Adding a new fabric, Merging two fabrics, Splitting a fabric – StorageTek StorageNet 4000 User Manual
Page 25: Adding a new fabric -5, Merging two fabrics -5, Splitting a fabric -5
Multi Switch Fabrics
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Adding a New Fabric
Adding a new Fabric (a Fabric where there is no zone configuration information) to an existing
Zoned Fabric is similar to adding a new switch. All switches in the new Fabric inherit the zone
configuration data. If a zone configuration is enabled, then the same configuration becomes
enabled in the new switches. After this operation, cfgShow displays the same output on all
switches in the joined Fabric, including the new switches.
Merging Two Fabrics
If two Fabrics that have zone configuration information are joined it is more complex. The
ZONING software attempts to merge the two zone configurations.
The simplest case is where both Fabrics have identical zone configuration data and the same
configuration is enabled. In this case, the Fabrics join to make one larger Fabric with the same
zone configuration in effect across the whole new Fabric.
If the Fabrics have different zone configuration data, then the two sets of information are
merged if possible, or the Inter Switch Link (ISL) is segmented if a merge is not possible.
Merging is not possible if:
•
zoning is enabled in both Fabrics and the zone configuration that is enabled is
different (cfg mismatch)
•
the name of a zone object in one Fabric is used for a different type of zone object in
the other Fabric (type mismatch)
•
the definition of a zone object in one Fabric is different from its definition in the other
Fabric (content mismatch)
When this condition is detected by the switches between the ISL, each switch displays an error
message on its LCD, Telnet console and syslog.
Splitting a Fabric
If an ISL goes down causing a Fabric to split into two separate Fabrics, then each new Fabric
retains the same zone configuration.
If the ISL is replaced and no changes have been made to the zone configuration in either new
Fabric, then the two Fabrics are guaranteed to merge back into one single Fabric. If changes
have been made to either zone configuration, then the rules under
apply.