storage processor's ordinal numbering

[Chaton]

Hello everybody,

I need to have a precision because i'm a little confuse about the zoning's notion.

I have two ESX servers: each have two HBA.

I'm attached to a CX3-20 array wich owns 2 SP. If i'm not too stupid, each SP has 2 ports isn't it ?

So in my first ESX server, when I scanned my first HBA, i could see:

SCSI target 0 and the luns I created

SCSI target 1 and the luns I created

I had the same result for my second HBA.

On the second ESX when I scanned my first HBA, i saw:

SCSI target 2 and the luns I created

SCSI target 3 and the luns I created.

I for sure had the same result from my second HBA.

I'm very confuse about the zoning, is the numbering of the SCSI target I wrote above is normal ? (0 and 1 for the first ESX and 2 and 3 for the second) ?

Which is the good way to do the hard zoning on the switch ? Can you explain in a few lines in what consist the zoning (what components do I have to add in a zone, in fact, what is a zone )

For your information, it's not me who made the attachment neither the zoning !

Thank you very much for your help !

[wondab]

Zoning is the allocation of resources for device load balancing and for selectively allowing access to data only to certain users. Essentially, zoning allows an administrator to control who can see what in a SAN. Zoning is done using a structure similar to that of a computer file system. A zone is the equivalent of a folder or directory. Zoning can be either hard or soft. In hard zoning, each device is assigned to a particular zone, and this assignment does not change. In soft zoning, device assignments can be changed by the network administrator to accommodate variations in the demands on different servers in the network.

Your numbering is normal. Zoning is done on the switch. You will need to consider the alias you will give your host's HBAs, the ports on the switch you will zone them to, the level of redundancy (how many paths to the SAN). I would find out what switch you are using and start reading up on the vendors manuals/white papers.

[jhanekom]

Inconsistent target numbering like that isn't unusual and shouldn't impact on running ESX. It does sometimes complicate troubleshooting a bit, but nothing serious.

It is my experience that that type of inconsistent numbering is possibly due to the physical port locations that ESX servers are plugged into. I'm not sure exactly what the mechanism is that results in this, but the ESX 2.5 SAN guide alluded to this fact.

I'm guessing that you have another storage system on your SAN, and that, for example, the CX3-20 is plugged into port 1, the first ESX host into port 2, the other storage system into port 3 and the final ESX server into port 4. If you were to swop around the connections on port 3 and 4, you will most likely find that the numbering becomes consistent.

[Chaton]

Thank you for you help