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.
Figure 1 illustrates a
small SAN configuration. Two Fibre Channel switches are used to provide redundancy. Each host
system, node, and storage
system are
connected to both Fibre Channel switches.Figure 1. Simple SAN configuration
Figure 2
illustrates a medium-sized configuration with external storage systems. The Fibre Channel SAN
fabric consists of switches that are interconnected with interswitch links (ISLs). For
redundancy, connect each node and external storage
system to two fabrics. The
example fabric attaches the nodes and the storage systems to the core switch. No
ISL hops exist between node ports or between the nodes and the external storage systems. Figure 2. SAN configuration with a medium-sized fabric
Figure 3 illustrates a
large fabric that consists of two core Fibre Channel switches and edge switches that are
interconnected with ISLs. For redundancy, use two fabrics with each host system, node, and storage
system that is being connected.
Both fabrics attach the nodes to both core fabrics and distribute the storage systems between the two core
switches. This configuration ensures that no ISL hops exist between nodes or between nodes and
the storage systems.Figure 3. SAN configuration with a large fabric
Figure 4 illustrates a
fabric where the host systems are at two different sites. A long-wave optical link is used to
interconnect switches at the different sites. For redundancy, use two fabrics and at least two
separate long-distance links. If many host systems are at the remote site, use ISL trunking to
increase the available bandwidth between the two sites.Figure 4. SAN configuration across two sites
