Cisco MDS 9000 Series Configuration Guide

• VSANs can meet the needs of a particular department or application.
VSAN Advantages
VSANs offer the following advantages:
• Traffic isolation—Traffic is contained within VSAN boundaries and devices reside only in one VSAN
ensuring absolute separation between user groups, if desired.
• Scalability—VSANs are overlaid on top of a single physical fabric. The ability to create several logical
VSAN layers increases the scalability of the SAN.
• Per VSAN fabric services—Replication of fabric services on a per VSAN basis provides increased
scalability and availability.
• Redundancy—Several VSANs created on the same physical SAN ensure redundancy. If one VSAN fails,
redundant protection (to another VSAN in the same physical SAN) is configured using a backup path
between the host and the device.
• Ease of configuration—Users can be added, moved, or changed between VSANs without changing the
physical structure of a SAN. Moving a device from one VSAN to another only requires configuration at
the port level, not at a physical level.
Up to 256 VSANs can be configured in a switch. Of these, one is a default VSAN (VSAN 1), and another is
an isolated VSAN (VSAN 4094). User-specified VSAN IDs range from 2 to 4093.
VSANs Versus Zones
You can define multiple zones in a VSAN. Because two VSANs are equivalent to two unconnected SANs,
zone A on VSAN 1 is different and separate from zone A in VSAN 2. Table 2: VSAN and Zone Comparison
, on page 10 lists the differences between VSANs and zones.
Table 2: VSAN and Zone Comparison
Zone CharacteristicVSAN Characteristic
Routing, naming, and zoning protocols are not available on a
per-zone basis.
VSANs equal SANs with routing, naming, and zoning protocols.
Zones are always contained within a VSAN. Zones never span
two VSANs.
—
Zones limit unicast traffic.VSANs limit unicast, multicast, and broadcast traffic.
Membership is typically defined by the pWWN.Membership is typically defined using the VSAN ID to Fx ports.
An HBA or storage device can belong to multiple zones.An HBA or a storage device can belong only to a single
VSAN—the VSAN associated with the Fx port.
Zones enforce membership only at the source and destination
ports.
VSANs enforce membership at each E port, source port, and
destination port.
Zones are defined for a set of initiators and targets not visible
outside the zone.
VSANs are defined for larger environments (storage service
providers).
Zones are configured at the fabric edge.VSANs encompass the entire fabric.
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Fabric Configuration Guide, Release 8.x
10
Configuring and Managing VSANs
VSAN Advantages

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