EMC Storage Product Knowledge Sharing

The following Ten Rules provided by Brocade for zoning:
Rule 1: Type of Zoning (Hard, Soft, Hardware Enforced, Soft Porting) – If security is a
priority, then a Hard Zone-based architecture coupled with Hardware Enforcement is
recommended

Rule 2: Use of Aliases – Aliases are optional with zoning. Using aliases should force some
structure when defining your zones. Aliases will also aid future administrators of the zoned
fabric. Structure is the word that comes to mind here.

Rule 3: Does the site need an extra level of security that Secure Fabric OS provides? – Add
Secure Fabric OS into the Zone Architecture if extra security is required.

Rule 4: From where will the fabric be managed? – If a SilkWorm 12000 is part of the fabric,
then the user should use it to administer zoning within the Fabric

Rule 5: Interoperability Fabric – If the fabric includes a SilkWorm 12000 and the user needs to
support a third-party switch product, then he will only be able to do WWN zoning, no
QuickLoop etc.

Rule 6: Is the fabric going to have QLFA or QL in it? – If the user is running Brocade Fabric OS

v4.0, then there are a couple things to consider before creating and setting up QLFA zones:
• QuickLoop Zoning
QL/QL zones cannot run on switches running Brocade Fabric OS v4.0. Brocade Fabric
OS v4.0 can still manage (create, remove, update) QL zones on any non-v4.0 switch.
• QuickLoop Fabric Assist
Brocade Fabric OS v4.0 cannot have a Fabric Assist host directly connected to it.
However, Brocade Fabric OS v4.0 can still be part of a Fabric Assist zone if a Fabric
Assist host is connected to a non-v4.0 switch.

Rule 7: Testing a (new) zone configuration. – Before implementing a zone the user should run
the Zone Analyzer and isolate any possible problems. This is especially useful, as fabrics
increase in size.

Rule 8: Prep work needed before enabling/changing a zone configuration. – Before enabling or
changing a fabric configuration, the user should verify that no one is issuing I/O in the zone that will change. This can have a serious impact within the fabric like databases breaking, node
panics etc. This goes the same for disk(s) that are mounted. If the user changes a zone, and a
node is mounting the storage in question, it may “vanish” due to the zone change. This may
cause nodes to panic, applications to break etc. Changes to the zone should be done during
preventative maintenance. Most sites have an allocated time each day to perform maintenance
work.

Rule 9: Potential post work requirements after enabling/changing a zone configuration. – After
changing or enabling a zone configuration, the user should confirm that nodes and storage are
able to see and access one another. Depending on the platform, the user may need to reboot one
or more nodes in the fabric with the new changes to the zone.

Rule 10: LUN masking in general. – LUN Masking should be used in conjunction with fabric
zoning for maximum effectiveness.