GigWorks MkII-16 Switch Model MKII-BASE16
Installer's/User's Manual 59003-01 Rev. A
Switch Management 3-29
Switch Utilities — Zoning
Zoning
Figure 3-10 Zoning Tab
Zoning allows the user to divide the fabric ports into zones for more efficient and secure
communication among functionally grouped nodes. There are three types of zones and a
port may be defined in any or all of them.
• Hard Zones follow physical boundaries within a Single-Stage Switch chassis and
limit the communication of a port to only other ports in the same Hard Zone. There
may be as many as four Hard Zones and a particular port may be in only one of
them.
• Broadcast Zones allow the division of the fabric (one or more Switch chassis) into
as many as 16 zones (the Switch Utilities only support 4 zones at this time but each
zone is fabric-wide) that define the area of Broadcasts. A particular port may be
placed in one or more of these Broadcast Zones. A port will broadcast to all ports in
the same Broadcast Zone (or zones) in-which the port is defined. If Hard Zones are
enabled, Broadcast Zones may not cross the defined Hard Zone boundaries.
• Name Server Zones allow the division of the fabric (one or more Switch chassis)
into as many as 16 zones (the Switch Utilities only support 4 zones at this time but