Zoning Types

Zoning is a way of logical grouping of ports on san switch that are allowed to communicate with each other.

 Soft Zoning :

Soft zoning uses the name server to enforce zoning. 

The World Wide Name (WWN) of the elements enforces the configuration policy.

Pros:

• Admins can move devices to different switch ports without manually reconfiguring zoning.
• You don’t need to change once you create zone set for a particular device connected on a switch.

Cons:

• Device WWN changes, such as the installation of a new Host Bus Adapter (HBA) card, require policy modifications.

Edit

Hard Zoning :

 Hard Zoning uses the physical fabric port number of a switch to create zones and enforce the policy.

Pros:

1. This system is easier to create and manage than a long list of element WWNs.
2. Switch hardware enforces data transfers and ensures no traffic goes between unauthorized zone members. 
3. Hard zoning provides stronger enforcement of the policy than soft zoning.

Cons:

Moving devices to different switch ports requires policy modifications.