Sun Microsystems Virtual Tape Library manual Understanding VTL Zoning

CHAPTER 2

Understanding VTL Zoning

Zoning is the crucial first step when integrating a storage system, such as the VTL appliance, into a Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN). While specific zoning recommendations must vary from SAN environment to SAN environment, this chapter describes the basic requirements that all successful VTL deployments must address.

■“Zoning for standard‐availability systems” on page 15

■“Zoning for high‐availability systems” on page 16.

Zoning for standard‐availability systems

The basic zoning requirement for VTL solutions that do not implement the high‐ availability feature is that each SAN zone contain only one initiator and one target, as shown in the figure below.

SAN

VTL server node

Zone A

T

I

Client

I

T

You zone standard‐availability VTL systems the same way, regardless of the type of zoning you use. In a soft‐zoned SAN, each target and initiator is defined by a logical World Wide Port Name (WWPN), while in a hard‐zoned SAN, target and initiator are defined by physical port numbers. But, in either case, you have one client initiator and one VTL target per zone.

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