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VSAN's vs Zoning

storagegal
Level 1
Level 1

I was browsing the MDS 9000 documentation, and in the software product bulletin found descriptions of both virtual sans and zoning. Being from a storage background, not a networking background, I do not understand the difference between the 2. From the description, they look like the same thing, where the access between servers and storage is segmented logically within the switch.

Can anyone help me understand the difference?

5 Replies 5

mrfrase
Level 1
Level 1

VSAN's separate other Fabric functions such as FSPF& Name server/device discovery . Each VSAN looks like a complete different functioning switch fabric with it's own fabric services. This helps big time in troubleshooting network problems and FSPF issues from misbehaving devices on the network. you only need to look at the vsan and not the complete switch network. Also you can place host to storage pairs on each of there own VSAN's for administaration easy and scaling.

So, let me check for understanding...if I look in the product bulletin page 2 at FC fabric services, you are saying that in a zoning situation, these services are shared, and there's only one instance of them running in the switch. In a VSAN, each of these functions is replicated within the switch so that each VSAN is running it's own instance of each of these fabric services?

Yes, you got it. These functions are replicated and running in each of there own VSAN's and there is no VSAN 1 to VSAN 2 linking. VSAN 1 connects to VSAN 1 across a Trunking E_Port.

So the storage array really doesn't know anything about VSANs correct?

I can have a single SAN array for example with LUN's mapped to many hosts who might be in different VSANs.

The VSANs are a management function of the MDS and UCS if one is using that downstream of the MDS?

Thanks

array does not care how you get your initiator to login into it ..if you can, then you can present storage. An initiator can belong to only one VSAN so you your host and storage port need to be in the same VSAN or utilize IVR.

@dynamoxxx
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