segmented fabric

[Anonymous]

Guys, first of all forgive me if i explain this too long. I am new to the world of Brocade SAN. Now here is the issue that we are facing. We have 2 Data centers (say DC and DR). Now there are 8 switches in teh following manner:

At DC
---------

switch1
switch2
switch3
switch4

At DR
---------

switch5
switch6
switch7
switch8

We have created 2 FABRICS with these switches for redundancy. Both sites (DC and DR) and hence these switches are connected by a HP MPX110 MSIL Router containing 2 ports FC1 and FC2. Now the fabrics are designed as under :

Fabric 1:
------------

switch 1 (Primary Switch)
switch2   
switch5
switch6

Fabric 2:
------------

switch3 (Primary Switch)
switch4
switch7
switch8

The 2 MPX110 MSIL are located one each at DC and DR. MPX at the DC is connected to the Primary Switch in the following manner:

FC1 ---------> Switch 1 (Port 0)

FC2 ----------> Switch 3(Port 0)

MPX at the DR is connected to the Primary Switch in the following manner:

FC1 ---------> Switch 5 (Port 0)

FC2 ----------> Switch 7(Port 0)

Now, let me come to the problem. We had some issue with the MPX device as a result the fabric got messed up. After things were sorted , i observed the Fabric number 2 has become segmented into 2 seperate fabrics :

Fabric 2 (original)
--------------------------

Switch 3
SWitch 4

New Fabric (segmented)
-----------------------------------
Switch 7
Switch 8

When i checked the ISL (E port) on Switch 3 (DC) and Switch 7 (DR), it says error Zone Conflict. Bottomline , my DR and DC have become seperated on this particular link and hence running solely on the first working fabric (fabric 1). Can some kind soul please write some simple easy to follow step by step instruction in order to get back to the way it was before.

If you require any further information , please let me know. I need to perform the activity tomorrow ... please

[Anonymous]

I have got a way to get this done... can some one please check and confirm if this is how it is to be done... please

Since i have alrady checked and found that switch 7 (DR) contains more zones than 3 (DC):

1) run configupload on switch 7 , edit the text file and snip everything excepy zoning section

2) run configdownload on switch 3. this wil only update the zoning info on switch 3 and leave everything untouched

3) disable/enable the ISL port on switch 3

kindly check and let me know if i shall follow the above steps..... please 

[alexey.stepanov]

hi, yes, this is one of the ways. just beware that you'll have to switchdisable the switch before you could configdownload. which means downtime in the half of the site's san. if all your hosts/devices are perfectly multipathed then you are safe to go this way.

[felipon]

in order to avoid disabling the switchs, first try the following:

- compare the zoning config in switch3 and switch7. Since the reason for the isolation is 'zone conflict' there must have been created a new zone while the fabric was segmented.

- once located the zone (or zones) that is different, add it to the other switch.

- then disable/enable the ISL and both ends should merge agian.

rgds

[Anonymous]

Thanks ..

But Sir, the only question is how to add these missing bits. Because these missing bits were added while the Fabric was segmented.

I mean if I am using Brocade Web Tools and accessing the Zone Admin for switch , I will not be able to create the missing zones (that are present in the other switch) since the required WWNs will not be available. Please correct me if I am wrong or if there is any other way via brocade web tools.

So , i am presuming we need to follow the below steps:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Disable ISL ports on the two switches
2. Run switchdisable on the switch
3. Run configdisable on switch number 3
4. Run configdownload on switch number 3 and mention the file
   Note: Earlier i had ran configupload on switch number 7, tailored it via notepad++ and saving only the zone information.
   This is the file that i am planning to upload on switch number 3 so as i just mentioned earlier the zone information will be copied leaving rest of the info intact on switch 3. I still a little unsure that whether the zone information would be overlapped .. means whatever new entries are there would be written or whether there is a chance of getting into multiple entries... which if if happens we wil head towards hell!!!!
   
   
5. Run configenable on switch number 3
6. Run switchenable on switch number 3
7. Enable ISL ports on the two switches again

PLease can some one check and validate the above steps....

[alexey.stepanov]

be a real man, use cli ;)
also beware that the configs you are merging should be exactly the same, and this means that "zone1: host2; device3" and "zone1: device3; host2" are the same from logical point of view, but they are _different_ from the merging point of view. the same applies to zones order in the config.
but as said, you can also use switchdisable/configdownload/switchenable way if you are sure that all your devices are multipathed and/or you are scheduling some maintenance window for this process.
good luck!

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hahahaha .. well said .... by nature i am a DJ .. love to mix and match things .. so this is what i did .. THanks to everyone for being so kind to a rookie like me :)

1. Step 1: ran configupload on both the switches. Opened the text files on NOtepad++ and extracted the ZONE INFORMATION. Then compared the zone information with WINMERGE (nice tool i must say). NOted the zones that were present in one switch and absent in the other switch. 

2. Logged into brocade web tools ... went into zone configuration (the switch where we had additional entries) , noted every single entry , their names , their aliases , port numbers .. etc etc..

3. ran portdisable command and disabled the ISL ports on both switches 

4. Removed the zones that were identified  (via brocade web tools)

5. Saved and enabled the configuration (via brocade web tools)

6. Then ran portenable and enabled both the ISL ports 

7. ALL SET ................................ the ISL ports (E ports) are now talking to each other as if they were long lost lovers .... 

8. The fabrics merged into one .... my god this is like creating the universe . i wonder if GOD is a technical guy like us ....

I thank everyone again and specially my mentor and my guide Mr. Amol (he happened to be there with me ) and Mr. Ashish from work who were there with me sharing all the valuable inputs. 

Thanks to all guys in this forum ... I LOVE BROCADE :) 

[Mike Eversole]

I had to comment on this... borntobewild... this write up is just awesome!  :)