Brocade Fabric OS Administrator's Guide Supporting Fabric OS v6.3.0 (53-1001336-02, November 2009)

252 Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide
53-1001336-02
Zoning configuration management
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Before the new fabric can merge successfully, it must pass the following criteria:
• Before merging zones
To facilitate merging, check the following before merging switches or fabrics:
- Zoning licenses: All switches running Fabric OS v6.0.x or earlier must have a Zoning
license enabled.
- Native operating mode: All switches must be in the native operating mode.
- Default Zone: The switch being merged into the existing fabric should be configured with
the same default zone mode as the existing switches.
• Merging and segmentation
The fabric is checked for segmentation during power-up or when a switch is disabled or
enabled, or when a new switch is added.
The database is the zone configuration database. (This is the data displayed as the “defined
configuration” in the cfgShow command.) It is stored in nonvolatile memory by the cfgSave
command. This database is a replicated database, which means that all switches in the fabric
will have a copy of this database. When a change is made to the defined configuration, the
switch where the changes were made must close its transaction for the change to be
propagated throughout the fabric.
If you have implemented default zoning you must set the switch you are adding into the fabric
to the same default zone mode setting as the rest of the fabric to avoid segmentation.
• Merging rules
Observe these rules when merging zones:
- Local and adjacent configurations: If the local and adjacent zone database configurations
are the same, they will remain unchanged after the merge.
- Effective configurations: If there is an effective configuration between two switches, the
effective zone configurations must match.
- Zone object naming: If a zoning object has the same name in both the local and adjacent
defined configurations, the object types and member lists must match. When comparing
member lists, the content and order of the members are important.
- Objects in adjacent configurations: If a zoning object appears in an adjacent defined
configuration, but not in the local defined configuration, the zoning object is added to the
local defined configuration. The modified zone database must fit in the nonvolatile
memory area allotted for the zone database.
- Local configuration modification: If a local defined configuration is modified because of a
merge, the new zone database is propagated to other the switches within the merge
request.
• Merging two fabrics
Both fabrics have identical zones and configurations enabled, including the default zone
mode. The two fabrics will join to make one larger fabric with the same zone configuration
across the newly created fabric.
If the two fabrics have different zoning configurations, they will not be merged. If the two
fabrics cannot join, the ISL between the switches will segment.