Configuring Fibre Channel Zoning

This chapter includes the following sections:

Information About Fibre Channel Zoning

Fibre Channel zoning allows you to partition the Fibre Channel fabric into one or more zones. Each zone defines the set of Fibre Channel initiators and Fibre Channel targets that can communicate with each other in a VSAN. Zoning also enables you to set up access control between hosts and storage devices or user groups.

The access and data traffic control provided by zoning does the following:

  • Enhances SAN network security

  • Helps prevent data loss or corruption

  • Reduces performance issues

Information About Zones

A zone consists of multiple zone members and has the following characteristics:

  • Members in a zone can access each other; members in different zones cannot access each other.

  • Zones can vary in size.

  • Devices can belong to more than one zone.

  • A physical fabric can have a maximum of 8,000 zones.

Information About Zone Sets

Each zone set consists of one or more zones. You can use zone sets to enforce access control within the Fibre Channel fabric. In addition, zone sets provide you with the following advantages:

  • Only one zone set can be active at any time.

  • All zones in a zone set can be activated or deactivated as a single entity across all switches in the fabric.

  • A zone can be a member of more than one zone set.

  • A switch in a zone can have a maximum of 500 zone sets.

Support for Fibre Channel Zoning in Cisco UCS Manager

Cisco UCS Manager supports switch-based Fibre Channel zoning and Cisco UCS Manager-based Fibre Channel zoning. You cannot configure a combination of zoning types in the same Cisco UCS domain. You can configure a Cisco UCS domain with one of the following types of zoning:

  • Cisco UCS Manager-based Fibre Channel zoning—This configuration combines direct attach storage with local zoning. Fibre Channel or FCoE storage is directly connected to the fabric interconnects and zoning is performed in Cisco UCS Manager, using Cisco UCS local zoning. Any existing Fibre Channel or FCoE uplink connections need to be disabled. Cisco UCS does not currently support active Fibre Channel or FCoE uplink connections coexisting with the utilization of the UCS Local Zoning feature.

  • Switch-based Fibre Channel zoning—This configuration combines direct attach storage with uplink zoning. The Fibre Channel or FCoE storage is directly connected to the fabric interconnects and zoning is performed externally to the Cisco UCS domain through an MDS or Nexus 5000 switch. This configuration does not support local zoning in the Cisco UCS domain.


Note

Zoning is configured on a per-VSAN basis. You cannot enable zoning at the fabric level.

Cisco UCS Manager-Based Fibre Channel Zoning

With Cisco UCS Manager-based zoning, Cisco UCS Manager controls the Fibre Channel zoning configuration for the Cisco UCS domain, including creating and activating zones for all VSANs that you set up with this type of zoning. This type of zoning is also know as local zoning or direct attach storage with local zoning.


Note

You cannot implement Cisco UCS Manager-based zoning if the VSAN is also configured to communicate with a VSAN on an upstream switch and includes Fibre Channel or FCoE uplink ports.

Supported Fibre Channel Zoning Modes

Cisco UCS Manager-based zoning supports the following types of zoning:

  • Single initiator single target—Cisco UCS Manager automatically creates one zone for each vHBA and storage port pair. Each zone has two members. We recommend that you configure this type of zoning unless you expect the number of zones to exceed the maximum supported.

  • Single initiator multiple targets—Cisco UCS Manager automatically creates one zone for each vHBA. We recommend that you configure this type of zoning if you expect the number of zones to reach or exceed the maximum supported.

vHBA Initiator Groups

vHBA initiator groups determine the Fibre Channel zoning configuration for all vHBAs in a service profile. Cisco UCS Manager does not include any default vHBA initiator groups. You must create vHBA initiator groups in any service profile that is to be assigned to servers included in a zone.

The configuration in a vHBA initiator group determines the following:

  • The vHBAs included in the initiator group, which are sometimes referred to as vHBA initiators.

  • A Fibre Channel storage connection policy, which includes the associated VSAN and the Fibre Channel target ports on the storage array.

  • The type of Fibre Channel zoning to be configured for the vHBAs included in the group.

Fibre Channel Storage Connection Policy

The Fibre Channel storage connection policy contains a collection of target storage ports on storage arrays that you use to configure Cisco UCS Manager-based Fibre Channel zoning. You can create this policy underneath an organization or an initiator group.

The storage arrays in these zones must be directly connected to the fabric interconnects. The target storage ports on these arrays that you include in the Fibre Channel storage connection policy can be either Fibre Channel storage ports or FCoE storage ports. You use the WWN of a port to add it to the policy and to identify the port for the Fibre Channel zone.


Note

Cisco UCS Manager does not create default Fibre Channel storage.

Fibre Channel Active Zone Set Configuration

In each VSAN that has been enabled for Fibre Channel zoning, Cisco UCS Manager automatically configures one zone set and multiple zones. The zone membership specifies the set of initiators and targets that are allowed to communicate with each other. Cisco UCS Manager automatically activates that zone set.

Cisco UCS Manager processes the user-configured vHBA initiator groups and their associated Fibre Channel storage connection policy to determine the desired connectivity between Fibre Channel initiators and targets. Cisco UCS Manager uses the following information to build pair-wise zone membership between initiators and targets:

  • The port WWNs of the vHBA initiators derived from the vHBA initiator groups.

  • The port WWNs of the storage array derived from the storage connection policy.

Switch-Based Fibre Channel Zoning

With switch-based zoning, a Cisco UCS domain inherits the zoning configuration from the upstream switch. You cannot configure or view information about your zoning configuration in Cisco UCS Manager. You have to disable zoning on a VSAN in Cisco UCS Manager to use switch-based zoning for that VSAN.

Guidelines and recommendations for Cisco UCS Manager-Based Fibre Channel Zoning

When you plan your configuration for Fibre Channel zoning, consider the following guidelines and recommendations:

Fibre Channel Switching Mode Must Be Switch Mode for Cisco UCS Manager Configurations

If you want Cisco UCS Manager to handle Fibre Channel zoning, the fabric interconnects must be in Fibre Channel Switch mode. You cannot configure Fibre Channel zoning in End-Host mode.

Symmetrical Configuration Is Recommended for High Availability

If a Cisco UCS domain is configured for high availability with two fabric interconnects, we recommend that both fabric interconnects are configured with the same set of VSANs.

Configuring Fibre Channel Zoning in Cisco UCS


Note

This procedure provides a high level overview of the steps required to configure a Cisco UCS domain for Fibre Channel zoning that is controlled by Cisco UCS Manager. You must ensure that you complete all of the following steps.

Procedure
     Command or ActionPurpose
    Step 1If you have not already done so, disconnect the fabric interconnects in the Cisco UCS domain from any external Fibre Channel switches, such as an MDS.   
    Step 2If the Cisco UCS domain still includes zones that were managed by the external Fibre Channel switch, run the clear-unmanaged-fc-zone-all command on every affected VSAN to remove those zones. 

    This functionality is not currently available in the Cisco UCS Manager GUI. You must perform this step in the Cisco UCS Manager CLI.

     
    Step 3Configure the Fibre Channel switching mode for both fabric interconnects in Fibre Channel Switch mode. 

    You cannot configure Fibre Channel zoning in End-Host mode.

    See Configuring Fibre Channel Switching Mode.

     
    Step 4Configure the Fibre Channel and FCoE storage ports that you require to carry traffic for the Fibre Channel zones. 

    See Configuring Ports and Port Channels.

     
    Step 5Create one or more VSANs and enable Fibre Channel zoning on all VSANs that you require to carry traffic for the Fibre Channel zones. 

    For a cluster configuration, we recommend that you create the VSANs that you intend to include in a Fibre Channel zone in Fibre Channel storage mode and accessible to both fabric interconnects.

    See Configuring Named VSANs.

     
    Step 6Create one or more Fibre Channel storage connection policies. 

    You can perform this step when you configure Fibre Channel zoning in the service profiles, if you prefer.

    See Creating a Fibre Channel Storage Connection Policy.

     
    Step 7Configure zoning in service profiles or service profile templates for servers that need to communicate through Fibre Channel zones. 

    Complete the following steps to complete this configuration:

    • Enable zoning in the VSAN or VSANs assigned to the VHBAs.

    • Configure one or more vHBA initiator groups.

    See Configuring Service Profiles.

     

    Removing Unmanaged Zones from a VSAN Accessible to Both Fabric Interconnects

    After you disconnect the external Fibre Channel switch, the Fibre Channel zones that were managed by that switch might not been cleared from the Cisco UCS domain. This procedure removes those zones from each VSAN in the Cisco UCS domain so that you can configure Fibre Channel zoning in Cisco UCS.

    Before You Begin

    If you have not already done so, disconnect the fabric interconnects in the Cisco UCS domain from any external Fibre Channel switches, such as an MDS.

    Procedure
       Command or ActionPurpose
      Step 1 UCS-A# scope fc-uplink 

      Enters Fibre Channel uplink mode.

       
      Step 2 UCS-A /fc-uplink # scope fabric {a | b}  

      Enters Fibre Channel uplink mode for the specified fabric interconnect.

       
      Step 3 UCS-A /fc-uplink/fabric # scope vsan vsan-name 

      Enters VSAN mode for the specified named VSAN.

       
      Step 4UCS-A /fc-uplink/fabric/vsan # clear-unmanaged-fc-zones-all 

      Clears all unmanaged Fibre Channel zones from the specified named VSAN.

      If desired, you can repeat Steps 2 through 4 to remove unmanaged zones from all VSANs that are accessible to the specified fabric interconnect before you commit the buffer.

       
      Step 5UCS-A /fc-uplink/fabric/vsan # commit-buffer  

      Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

       

      The following example shows how to remove unmanaged zones from a named VSAN accessible to fabric interconnect A and commit the transaction: 

      UCS-A# scope fc-uplink
UCS-A /fc-uplink # scope fabric a
UCS-A /fc-uplink/fabric # scope vsan finance
UCS-A /fc-uplink/fabric/vsan # clear-unmanaged-fc-zones-all
UCS-A /fc-uplink/fabric/vsan* # commit-buffer
UCS-A /fc-uplink #

      Removing Unmanaged Zones from a VSAN Accessible to One Fabric Interconnect

      After you disconnect the external Fibre Channel switch, the Fibre Channel zones that were managed by that switch might not been cleared from the Cisco UCS domain. This procedure removes those zones from each VSAN in the Cisco UCS domain so that you can configure Fibre Channel zoning in Cisco UCS.

      Before You Begin

      If you have not already done so, disconnect the fabric interconnects in the Cisco UCS domain from any external Fibre Channel switches, such as an MDS.

      Procedure
         Command or ActionPurpose
        Step 1 UCS-A# scope fc-uplink 

        Enters Fibre Channel uplink mode.

         
        Step 2 UCS-A /fc-uplink # scope vsan vsan-name 

        Enters VSAN mode for the specified named VSAN.

         
        Step 3UCS-A /fc-uplink/vsan # clear-unmanaged-fc-zones-all 

        Clears all unmanaged Fibre Channel zones from the specified named VSAN.

        If desired, you can repeat steps 2 and 3 to remove unmanaged zones from all VSANs that are accessible to both fabric interconnects before you commit the buffer.

         
        Step 4UCS-A /fc-uplink/vsan # commit-buffer  

        Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

         

        The following example shows how to remove unmanaged zones from a named VSAN and commit the transaction: 

        UCS-A# scope fc-uplink
UCS-A /fc-uplink # scope vsan finance
UCS-A /fc-uplink/vsan # clear-unmanaged-fc-zones-all
UCS-A /fc-uplink/vsan* # commit-buffer
UCS-A /fc-uplink #

        Configuring Fibre Channel Storage Connection Policies

        Creating a Fibre Channel Storage Connection Policy

        Procedure
           Command or ActionPurpose
          Step 1UCS-A# scope org org-name  

          Enters the organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, enter / as the org-name.

           
          Step 2UCS-A /org # create storage-connection-policy policy-name  

          Creates a storage connection policy with the specified policy name, and enters organization storage connection policy mode.

           
          Step 3UCS-A /org # set zoning-type {none | simt | sist} 

          • None—Cisco UCS Manager does not configure Fibre Channel zoning.

          • Single Initiator Single Target—Cisco UCS Manager automatically creates one zone for each vHBA and storage port pair. Each zone has two members. We recommend that you configure this type of zoning unless you expect the number of zones to exceed the maximum supported.

          • Single Initiator Multiple Targets—Cisco UCS Manager automatically creates one zone for each vHBA. We recommend that you configure this type of zoning if you expect the number of zones to reach or exceed the maximum supported.

           
          Step 4UCS-A /org/storage-connection-policy # create storage-target wwpn  

          Creates a storage target endpoint with the specified WWPN, and enters storage target mode.

           
          Step 5UCS-A /org/storage-connection-policy/storage-target # set target-path {a | b}  

          Specifies which fabric interconnect is used for communications with the target endpoint.

           
          Step 6UCS-A /org/storage-connection-policy/storage-target # set target-vsan vsan  

          Specifies which VSAN is used for communications with the target endpoint.

           
          Step 7UCS-A /org/storage-connection-policy # commit-buffer  

          Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

           

          The following example configures a Fibre Channel storage connection policy in the root organization named scPolicyZone1, using fabric interconnect A and the default VSAN, and commits the transaction: 

          UCS-A# scope org /
UCS-A /org* # create storage-connection-policy scPolicyZone1
UCS-A /org/storage-connection-policy* set zoning-type sist
UCS-A /org/storage-connection-policy* # create storage-target 20:10:20:30:40:50:60:70
UCS-A /org/storage-connection-policy/storage-target* # set target-path a
UCS-A /org/storage-connection-policy/storage-target* # set target-vsan default
UCS-A /org/storage-connection-policy* # commit-buffer
UCS-A /org/storage-connection-policy #

          Deleting a Fibre Channel Storage Connection Policy

          Procedure
             Command or ActionPurpose
            Step 1UCS-A# scope org org-name  

            Enters the organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, enter / as the org-name.

             
            Step 2UCS-A /org # delete storage-connection-policy policy-name  

            Deletes the specified storage connection policy.

             
            Step 3UCS-A /org # commit-buffer  

            Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

             

            The following example deletes the storage connection policy named scPolicyZone1 from the root organization and commits the transaction: 

            UCS-A# scope org /
UCS-A /org # delete san-connectivity-policy scPolicyZone1
UCS-A /org* # commit-buffer
UCS-A /org #