Cisco MDS 9000 Series Configuration Guide

system default zone gs read-write
system default zone smart-zone disabled
See the Cisco MDS 9000 Series Command Reference for the description of the information displayed in the
command output.
Zoning Best Practice
A Cisco Multilayer Director Switch (MDS) uses a special kind of memory called Ternary Content Addressable
Memory (TCAM) on its Fibre Channel (FC) linecards. This special memory provides an Access Control List
(ACL) type of function for Cisco MDS. The process that controls this functionality is called the ACLTCAM.
The E/TE ports (Inter Switch Links - ISLs) and F (Fabric) ports have their own programming, which is unique
to their respective port types.
TCAM Regions
TCAM is divided into several regions of various sizes. The main regions and the type of programming contained
in each region are described in Table 11: TCAM Regions , on page 137:
Table 11: TCAM Regions
Programming TypeRegion
Fabric-Login, Port-Login, Diagnostics features (10%-20%)Region 1 - TOP SYS
Security, Interop-Mode-4 features, IVR ELS capture (5%-10%)Region 2 - SECURITY
Zoning features, including IVR and SAN Analytics (50%-75%)Region 3 - Zoning
PLOGI,ACC, and FCSP trap, ISL, ECHO-permit (10%-20%)Region 4 - Bottom
2
2
When a hard-zoning failure occurs, Region 4 (bottom region) is used to program wildcard entries to
allow any-to-any communication.
TCAM regions are automatically configured and cannot be changed. TCAM is allocated on a per-module and
per-forwarding engine (fwd-eng) basis.
TCAM space on MDS 9148S and MDS 9250i fabric switches is significantly less than that on the director-class
Fibre Channel modules and newer fabric switches such as MDS 9396S, MDS 9132T, and the switches that
will be launched in the future.
When a port comes online, some amount of basic programming is needed on that port. This programming
differs according to the port type. This basic programming is minimal and does not consume many TCAM
entries. Typically, programming is performed on inputs such that frames entering the switch are subject to
this programming and frames egressing the switch are not.
ACL TCAM Alerting
Starting from Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 8.3(1), ACL TCAM usage alerting syslog messages were introduced
on all Cisco MDS switches except on Cisco MDS 9148S and MDS 9250i switches. From Cisco MDS NX-OS
Release 8.3(2), ACL TCAM usage alerting syslog messages were introduced on Cisco MDS 9148S and MDS
9250i switches.
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Fabric Configuration Guide, Release 8.x
137
Configuring and Managing Zones
Zoning Best Practice

Cisco MDS 9000 Series Specifications

General

Category	Switch
Operating System	Cisco NX-OS
Ports	Varies by model
Protocols	Fibre Channel (FC), Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP), iSCSI
Redundancy	Redundant supervisors, power supplies, and fans
Management	Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM), CLI, SNMP
Virtualization Support	VSANs (Virtual SANs)
Security Features	Fibre Channel Security Protocol (FC-SP)
Hot Swappable Components	power supplies, fans
Power Supply Options	AC and DC options available