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.
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