Cisco MDS Series Swich Zoning

Fundamentally below flow chart should be followed for zoning:

Before we begin zoning please make sure you have cabled each HBA to both switches assuring the host is connected to each switch. Now let’s get started …

Configuring and Enabling Ports with Cisco Device Manager:

Once your HBAs are connected we must first Enable and Configure the ports.

1. Open Cisco Device Manager to enable port:

2. Type in the IP address, username and password of the first switch:

3. Right-click the port you attached FC cable to and select enable:

Cisco allows the usage of multiple VSANs (Virtual Storage Area Network). If you have created a VSAN other than VSAN 1 you must configure the port for the VSAN you created.

1. To do this, right-click the port you enabled and select “Configure”:

2. When the following screen appears, click on Port VSAN and select your VSAN, then click “Apply”:

3. Save your configuration by clicking on “Admin” and selecting “Save Configuration”, once the “Save Configuration” screen pops up and requests you to select “Yes”:

Click "Yes"

Once you have enabled and configured the ports, we can now zone your Hosts HBAs to the SAN.

Login to Cisco Fabric Manager:

1. Let’s begin by opening Cisco Fabric Manager:

2. Enter FM server username and password (EMC Default admin; password) , then clock “Login”:

3. Highlight the switch you intend to zone and select “Open”:

4. Expand the switch and right-click “VSAN”, then select “Edit Local Full Zone Database”:

Creating An FC Alias:

In order to properly manage your zones and HBAs, it is important to create an “FC Alias” for the WWN of each HBA. The following screen will appear:

1. When it does, right-click “FC-Aliases” and select “Insert”, once selected the next screen will appear. Type in the name of the host and HBA ID, example: SQL_HBAO. Click the down arrow and then select the WWN that corresponds to your server, finally click “OK”:

Creating Zones:

Now that we have created FC-Aliases, we can now move forward creating zones. Zones are what isolates connectivity among HBAs and targets. Let’s begin creating zones by:

1. Right-clicking on “Zones”.

2. Select “Insert” from the drop down menu. A new screen will appear.

3. Type in the name of the “Zone”, for management purposes use the following format <name of FC-Alias host>_<Name of FC Alias Target> Example: SQL01_HBAO_VNX_SPAO.

4. Click “OK”:

Note: These steps must be repeated to zone the hosts HBA to the second storage controller. In our case, VNX_SPB1.

Adding Members to Zones:

Once the Zones names are created, insert the aliases into the Zones:

5. Right-click on the Zone you created.

6. Select “Insert”, and a new screen will appear.

7. Select “FC-Alias”, click on “…” box then select Host FC Alias.

8. Select the target FC Alias, click “OK”, and click “Add”:

Also Read cisco-mds-fabric-switch-command-line

Happy Learning!