User`s guide

3 – Managing Fabrics
Zoning a Fabric
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3.5.1.2
Aliases
To make it easier to add a group of ports or devices to one or more zones, you can
create an alias. An alias is a named set of ports or devices that are grouped
together for convenience. Unlike zones, aliases impose no communication
restrictions between its members. You can add an alias to one or more zones.
However, you cannot add a zone to an alias, nor can an alias be a member of
another alias.
3.5.1.3
Zone Sets
A zone set is a named group of zones. A zone can be a member of more than one
zone set. All zones that are not members of a zone set belong to the orphan zone
set. The orphan zone set is saved on the switch. Each switch in the fabric
maintains its own zoning database containing one or more zone sets. This zoning
database resides in non-volatile or permanent memory and is therefore retained
after a reset. Refer to ”Configured Zonesets Data Window” on page 4-7 for
information about displaying the zoning database.
To apply zoning to a fabric, choose a zone set and activate it. When you activate a
zone set, the switch distributes that zone set to every switch in the fabric. This
zone set is known as the active zone set. Refer to ”Active Zone Set Data Window”
on page 3-9 for information about displaying the active zone set.
3.5.1.4
Zoning Database
Each switch has its own zoning database. The zoning database is made up of all
aliases, zones, and zone sets that have been created on the switch or received
from other switches. The switch maintains two copies of the zoning database: one
copy is maintained in temporary memory for editing purposes; the second copy is
maintained in permanent memory. Zoning database edits are made on an
individual switch basis and are not propagated to other switches in the fabric when
saved. The zoning limits for a fabric are as follows:
Note: Domain ID conflicts can result in automatic reassignment of switch
domain IDs. These reassignments are not reflected in zones that use
domain ID and port number pairs or Fibre Channel addresses to define
their membership. Be sure to reconfigure zones that are affected by a
domain ID change. To prevent zoning definitions from becoming invalid
when the membership is defined by domain ID/port number or Fibre
Channel address, you must lock domain IDs. Refer to ”Domain ID and
Domain ID Lock” on page 4-14 and ”Set Config Command” on
page A-25 for more information.