Storage Area Networks

Storage Area Networks (SANs) are coming to many data centers. The storage area network adds some additional complexity not only because it is yet another network to manage, but because it adds additional ways the storage can be configured. Using SAN switches, the storage can be configured in different ways.

The SanSurfer GUI is used to configure the Sun StorEdge network FC switch. The switch is shipped on a default 10.0.0 network. Due to an Arp timeout issue with some network switches, the switch will not always rarp the new address, so it can become necessary to configure it for the first time on a 10.0.0 network.

In order to manage the Sun StorEdge network FC switch, it is important to understand the configuration files that the switch uses to save the configuration information. The switch's NVRAM contains all of the switches configuration information. This configuration information is saved when the changes are made to the configuration and applied to NVRAM.

The Fabric Archive File ( *.cfg ) contains all the configurable information in a switch: its stage type, chassis and fabric IDs, port modes, IP address, other network configuration information, and all of the zoning information. While this file can be used to replace a switch, it should not used to clone switch configurations due to possible issues that could cause failures like mismatches with fabric IDs, duplicated IP addresses and duplicate chassis IDs.

The Zoning Template File ( *.tpl and *.tp2 ) contains the zoning information for the fabric. It contains the switches WWNs and port counts. This files helps each zone know the ports and nodes that are configured in it.

The Fabric File ( *.fab ) contains the information shown on the Fabric Display like the IP address, fabric name , and polling information.