Users Guide

Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide 341
53-1002920-02
Zoning overview
12
Zoning schemes
You can establish a zone by identifying zone objects using one or more of the following zoning
schemes:
• Domain,index (D,I)
All members are specified by domain ID, port number, or domain, index number pairs or
aliases.
• World Wide Name (WWN)
All members are specified only by World Wide Names (WWNs) or aliases of WWNs. They can be
node or port versions of the WWN.
• Mixed zoning
A zone containing members specified by a combination of domain,port or domain,index or
aliases, and WWNs or aliases of WWNs.
In any scheme, you can identify zone objects using aliases.
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.
Several zone configurations can reside on a switch at once, and you can quickly alternate between
them. For example, you might want to have one configuration enabled during the business hours
and another enabled overnight. However, only one zone configuration can be enabled at a time.
The different types of zone configurations are:
• Defined configuration
The complete set of all zone objects defined in the fabric.
• Effective configuration
A single zone configuration that is currently in effect. The effective configuration is built when
you enable a specified zone configuration.
• Saved configuration
A copy of the defined configuration plus the name of the effective configuration, which is saved
in flash memory. (You can also provide a backup of the zone configuration and restore the zone
configuration.) There might be differences between the saved configuration and the defined
configuration if you have modified any of the zone definitions and have not saved the
configuration.
• Disabled configuration
The effective configuration is removed from flash memory.
If you disable the effective configuration, the Advanced Zoning feature is disabled on the fabric,
and all devices within the fabric can communicate with all other devices (unless you previously set
up a default zone, as described in “Default zoning mode” on page 360). This does not mean that
the zone database is deleted, however, only that there is no configuration active in the fabric.
On power-up, the switch automatically reloads the saved configuration. If a configuration was active
when it was saved, the same configuration is reinstated on the local switch.