Configuration details

Storage area network (SAN) configurations that contain nodes must be configured correctly.

SAN configuration and zoning rules summary
During normal operations in a Fibre Channel environment, systems are defined by supported configuration and zoning rules. If a single failure causes one or more of these rules to be invalidated, the configuration is still supported until the failure is corrected and the configuration is brought back into a normal supported mode.
Zoning details
Ensure that you are familiar with these zoning details. These details explain zoning for external storage system zones and host zones. More details are included in the SAN configuration and zoning rules summary.
Example SAN configurations
Examples of typical ways to configure your system and an associated Fibre Channel network are provided to guide you in setting up your SAN configuration.
External storage system configuration details (Fibre Channel)
Plan for your external storage system configurations through Fibre Channel connections with a node.
External storage system configuration details (iSCSI)
Plan for your external storage system configurations through iSCSI connections with the system.
Fibre Channel port masking
With Fibre Channel port masking, you control the use of Fibre Channel ports. You can control whether the ports are used to communicate to other nodes within the same local system, and if they are used to communicate to nodes in partnered systems. Fibre Channel port masking does not affect host or storage traffic. It gets applied only to node-to-node communications within a system and replication between systems.
Fibre Channel host bus adapter configuration details
Apply these configuration details to Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs).
Fibre Channel SAN configuration details
Apply the following configuration details for Fibre Channel (FC) switches to ensure that you have a valid configuration.
iSCSI configuration details for host connections
You must follow these configuration details for iSCSI host connections.
Node configuration details
Apply these configuration details to nodes to ensure that you have a valid configuration.
Stretched system configuration details
You can create an enhanced stretched system configuration where each node on the system is physically on a different site. When used with mirroring technologies, such as volume mirroring or Copy Services, these configurations can be used to maintain access to data on the system in the event of power failures or site-wide outages.
HyperSwap system configuration details
You can create an IBM® HyperSwap® topology system configuration where each I/O group in the system is physically on a different site. When used with active-active relationships to create HyperSwap volumes, these configurations can be used to maintain access to data on the system when power failures or site-wide outages occur.
Quorum disk
A quorum disk is an MDisk or a managed drive that contains a reserved area that is used exclusively for system management. A system automatically assigns quorum disk candidates. When you add new storage to a system or remove existing storage, however, it is a good practice to review the quorum disk assignments.
Bitmap space configuration for Copy Services, volume mirroring, or RAID
Copy Services features and RAID require that small amounts of volume cache be converted from cache memory into bitmap memory to allow the functions to operate. If you do not have enough bitmap space allocated when you try to use one of the functions, you will not be able to complete the configuration.
Comparison of mirroring methods
The information in the following table compares the various methods that you can use to mirror your volumes.

Parent topic: Configuring