What is Zoning?

Zoning

Zoning means restricting the scope of an initiator (host) to a particular target (storage array) in fabric. An initiator can see only the devices from a particular storage array that is zoned to it.

Zoning provides security to data by restricting unauthorized access at the switch level.

A zone is a logical path between two devices that make communication between two devices.

Zoning is illustrated below with an example.

1. In the above diagram, Server A and Storage A are the same zone called Zone 1. Server A can see devices only from Storage A. It cannot see any devices from Storage B and Storage C since its scope is restricted to Storage A only.
2. In Zone 2, Server B, server C, Server D, and storage B are added. So Server B, server C, and Server D can access devices from storage B.
3. Server E, Server F, and Storage C are zoned together. So these servers can see devices from Storage C.