Technical data

Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide 13-5
Publication Number: 53-0000518-09
Zoning Concepts
13
Zone Objects
A zone object is any device in a zone, such as the:
• Physical port number or area ID on the switch
• Node World Wide Name (N-WWN)
• Port World Wide Name (P-WWN)
Zone objects identified by port number or area number are specified as a pair of decimal numbers in the
form d, area (d is the domain ID of the switch and area is the area number on that switch).
For example, on SilkWorm 12000 or 24000 models, “4, 46” specifies port 14 in slot number 3 (domain
ID 4, area 46). On fixed-port models, “3,13” specifies port 13 in switch domain ID 3.
When the physical port number specifies a zone object, then all devices connected to that port are in the
zone. If the physical port is an arbitrated loop, then all devices on the loop are part of the zone.
World Wide Names are specified as 8-byte (16-digit) hexadecimal numbers, separated by colons: for
example, 10:00:00:90:69:00:00:8a. When a node name specifies a zone object, all ports on such a
device are in the zone. When a port name specifies a zone object, only the single port is in the zone.
The types of zone objects used to define a zone can be mixed and matched. For example, a zone defined
with the zone objects 2,12; 2,14; 10:00:00:80:33:3f:aa:11 contains the devices connected to domain 2,
ports 12 and 14, and a device with the WWN (either node name or port name) 10:00:00:80:33:3f:aa:11
that is connected on the fabric.
Zone Aliases
A zone alias is a name assigned to a device or a group of devices. By creating an alias, you can assign a
familiar name to a device or group multiple devices into a single name. This simplifies cumbersome
data entry and allows an intuitive naming structure (such as using “NT_Hosts” to define all NT hosts in
the fabric).
Zone aliases also simplify repetitive entry of zone objects such as port numbers or a WWN. For
example, you can use the name “Eng” as an alias for “10:00:00:80:33:3f:aa:11”.
A useful convention is to name zones for the initiator they contain. For example, if you use the alias
SRV_MAILSERVER_SLT5 to designate a mail server in PCI slot 5, then the alias for the associated
zone is ZNE_MAILSERVER_SLT5. This clearly identifies the server host bus adapter (HBA)
associated with the zone.
Zone configuration naming is more flexible. One configuration should be named PROD_fabricname,
where fabricname is the name that the fabric has been designated. The purpose of the PROD
configuration is to easily identify the configuration that can be implemented and provide the most
generic services. If other configurations are used for specialized purposes, names such as
“BACKUP_A,” “RECOVERY_2,” and “TEST_18jun02” can be used.
Zone Configurations
A zone configuration is a group of one or more zones. A zone can be included in more than one zone
configuration. When a zone configuration is in effect, all zones that are members of that configuration
are in effect.