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Fibre Channel switch zoning
7 Dell EMC SC Series: Best Practices with VMware vSphere | 2060-M-BP-V
2 Fibre Channel switch zoning
Zoning Fibre Channel switches for an ESXi host is like zoning any other server connected to the SC Series
array. The fundamental points are explained in this section.
2.1 Single initiator multiple target zoning
Each Fibre Channel zone created should have a single initiator (HBA port) and multiple targets (SC Series
front-end ports). Each HBA port requires its own Fibre Channel zone that contains itself and the SC Series
front-end ports. Independent zones should be created for each HBA installed in the host.
2.2 WWN zoning
When zoning by WWN, the zone only needs to contain the host HBA port and the SC Series front-end ports.
In legacy port mode, it is not necessary to include the SC Series front-end reserve ports because they are not
used for volume mappings. In virtual port mode, the HBA port should be zoned with the virtual port WWNs.
For example, if the host has two HBAs connected to two disjointed fabrics, the Fibre Channel zones would
look like the configuration shown in Table 1.
Example of zoning by WWN
Name
WWN
Description
ESX1-HBA1
(zone created in fabric 1)
2100001B32017114
ESX1 HBA port 1
5000D31000036001
Controller1 front-end primary plugged into fabric 1
5000D31000036009
Controller2 front-end primary plugged into fabric 1
ESX1-HBA2
(zone created in fabric 2)
210000E08B930AA6
ESX1 HBA port 2
5000D31000036002
Controller1 front-end primary plugged into fabric 2
5000D3100003600A
Controller2 front-end primary plugged into fabric 2
2.3 Port zoning
Caution: Due to the supportability of port zoning, WWN zoning is preferred over port zoning.
Port zoning is creating zones by including the physical ports instead of the WWN. Although this method has
security advantages, it creates supportability challenges in the environment.