https://community.hpe.com/t5/msa-storage/cross-connecting-switches/m-p/597175#M1783 Folks<BR /> <BR /> I'm moving from a reasonably simple fabric to a slightly more complex one and have a question about cross connecting switches.<BR /> <BR /> The configuration will be two 2/16-EL and two 4/32 switches. The 2/16-ELs will be in one server room, the others in a second room with a single longwave link from each 2/16 to the corresponding 4/32<BR /> <BR /> The question is, should I also cross connect the two 2/16s or the 4/32s or both to create a single fabric, hence simplifying management, zoning, etc.<BR /> <BR /> The SAN design guide doesn't show this configuration that I can see. Is this simply not shown or is it not supported.<BR /> <BR /> The SAN will consist of 1 * MA8000, 1 * EVA6000 and 1 * EVA8000. Hosts are a mixture of Windows 2000 and 2003 servers, all with dual path.<BR /> <BR /> thanks<BR /> <BR /> tommy<BR /> Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:20:17 GMT Tommy Gilchrist 2005-12-02T11:20:17Z https://community.hpe.com/t5/msa-storage/cross-connecting-switches/m-p/597175#M1783 Folks<BR /> <BR /> I'm moving from a reasonably simple fabric to a slightly more complex one and have a question about cross connecting switches.<BR /> <BR /> The configuration will be two 2/16-EL and two 4/32 switches. The 2/16-ELs will be in one server room, the others in a second room with a single longwave link from each 2/16 to the corresponding 4/32<BR /> <BR /> The question is, should I also cross connect the two 2/16s or the 4/32s or both to create a single fabric, hence simplifying management, zoning, etc.<BR /> <BR /> The SAN design guide doesn't show this configuration that I can see. Is this simply not shown or is it not supported.<BR /> <BR /> The SAN will consist of 1 * MA8000, 1 * EVA6000 and 1 * EVA8000. Hosts are a mixture of Windows 2000 and 2003 servers, all with dual path.<BR /> <BR /> thanks<BR /> <BR /> tommy<BR /> Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:20:17 GMT https://community.hpe.com/t5/msa-storage/cross-connecting-switches/m-p/597175#M1783 Tommy Gilchrist 2005-12-02T11:20:17Z https://community.hpe.com/t5/msa-storage/cross-connecting-switches/m-p/597176#M1784 Redundant (= two separate) fabrics are suggested for "high available" configurations. That means you don't have a single namespace for fabric services and zoning and can do maintenance on one fabric at a time. Fri, 02 Dec 2005 12:05:41 GMT https://community.hpe.com/t5/msa-storage/cross-connecting-switches/m-p/597176#M1784 Uwe Zessin 2005-12-02T12:05:41Z