Reference Guide

Broadcast zones and FC-FC routing
If you create broadcast zones in a metaSAN consisting of multiple fabrics connected through an FC router, the broadcast zone must
include the IP device that exists in the edge or backbone fabric as well as the proxy device in the remote fabric. Refer to Using FC-FC
Routing to Connect Fabrics on page 489 for information about proxy devices and the FC router.
High availability considerations with broadcast zones
If a switch has broadcast zone-capable firmware on the active CP (Fabric OS v5.3.x or later) and broadcast zone-incapable firmware on
the standby CP (Fabric OS version earlier than v5.3.0), then you cannot create a broadcast zone because the zoning behavior would not
be the same across an HA failover. If the switch failed over, then the broadcast zone would lose its special significance and would be
treated as a regular zone.
Loop devices and broadcast zones
Delivery of broadcast packets to individual devices in a loop is not controlled by the switch. Consequently, adding loop devices to a
broadcast zone does not have any effect. If a loop device is part of a broadcast zone, then all devices in that loop receive broadcast
packets.
Best practice: All devices in a single loop should have uniform broadcast capability. If all the devices in the loop can handle broadcast
frames, then add the FL_Port to the broadcast zone.
Broadcast zones and default zoning mode
The default zoning mode defines the device accessibility behavior if zoning is not implemented or if there is no effective zone
configuration. The default zoning mode has two options:
∙ All Access--All devices within the fabric can communicate with all other devices.
∙ No Access--Devices in the fabric cannot access any other device in the fabric.
If a broadcast zone is active, even if it is the only zone in the effective configuration, the default zone setting is not in effect.
If the effective configuration has only a broadcast zone, then the configuration appears as a No Access configuration. To change this
configuration to All Access, you must put all the available devices in a regular zone.
Refer to Default zoning mode on page 318 for additional information about default zoning.
Zone aliases
A zone alias is a name assigned to a logical group of ports or WWNs. 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). Using zone aliases eliminates the need for long lists of individual zone member names.
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".
Naming zones for the initiator they contain can also be useful. 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 flexible. One configuration should be named PROD_ fabricname , where fabricname is the name that the
fabric has been assigned. 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,"
Administering Advanced Zoning
Brocade Fabric OS Administration Guide, 8.0.1
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