EZSwitchSetup Administrator’s Guide 41
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Zoning management 3
Zoning management
Zoning enables you to partition your fabric into logical groups of devices that can access each
other. For example, you can partition your fabric into two zones, winzone and unixzone, so that your
Windows servers and storage do not interact with your UNIX servers and storage.
Zones can be configured dynamically. They can vary in size, depending on the number of
fabric-connected devices, and devices can belong to more than one zone. Because zone members
can access only other members of the same zone, a device not included in a zone is not available
to members of that zone.
Zone members may be specified by fabric location (domain, port index) only, or by device name
(node name or port WWN). Zones whose members are specified by fabric location are port-based,
and zones whose members are directly specified by device WWN are device-based. In port-based
zoning, all devices that are connected to ports that are in the same zone can communicate with
each other, and a device can join a zone simply by being connected to a member port. In
device-based zoning, devices are explicitly specified as members of the same zone. These devices
can communicate with each other regardless of where they are located in the fabric.
EZSwitchSetup creates zones for you automatically, based on your configuration choices in Setup.
•If you chose Typica l Zo ning , a port-based zoning scheme was created. This zoning scheme
creates a two member zone for every possible pairing of H and S ports connected on the
Configure Ports and Connect Devices screen. This ensures that any host device connected to
an H port is able to communicate with any storage device connected to an S port. This remains
true even if you move a device, assuming you connect the device to the correct type of port (H
or S).
•If you chose Custom Zoning, you created a device accessibility matrix during setup. The device
accessibility matrix creates a device-based zoning scheme. By default, every connected host
device can communicate with every connected storage device, as in typical zoning. You can
use the device accessibility matrix to selectively disallow communications between certain
devices, creating a device partitioning scheme that is enforced by zoning. Because custom
zoning is device-based, you may freely move your devices to different ports without affecting
accessibility relationships. If you add or permanently remove devices, you should reconfigure
the accessibility matrix.
•If you chose Advanced Zoning, you were given direct access to the zoning database through
Web Tools, and you created a zoning scheme of your own. EZManager can validate and display
accessibility relationships based on your scheme, and it can replace your scheme with Typical
Zoning or Custom Zon ing. If you want to edit your scheme, you mu st return to Setup an d chose
Advanced Management to start Web Tools. For specific information about using Web Tools for
zoning, see the Web Tools Administrator’s Guide.