What are different types of zoning in SAN?

There are two distinct methods of zoning that can be applied to a SAN: World Wide Name zoning and port zoning. WWN zoning groups a number of WWNs in a zone and allows them to communicate with each other. The switch port that each device is connected to is irrelevant when WWN zoning is configured.

What is zoning in SAN?

In a storage area network (SAN), zoning is the allocation of resources for device load balancing and for selectively allowing access to data only to certain users. Zoning is done using a structure similar to that of a computer file system. A zone is the equivalent of a folder or directory.

How are the different types of zoning set up?

Zoning can be set up according to server, storage and SAN switch. Discover what type of zoning to use, how zone sets extend SAN segmentation and about the various zoning schemas. SAN zoning gains importance once your SAN includes more than a couple dozen devices.

What do you need to know about San zoning?

This page is mainly based on Brocade zoning standards. SAN zoning is used to logically group hosts and storage devices together in a physical SAN, so that authorised devices can only communicate with each other if they are in the same SAN zone. A typical SAN setup will have several zones and a device in a SAN can belong to more than one zone.

How does soft zoning work in a SAN switch?

All modern SAN switches then enforce soft zoning in hardware. The fabric name service allows each device to query the addresses of all other devices. Soft zoning restricts only the fabric name service, to show only an allowed subset of devices.

What is the purpose of a SAN zone?

SAN zoning is used to logically group hosts and storage devices together in a physical SAN, so that authorised devices can only communicate with each other if they are in the same SAN zone. A typical SAN setup will have several zones and a device in a SAN can belong to more than one zone.