HP StorageWorks 2/140 FW 08.01.00 McDATA Products in a SAN Environment Plannin - Page 92

Planning Considerations for Fibre Channel Topologies 3 Private devices only communicate with other devices on the same arbitrated loop, and interconnected public and private devices can communicate with each other. Such intermixed devices establish operating parameters and loop topology configuration through a port login (PLOGI) command exchange, rather than through the switch's name server. Be aware that public device-to-private device communication may cause problems. For example, it is often critical to separate servers and storage devices with different operating systems because accidental transfer of information from one to another can delete or corrupt data. Plan to implement security provisions for the switch, such as partitioning attached devices into restricted-access groups (zoning), providing server-level access control (persistent binding), or providing storage-level access control. Refer to Security Provisions for additional information. Public Versus Private Loops Sphereon 4000-series fabric switches support operation of public and private loops as follows: • Public loop - A public loop is connected to a switched fabric through any active FL_Port. All devices attached to the loop can communicate with each other, and public devices attached to the loop can communicate with fabric-attached devices connected: - Directly to another switch port configured as a fabric port (F_Port). - Another fabric director or switch connected to the fabric switch through any active E_Port. Public loop connectivity for a Sphereon 4500 Fabric Switch is illustrated in Figure 3-5. 3-8 McDATA Products in a SAN Environment - Planning Manual