How to configure basic setup for Brocade 8GB/24C for HP chassis FC switch

soulman — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:08:30 GMT

Hi All,

I am novice when it comes to setting up Brocade FC Switches, well any FC switches, so please excuse the silly questions.

I have 2 x 8GB/24C Brocade FC switches for HP C7000 Chassis and need to configure them to connect to aHP FC SAN. If anyone has a guide on how to set these 2 as a pair and document that shows how to complete a basic setup with zoning to a SAN and Blade connectivity I would be grateful.

I have completed the following on both:

Upgraded the firmware to 7.1.0b

Set correct date/time/timezone

SetIP config

Set different Domain IDs

Set the same Fabric name

It seems that neither switch can see each other, so any help would be great

Re: How to configure basic setup for Brocade 8GB/24C for HP chassis FC switch

Johan Guldmyr — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:30:44 GMT

Hi,

If you really want the switches in the same fabric (most people do not want this) - you need to connect them with a cable.

Re: How to configure basic setup for Brocade 8GB/24C for HP chassis FC switch

Torsten. — Thu, 02 May 2013 19:51:33 GMT

It will be easier to manage if you set different domain IDs.

Each switch will be a certain SAN, so the switches won't see each other.

For basic zoning you will create aliases for the connected devices, create zones and put them all together in a current config.

E.g. a zone consists of an initiator server HBA an a target storage port.

Re: How to configure basic setup for Brocade 8GB/24C for HP chassis FC switch

Sheldon Smith — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:42:31 GMT

First, they are two different fabrics (Lets call them "A" and "B"). Neither switch should see each other and you do not want them connected together. They provide high availability and you can work on one fabric (zone changes, firmware updates) without disturbing the other.

Every device 'out there' (servers, storage) has a World Wide Name (WWN) associated with it. A WWN is like an oversized MAC address. However, every device has at least two: A node or system WWN that refers to the entire device and one or more port WWNs (pWWN) that refer to a specific connector ON that device. A typical server Host Bus Adapter (HBA) has a WWN and a pWWN. HP storage arrays have a WWN and several pWWN depending on make and model.

In the switch's Zone Admin window, if you drill down (double-click) on a (device) WWN, you will see one or more pWWN's below. If you drill down on a pWWN, you may see a comment string set by the device's driver. If you drill down on a switch port, you will see a (device) WWN.

NOTE: Regardless of how you get to it, the Best Practice is to zone with the port WWNs (pWWN).

You could do all the zoning with the pWWN addresses. You could also browse on the Internet to 15.201.225.10 instead of hp.com, but I wouldn't. :)
The switches have the ability to define an ALIAS for each pWWN. No one wants to remember 64-bit hex numbers! You want this to be something humanly understandable and relatively self-documenting. For example:

SERVER2_SLOT3_A – HBA in PCI slot 3 on Server2 on fabric "A"
DATAWAREHOUSE02_SLOT1_A – HBA in PCI slot 1 on Data warehouse server 2 on fabric "A"
HQEVA01_CtrlA_FP2_B – FP2 of controller "A" on HQEVA01 on fabric "B"

As you go along, periodically remember to save the configuration. Watch the status messages at the bottom as the commit starts and ends.

Once aliases are defined, we need a ZONE for each allowed connection. Best Practice is One initiator (server), One target (storage device)! Again, you want this to be something humanly understandable and relatively self-documenting. Examples:

DATAWAREHOUSE02_HQEVA01_A – Zone from Datawarehouse02 to HQEVA01 on fabric "A". Consists of the aliases DATAWAREHOUSE02_SLOT1_A, HQEVA01_CtrlA_FP1_A, HQEVA01_CtrlB_FP1_A.
DATAWAREHOUSE02_TAPE02_B – Zone from Datawarehouse02 to Tape drive library 2 on fabric "B". Consists of the aliases DATAWAREHOUSE02_SLOT2_B and TAPE02_B.

NOTE: An alias can be in more than one zone.

Again, periodically remember to save the configuration.

Finally you are ready to make a ZONE CONFIG. This is a name like "Fabric_A". Add all your zones to it. Save the configuration and you're finally ready to ENABLE the configuration. Watch the status messages at the bottom!

NOTE: Once a zone configuration is enabled, only those devices within zones can 'talk' to the other devices within their zone. Any device not in a zone is just out of luck.

Now repeat the process on the other switch (Fabric_B). You should wind up with two configurations, Fabric A and B that are logically similar but with different pWWNs and minor changes in alias and zone names.

For a lot more information, see the HP SAN Design Reference Guide.

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How to configure basic setup for Brocade 8GB/24C for HP chassis FC switch

Re: How to configure basic setup for Brocade 8GB/24C for HP chassis FC switch

Re: How to configure basic setup for Brocade 8GB/24C for HP chassis FC switch

Re: How to configure basic setup for Brocade 8GB/24C for HP chassis FC switch