Configuring 1 FC SAN switch

[andreasjan]

Hi,

I have the following:

- 1x MSA2000fc with dual controller. Total 4 FC ports.

- 2x DL580 G7 server, each with 2x single-port HBA cards. Hence each server has 2 HBA ports. Total 4 FC ports

- 1x 8/8 base SAN switch (8 licensed ports)

Basically we will configure these devices for redundancy. Of course the SAN switch is the bottleneck, i.e. single point of failure. Question:

- How should I configure the SAN switch? Should I create 2 zones (so called port-based zoning scheme), so that I can emulate 2 SAN switch?

[Johan Guldmyr]

Hi!

For troubleshooting purposes I think it's better to have zones with one Target and one Initiator.

= one storage port and one server port in a zone. 

This is also what Brocade recommends.

That way you know that problem with Server 1 Port 1 wouldn't necessary propogate to the other Server 2 Port 1.

It's still possible of course that a broken HBA on one server could cause issues on the whole fabric/SAN-switch in your case.

Zones are meant to be used for access.

There is a Brocade feature called 'virtual fabrics' but I don't think this is available for the 8/8 SAN switch (Brocade 300), as far as the product guides etc this is not mentioned anyway.

Another feature is the TI zones (traffic isolation) that you can use to create dedicated paths between server/storage. This does not require a license. But for your small environment with no E_port or inter-switch links then I don't think this might just cause more headache than resilience improvements.

[andreasjan]

Thanks for your reply. After I selected the Typical Configuration in the setup wizard, I understand how the zoning works.

You are right to say that 1 port from the server will connect to 1 port of the storage. There are a lot of zoning created

I have configured the zoning via the wizard, such way that it were 2 switches. I will do the test in the next few days. Thanks.

[Johan Guldmyr]

Could you show me the output of 'cfgshow' from the CLI?
I wonder what you mean with zoning like it was 2 switches.

[andreasjan]

Hi Johan,

Below is the fraction of the config, which is relevant. We have 2x servers:

- Node01; it has HBA port: P1 and P2

- Node02; it has HBA port: P1 and P2

P2000 has 2 controllers:

- upper controller: HBA port A1 and A2

- lower controller: HBA port B1 and B2 

Start of the config:

zone:  zone_NODE01_P1_P2000_A1                NODE01_P1; P2000_A1 

zone:  zone_NODE01_P1_P2000_B1                NODE01_P1; P2000_B1 

zone:  zone_NODE01_P2_P2000_A2                NODE01_P2; P2000_A2 

zone:  zone_NODE01_P2_P2000_B2                NODE01_P2; P2000_B2 

zone:  zone_NODE02_P1_P2000_A1                NODE02_P1; P2000_A1 

zone:  zone_NODE02_P1_P2000_B1                NODE02_P1; P2000_B1 

zone:  zone_NODE02_P2_P2000_A2                NODE02_P2; P2000_A2 

zone:  zone_NODE02_P2_P2000_B2                NODE02_P2; P2000_B2 zone:  

zone_P2000_A1_P2000_A1                P2000_A1; P2000_A1 zone:  

zone_P2000_A2_P2000_A2                P2000_A2; P2000_A2 zone:  

zone_P2000_B1_P2000_B1                P2000_B1; P2000_B1 zone:  

zone_P2000_B2_P2000_B2                P2000_B2; P2000_B2

End of the config

You will notice the consistency:

P1 port of each server will have link to A1 and B1 port of P2000

P2 port of each server to A2 and B2 port of P2000

Regards,

Januar

[Johan Guldmyr]

Looking good. Thanks :)

[andreasjan]

I am a newcomer in the SAN switch. So I wonder if this makes sense. Is it supported configuration?

I look forward to any feedback/suggestion. Thanks!

[Johan Guldmyr]

I don't see why it should not be supported.

Why not zone each server to all four ports on the P2000?
It would improve redundancy and if you need to replace an SFP/Cable between the P2000 and the SAN-switch you wouldn't have the servers accessing the volumes through the other controller.

Don't forget to enable/configure multipathing on the servers.