Always zone using the highest Fabric OS-level switch. Switches with earlier Fabric OS versions do not have the capability to view all the functionality that a newer Fabric OS provides, as functionality is backwards compatible but not forward compatible. • Zone using the core switch versus an edge switch. • Zone using an enterprise-class platform rather than a switch. An enterprise-class platform has more resources to handle zoning changes and implementations. Broadcast zones Fibre Channel allows sending broadcast frames to all Nx_Ports if the frame is sent to a broadcast well-known address (FFFFFF); however, many target devices and HBAs cannot handle broadcast frames. To Fabric OS 6.2 administrator guide 241