Cisco AJ732A - MDS 9134 Fabric Switch Configuration Manual page 15

Chapter 1 Overview
Overview of VSANs, Interfaces, Zones, and Zone Sets
S e n d d o c u m e n t a t i o n c o m m e n t s t o m d s f e e d b a c k - d o c @ c i s c o . c o m
VSANs and zoning within the MDS 9000 Family of products aid the SAN designer in building secure
and manageable networking environments while optimizing the use and cost of switching hardware.
VSANs are used to divide a redundant physical SAN infrastructure into separate virtual SAN islands,
each with its own set of Fibre Channel fabric services. By each VSAN supporting an independent set of
Fibre Channel services, a VSAN-enabled infrastructure can house numerous applications without
concern for fabric resource or event conflicts between these virtual environments. Once the physical
fabric has been divided, zoning is then used to implement a security layout within each VSAN that is
tuned to the needs of each application within each VSAN.
VSANs are first created as isolated fabrics within a common physical topology. Once VSANs have been
created, individual unique zone sets can then be applied as necessary within each VSAN.
See Chapter 5, "Configuring VSANs and Interfaces," and Chapter 6, "Configuring Zones and Zone
Sets," for details on configuring VSANs, interfaces, zones, and zone sets.
Cisco MDS 9000 Family Fabric Manager Quick Configuration Guide
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