1. Identify the name of the customer in the SAN Health .BSH upload file name Good Example: James_Smith_120203_1201_ACMEcompany_LexingtonKY.BSH
Bad Example: James_Smith_130610_1454_LEX_FAB.BSH (we do not know what acct in LEX) 2. After uploading .BSH file to [email protected] send a follow-up email to Brocade alias
[email protected] letting the Brocade Team know SH is coming. This will avoid duplicate
efforts and allow faster response then sending it to individual members. a. Include full file name(s) that were uploaded e.g.
James_Smith_120203_1201_ACMEcompany_LexingtonKY.BSH When sending any eMails to Brocade please ensure to include
Your name
Your eMail and phone number Customer name
The geography the device/s will be (are) installed Device Type / Model, and quantity
Account Focal e.g. SAN Architect, DPE, & etc. - name and contact information
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Description on problems or why the request for SAN Health review, b. any open PMR/SRs list the numbers
3. When configuring SH client http://www.brocade.com/services-support/drivers-downloads/san-health-
diagnostics/download_san_health.page be sure to Include [email protected] see screen shot below:
IBM Network Advisor Deployment and Best Practices Guide
5. Clear the stats on all Switches by doing a slotstatsclear and statsclear at least 24 hours prior to running SH report.
6. Set performance to capture minimum of two hours for graphs
7. Make sure you are using the latest client v3.2.6c download from http://www.brocade.com/services-
support/drivers-downloads/san-health-diagnostics/download_san_health.page
8. Follow-up SAN Health review request are to include status on all actions called out in previous review Brocade Recommendation Summary.
IBM Network Advisor Deployment and Best Practices Guide
Zoning
All zoning tasks must be performed from the Zoning dialog box in the Network Advisor application. You can access the Zoning dialog box from the main screen of the Management application using any of the following methods:
Select Configure > Zoning > Fabric.
Click the Zoning icon on the toolbar.
Right-click a port, a switch, a switch group, or fabric in the device list and select Zoning.
Right-click a port, a switch, a switch group, or fabric in the Connectivity Map and select Zoning. NOTE: The following points need to be observed when performing zoning operations Zoning via the CLI or Web Tools interface should never be performed due to the increased potential for catastrophic customer-impacting mistakes associated with these methods.
“Single-Initiator Zoning” should be used for all zoning. A single-initiator zone contains one HBA in a zone with target device/s.
Your default zoning mode should be set for “No Access”. This means unzoned devices cannot see each other and therefore requires a zone be established before they can communicate
The following is a procedure for zoning in a Brocade Fabric using IBM Network Advisor and will assure the following: The current zone configuration in the fabric will be saved to the Network Advisor offline repository and can be
restored to the fabric if necessary.
Multiple copies of the fabric zoning configuration will be stored in the offline repository. The number of copies will be dependent on your policy for cleaning out old zone DB copies in the offline repository.
The offline repository will be backed up as part of the scheduled Network Advisor backup when that backup occurs. There will be exposure to lost updates to the zoning DB’s should the Network Advisor server become unavailable and have to be restored. The updates from the time of the last backup until the time the server is lost would be unrecoverable.
The current active Fabric Zone DB will always be the zoning DB used for updating when zoning changes are necessary in the fabric. The offline repository zone DB’s will only be used for recovery if necessary.
The following will demonstrate the steps necessary to make changes to the current zone configuration and assure a copy of the current zone DB is stored to the offline repository as a fallback if necessary.
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A request has come in to add an additional zone to the fabric, we will add this zone as zone4. Updates to fabric zoning will always be made to the current active zone configuration in the Fabric Zone DB.
To assure that the Network Advisor zoning configuration window is current and assure you are viewing what is currently active in the fabric, perform a Zone DB Operation to refresh the DB. Verify the Zone DB listed is the Fabric
Zone DB and perform a refresh.
Zone DB Operation Refresh (See below)
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You will receive a message indicating you are overwriting the selected zone DB with the one in the fabric, see below. Respond yes, this will guarantee your current view of the Fabric Zone DB is what exists in the fabric.
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You will now want to save a copy of the current Fabric Zone DB to the offline repository so that you have a copy to fall back to if necessary.
Zone DB Operation Save As… (See below)
You will receive a window and need to input a Zone DB Name that will be used to identify the copy of the active Fabric Zone DB you are saving to the offline repository. You should establish a standard naming convention to be used and assure it is enforced. In this example we are using the initials of the person making the change followed by the date the change is being made followed by the name of the active zone configuration.
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Once you respond OK to save you will be presented with the following screen. VERY important at this point to notice that the Zone DB listed below is the Zone DB you just saved to the offline repository:
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Now that you have saved your changes you can make your updates to the active Fabric Zone DB. VERY important to now go back into the Fabric Zone DB. The Fabric Zone DB is the Zone DB you always want to make your changes to.
Zone DB Select Fabric Zone DB from the list (See below)
You will now see that the Fabric Zone DB is listed in the top middle of the screen. See below.
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Now that you have saved a copy of the current active Fabric Zone DB to the offline repository and have assured you are again editing the active Fabric Zone DB you are ready to implement your change. For this example you will create a new zone, Zone 4, add it to the current active zone configuration and activate the zone configuration so it gets activated in the fabric. Create the new zone and name it Zone 4.
IBM Network Advisor Deployment and Best Practices Guide
Proceed to add the new members to the zone, see below.
Add the newly created Zone4 to the active configuration, see below.
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Activate the zone configuration so that your changes are pushed to the fabric. You will be presented with a window that will display the changes you are getting ready to activate in the fabric. You need to VERIFY that these changes are correct and respond OK once you have completed the verification.
Highlight current zone configuration Activate Respond OK once you have verified the intended changes are accurate (See below)
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You will now see that Zone4 is active in your fabric zone configuration, see below.
IBM Network Advisor Deployment and Best Practices Guide
Should you realize a mistake was made, you can fall back to the zone configuration that you saved to the offline repository.
Zone DB Select the Zone DB you wish to activate from the list, in this example it is RJP_120610_SANWEST_X_CURRENT (See below)
You will now see the Zone DB that you want to fall back to listed. Review the Zone Configuration to assure it is the version you wish to fall back to. Notice the yellow triangle in the Active Zone Configuration tab below. This is a warning to tell you that there is a difference between what is currently active in the fabric and the Zone DB that you are editing in Network Advisor.
Once you have verified that the fall back Zone Configuration is correct then proceed to activate.
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You will see a new window displaying the changes to the fabric that will be implemented. After you verify this is accurate, click OK and the changes will be activated in the fabric. You will need to reply YES to a verification window that comes up in order to activate the new configuration.
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You will now see the active configuration no longer displays Zone 4. This is the state you were in prior to making changes to add Zone4 to the configuration. The current Zone DB listed is the copy you saved in the offline repository.
You will want to refresh this screen by selecting the Fabric Zone DB to show what is currently active in the fabric.
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You will now see the Fabric Zone DB displayed, is showing you what is active in the fabric. You have successfully fallen back to the point you were at prior to beginning the changes.
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As part of the procedure, you will be saving many copies of the Zone DB to the offline repository. You will want to establish a policy for cleaning up the offline repository. You should determine the number of copies to save and clean out older copies as necessary. To delete unwanted copies of the Zone DB’s from the offline repository select the Zone DB you wish to delete.
Zone DB Select the Fabric Zone DB to be deleted from the list, in this example RJP_120210_SANWEST_X_CURRENT (See below)
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You can now delete this Zone DB.
Zone DB Operation Select Delete from the list (See below)
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You will now receive a window indicating you are removing this Zone DB from the offline repository. Respond “Yes” to remove it from the offline repository.
IBM Network Advisor Deployment and Best Practices Guide
Conclusion
This document was designed provide guidance deploying IBM Network Advisor per IBM Best Practices. Additionally, guidance for maintenance, monitoring, and performance has been included. This guide is not intended to replace any of the current documentation that IBM and Brocade have released in support of this product.
IBM Network Advisor Deployment and Best Practices Guide
References
Below are links to references found in this document in addition to Network Advisor-specific links at Brocade and IBM. Brocade Network Advisor SAN User Manual
All the features, and their usage, in Network Advisor are described here IBM Network Advisor Software
Link to IBM Network Advisor overview, features &benefits, and specifications. This is also the link used to download Network Advisor
Brocade Network Advisor
General overview of Brocade Network Advisor product Call Home Setup-1
This link provides guidance for call home setup Call Home Setup-2
This link provides IBM-specific email and phone numbers for Call Home Brocade SAN Health Report
This link provides an overview of Brocade’s SAN Health tool, a link to download it, and instructions on how to use it.
This is the email that should be entered under “Send a duplicate report to the following people?” section when sending a SAN Health Report
MyBrocade
Brocade link required for access to specialized content (e.g. Guides, software, firmware, etc.). You can sign-up for an account here as well.
Brocade DCX Hardware
General overview of DCX hardware Brocade DCX Hardware 2
PDF describing DCX switch architecture, performance, features, configurations, etc.
IBM
Link to the IBM system storage SAN b-type family Brocade Power Efficiency
Brocade link describing and displaying director power efficiency and providing comparisons to Cisco products
ITCS104 Technical Security Standards
IBM link to SAN storage switch security standards FlowVision_AdminGd_v720 and FOS_MAPS_AdminGd_v720
IBM Network Advisor Deployment and Best Practices Guide
NOTE: Information on Brocade topology, switches, port blades, trunking, etc. can be found in the “Brocade SAN Design Guide”
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