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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 .
Configuring and Managing VSANs
You can achieve higher security and greater stability in Fibre Channel fabrics by using virtual SANs
(VSANs). VSANs provide isolation among devices that are physically connected to the same fabric.
With VSANs you can create multiple logical SANs over a common physical infrastructure. Each VSAN
can contain up to 239 switches and has an independent address space that allows identical Fibre Channel
IDs (FCIDs) to be used simultaneously in different VSANs. This chapter includes the following sections:
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VSAN Advantages
VSANs offer the following advantages:
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OL-6973-03, Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release 2.x
VSAN Advantages, page 16-1
How VSANs Work, page 16-2
VSANs Versus Zones, page 16-4
Default and Isolated VSANs, page 16-5
VSAN Attributes, page 16-6
VSAN Membership, page 16-6
Creating and Configuring VSANs Statically, page 16-7
Default Settings, page 16-10
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.
C H A P T E R
Cisco MDS 9000 Family Configuration Guide
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16-1
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