Zone Enforcement

Zone Enforcement

When zoning is disabled, the fabric is in non-zoning state and devices can access other devices in the fabric. When zoning is enabled, zoning is enforced throughout the fabric and devices can communicate only within their zones.
A switch can maintain any number of zone configurations; however, only one zone configuration can be enabled, or enforced, at a time.

Because multiple configurations reside in the switch, you can switch from one configuration to another as events dictate. For example, you can set up a prespecified
zone configuration to be enabled at certain times of the day; or, in the event of a disaster, you can quickly enable a defined configuration to implement your disaster policy. Zone configurations can be:

Defined

This is the complete set of all zone objects that have been defined in the
fabric. When zone objects are defined, the information initially resides in
RAM; it must be saved to ensure that it is saved to flash memory and is not
lost during power down or when a new zone configuration is enabled.
Changes replicate to all switches in the fabric whenever the zone
information is changed. However, changes must be saved to flash memory to
be committed to persistent store (that is, to remain across reboot).


Enabled

This is the zone configuration that is enabled (active). It resides in RAM; it
must be saved to ensure that it is not lost when a new configuration is
enabled or during power down. Any changes replicate to all switches in the
fabric when the configuration is enabled or saved. Use the cfgEnable
command to: enable a zone configuration, initiate cfgSave, and propagate
zoning throughout the fabric.

Disabled

Use the cfgDisable command to: disable a zoning configuration, initiate
cfgSave to save the zoning configuration to the flash, and to propagate the
zoning configuration throughout the fabric.

Saved

This is the zone configuration that was last saved. It resides in flash memory
and it is persistent.

Saving a Zone Configuration (refer to the picture)

When it is defined, it resides only in RAM. To transfer
it to flash memory, to be permanently stored and accessible across reboots, it must be saved. This can be accomplished by either:
• Saving it directly to flash (the recommended method)
• Enabling it first, then it is saved to flash.
But, until it has been saved to flash, it is not permanently stored and available across reboots.

Note: Only the enabled configuration (in the shaded area) is enforced.