HP StorageWorks 8/80 HP StorageWorks Fabric OS 6.2 administrator guide (5697-0 - Page 244

control which devices receive broadcast frames, you can create a special zone, called a broadcast zone, which restricts broadcast packets to only those devices that are members of the broadcast zone. If there are no broadcast zones or if a broadcast zone is defined but not enabled, broadcast frames are not forwarded to any F_Ports. If a broadcast zone is enabled, broadcast frames are delivered only to those logged-in Nx_Ports that are members of the broadcast zone and are also in the same zone (regular zone) as the sender of the broadcast packet. Devices that are not members of the broadcast zone can send broadcast packets, even though they cannot receive them. A broadcast zone can have domain,port, WWN, and alias members. Broadcast zones do not function in the same way as other zones. A broadcast zone does not allow access within its members in any way. If you want to allow or restrict access between any devices, you must create regular zones for that purpose. If two devices are not part of a regular zone, they cannot exchange broadcast or unicast packets. To restrict broadcast frames from reaching broadcast-incapable devices, create a broadcast zone and populate it with the devices that are capable of handling broadcast packets. Devices that cannot handle broadcast frames must be kept out of the broadcast zone so that they will not receive any broadcast frames. Create a broadcast zone the same way you create any other zone, except that a broadcast zone name must incluse the word "broadcast" (case-sensitive). You can set up and manage broadcast zones using the standard zoning commands, which are described in "Zone creation and maintenance" on page 246. Supported switches for broadcast zones Broadcast zoning is enforced only for Fabric OS 5.3.x or later switches. If a fabric contains switches running Fabric OS versions earlier than 5.3.x, all devices connected to those switches receive broadcast packets, even if they are not members of a broadcast zone. See "Inter-fabric broadcast frames" on page 398 for information about how to prevent inter-fabric forwarding of broadcast frames to switches running older versions of firmware. Broadcast zones and Admin Domains Each Admin Domain can have only one broadcast zone. However, all of the broadcast zones from all of the Admin Domains are considered as a single consolidated broadcast zone. Broadcast packets are forwarded to all the ports that are part of the broadcast zone for any Admin Domain, have membership in that Admin Domain, and are zoned together (in a regular zone) with the sender of the broadcast frame. Figure 31 illustrates how broadcast zones work with Admin Domains. The figure shows a fabric with five devices and two Admin Domains, AD1 and AD2. Each Admin Domain has two devices and a broadcast zone. 242 Administering advanced zoning