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Defined ZoneCFG's out of sync between dual core directors
Hello,
Scenario:
- - In each fabric my customer has a pair of Brocade directors.
- Originally, director1A(principle) and director2A(subordinate) were DCX-4Bs with standard ISLs (ICLs not used)
- A few months ago they replaced director2A(subordinate) in each fabric with new DCX-8510-8’s.
- Now each fabric has a DCX-4B(principle) and a DCX-8510-B with standard ISLs
- CMNE 12.3 is how the customer manages zoning
- they do not use webtools at all
- - Now, we are preparing to replace the DCX-4B’s in each fabric with new DCX-8510-Bs
- A review of the SAN shows that the zoning is now being performed against the DCX-8510s and not the DCX-4Bs like the customer thought.
- Zones match but, DCX-4Bs have 96 fewer zones than the newer 8510s.
- both have defined databases.
- It seems that CMCNE made the decision to perform zoning from the newer director and stopped using the older director
- How does CMCNE choose the director to zone from?
- I cannot choose which switch I want to perform zoning from, I can only choose the fabric I want to perform zoning on.
- How can I either, remove the defined zonecfg from the old director or update it to match the current zonecfg?
- A review of the SAN shows that the zoning is now being performed against the DCX-8510s and not the DCX-4Bs like the customer thought.
Thanks in advance, I appreciate any knowledge you can impart.
tsap1
19 Posts
1
April 1st, 2015 12:00
Well, I double checked another customer environment and found that the defined db is identical on all switches. So, I couldn't see how I actually could have a mismatch in the number of zones. I went back to my problem customer and took fresh cfgshow's and guess what...no mismatch...I must have copied the effective to my spreadsheet for the old director...at least i didn't waste too much time. thanks again Alllen.
gabe
Allen Ward
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April 1st, 2015 08:00
I'm a bit confused by the scenario presented as a fabric shares a zoning config. You can't have different zoning configs on the two chassis if they are actually in a single fabric.
The first thing I would check is that the ISLs are actually working as ISLs and that your fabric isn't segmented. If CMCNE shows everything is OK then you need to log directly onto one of the switches and check through either the WebTools GUI or the CLI. If you use the CLI you can do a fabricshow to see if the ISLs are functioning properly.
If everything proves that these two switches are still part of the same fabric and your zoning appears different between the two then you need to get a support case open.
Back to the question of how CMCNE chooses a switch to "zone" through, it's not so much that it picks a switch for that purpose, but when you discover a fabric CMCNE defines one of the switches in the fabric as the "seed" switch. This is the primary point of contact for fabric based communication from CMCNE. You can change the seed switch (if allowed). There are rules that are used to determine which switch should be the seed. The first one I believe is that the switch with the highest FOS version should be the seed. Other rules follow below that priority. You can see which switch is seed from the Fabric Discovery dialog.
Just as I'm writing this I'm thinking there is one other possibility. I can't imagine how they would get in that state without it being done on purpose but if the new chassis was set up for Virtual Fabrics then it is possible something got mixed up and part of the chassis is ISLed to the old switch and part is its own fabric. That's an unlikely one but it's about the only way I can imagine two chassis with valid ISLs having different zoning configs.
tsap1
19 Posts
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April 1st, 2015 11:00
Hi Allen,
I apologize for being misleading. My Effective configuration is correct. I do not have any problems with my environment or connectivity. it is the Defined configuration that is different. I am only running one zonecfg. I am only trying to understand how to sync or remove the DEFINED configuration from the older director.
Thanks, and apologies
Gabe
Allen Ward
2.1K Posts
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April 1st, 2015 11:00
No problem Gabe,
Sometimes language gets in the way of effective communication even when people are speaking the same language *lol*
So where exactly is it that you are seeing the differences in the defined zoning on the two switches. If you only use CMCNE it should show the fabric level zoning information. Can you describe what exact screen you are on (or provide screenshots)? You have stated that you aren't using Web Tools (or I think you said your client doesn't use Web Tools) but that is the only place I can think of (besides the CLI) where you might be able to see what you are describing. Or maybe I'm still not entirely clear on what the issue is.
Sometimes a picture truly is worth a thousand words.
Allen Ward
2.1K Posts
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April 2nd, 2015 07:00
No problem Gabe. Glad to hear it worked out. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out how you could have fabrics in that situation and I'm kind of glad to hear that it wasn't real. I'm thinking if it was... it would not have been a pretty thing to have to fix :-)