Fabric Merge

krishnasamyrajgopal · ‎02-08-2008

Hello All,

I have two 9506 directors in a Fabric connected through two ISL in VSAN1

Eg:-

Switch 1 : 9506-1 (Subordinate)

===============================

--> Only VSAN1

--> Active Zone Zet : ZonesetA

--> Zones : Zone1, Zone2.

--> Production hosts connected

Switch 2 : 9506-2(Principal)

=============================

--> Only VSAN1

--> Active Zone Zet : ZonesetA

--> Zones : Zone1, Zone2.

--> no Production hosts connected

I am planning to move the Principle switch(9506-2) and i am planning to disconnect and merge it back after the move.

Since there is no production traffic flowing through Principal (9506-2)i could easily back up the configuration and disconnect the ISL with out any disruption.

When i reconnect them back after the move.

I don't want any kind of disruption to the prodution fabric. i have following doubts

1. Is it a good idea to hard set the priority high of the Subordinate switch (9506-1)so that there is no unwanted negotiation during merge.

2. Can I connect the two switches as it was previously and establih the ISLs in VSAN1

3. Since the Active Zonesets of both the switches contain same zones, will it create issues during merge,

If yes, to the question:2 the shall i deactivate/ delete the Active zoneset in the switch (9506-2)before connecting it back to the fabric.will the new switch learn the configuration non-disruptively during merge.

4. What is the effect of IVR enahled in one the switches.

5. Is it safe to create Transit VSANs (VSAN 999) in both the switches and establish ISL in that for testing.

Thanks in advance...

owillins · ‎02-14-2008

Use this document it will help you and you will get clear idea (it contains various case studies).

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/ps4159/ps4358/ps5395/index.html

kefernan · ‎02-20-2008

1. The most important function of the principal switch is to assign domain ID's to switches which join the fabric. As long as you have statically assigned domain ID's for both VSAN's, there shouldn't be any issues with one switch or the other becoming the principal. Also, the domain ID's must be unique for each VSAN that is trying to merge across the ISL.

2. Yes, as long as the active zonesets remain the same while they are separated.

3. Per the FC standards, if the active zoneset, zones, and members are exactly the same, the merge should succeed. But you should check to make sure that the "full zoneset", or "full zone database" is also the same in both switches. If your zone distribution policy is set to full, the switches will merge both the active zoneset and the full zoneset. Regarding question 2, there should be no need to deactivate or delete to ensure the merge if both zonesets are the same on both switches.

You can compare the output of "show zoneset vsan 1" on both switches to ensure the full zone databases are the same, or compare the zone section of the startup-config on both switches.

4. Depends on how you implement IVR...

5. Creating a VSAN on a switch will not affect another VSAN on that switch, but once you use that VSAN for IVR, that may or may not affect your production network.

Link to Configuration guide, this elaborates on the theory and use of the commands, and may answer your concerns as well:

http://cisco.com/en/US/docs/storage/san_switches/mds9000/sw/rel_3_x/configuration/guides/cli_3_2/cli.pdf