We also define one zone per host hba with all tape drives. Actually, since we have multiple libraries, I do a separate zone for each hba+lib combination. Yes, I've read and been told that a zone should only contain one hba/device (tape drive, array adapter port).
fyi: A very long time ago on our very first san (3 servers and a IBM shark array) we didn't use zoning (didn't now any better!!!!). All hosts saw all the IBM Shark adapters. We relied on lun masking so each host could see only the proper luns. We didn't understand that each hba would check out every other hba. When we had a san error it would register on all the attached servers. Needless to say, we learned about zoning and started using it!!! "Kauffman, Tom" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] COM> To Sent by: "ADSM: ADSM-L@VM.MARIST.EDU Dist Stor cc Manager" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject .EDU> Re: Tape drive zones for FC drives - best practices 02/08/2007 10:39 AM Please respond to "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] .EDU> My TSM server has six HBAs for tape use and my 3584 has 16 tape drives. These are configured as 8 tape drives and 3 HBAs each on two switches. This gives me 11 aliases per switch. I have just three zones in each switch, one for each HBA. All eight tape drives are defined to each zone. I've been configured this way for 5 years and have yet to see a problem. My aliases are a bit simple-minded -- tape_01 through tape_16 for the tape drives, and things like 'columbia_1_2' for the tsm server (host name columbia, I/O drawer 1, PCI slot 2). The zone names I use are based on the HBA alias, so that would be zn_columbia_12 (and no, I don't know what I'll do if I ever get a system with more than 9 I/O drawers :-). Tom Kauffman NIBCO, Inc -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Schneider, John Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 6:05 PM To: ADSM-L@VM.MARIST.EDU Subject: Tape drive zones for FC drives - best practices Greetings, My habit in regards to zoning FC tape drives has always been to put one host HBA in a zone with all the tape drives it should see, and to have a separate zone for each host HBA. For example, in a situation with 2 host HBAs and 10 tape drives, I would have two zones, one with one host HBA and 5 tape drives, and the other with the other host HBA and 5 tape drives. Pretty simple. But an IBM consultant working here is telling me that the best practice is to have a separate zone for each HBA/tape drive pair. So in my example above, I would have 20 zones instead of two. His claim is that an individual tape drive can hang all the other drives if they are in the same zone, but not if they are in separate ones. Has anyone seen this in real life? This becomes important to me because I am about to put in new SAN switches, and he wants me to follow this recommendation. I have 2 TSM servers with 4 HBAs each, 4 NDMP nodes, and 14 tape drives. Using my scheme, I would have 12 zones, with his scheme I would have 56 zones. That seems like a lot of zones, and unnecessarily cumbersome. Is it really necessary to isolate each HBA/Tape drive into a separate zone? Do individual tape drives really hang other drives in their zone? Best Regards, John D. Schneider Sr. System Administrator - Storage Sisters of Mercy Health System 3637 South Geyer Road St. Louis, MO. 63127 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Office: 314-364-3150, Cell: 314-486-2359 CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any attachments are for the exclusive and confidential use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, distribute or take action in reliance upon this message. If you have received this in error, please notify us immediately by return email and promptly delete this message and its attachments from your computer system. We do not waive attorney-client or work product privilege by the transmission of this message. ----------------------------------------- The information contained in this message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately, and delete the original message.