Switch Manager
Two types of zones are supported. The following zone types define increasingly restrictive levels of communication.
■Soft zones
■Hard zones (ACL zoning)
Soft Zones
Soft zoning divides the fabric for purposes of controlling discovery. Devices within the same soft zone automatically discover and communicate freely with all other members of the same zone. The soft zone boundary is not secure; traffic across soft zones can occur if addressed correctly. Soft zone boundaries yield to ACL zone boundaries. Soft zones can overlap; that is, a device can participate in more than one soft zone. Zone membership can be defined by Fibre Channel address, domain ID and port number, World Wide Name, or a combination. Soft zoning supports all port types.
Hard Zoning (ACL Zoning)
Access Control List (ACL) zoning divides the fabric for purposes of controlling discovery and inbound traffic. ACL zoning is a type of hard zoning that is hardware enforced. This type of zoning is useful for controlling access to certain devices without totally isolating them from the fabric. Devices can communicate with each other and transmit outside the ACL zone, but cannot receive inbound traffic from outside the zone. The ACL zone boundary is secure against inbound traffic. ACL zones can overlap; that is, a port can be a member of more than one ACL zone. ACL zone boundaries supersede soft zone boundaries. Membership can be defined only by domain ID and port number. ACL zoning supports all port types.
Aliases
To make it easier to add a group of ports or devices to one or more zones, you can create an alias. An alias is a named set of ports or devices that are grouped together for convenience. Unlike zones, aliases impose no communication restrictions between its members. You can add an alias to one or more zones. However, you cannot add a zone to an alias, nor can an alias be a member of another alias.
Zone sets
A zone set is a named group of zones. A zone can be a member of more than one zone set. All zones that are not members of a zone set belong to the orphan zone set. The orphan zone set is saved on the switch. Each switch in the fabric maintains its own zoning database containing one or more zone sets. This zoning database resides in
To apply zoning to a fabric, choose a zone set and activate it. When you activate a zone set, the switch distributes that zone set and its zones, excluding aliases, to every switch in the fabric. This zone set is known as the active zone set. See “Active Zoneset data window” on page 44 for information about displaying the active zone set.
Zoning database
Each switch has its own zoning database. The zoning database is made up of all aliases, zones, and zone sets that have been created on the switch or received from other switches. The switch maintains two copies of the inactive zoning database: one copy is maintained in temporary memory for editing purposes; the second copy is maintained in permanent memory. Zoning database edits are made on an individual switch basis and are not propagated to other switches in the fabric when saved.