Appendix P — Fibre Channel Fabric Configuration

DOCUMENT CATEGORY: Reference SCOPE: Fibre Channel fabric configuration PURPOSE: Reference for FC fabric zoning, aliases, and port channels for SAN deployments MASTER REFERENCE: Microsoft Learn — Enable External Storage

Status: Active

This appendix covers FC fabric configuration for SAN disaggregated Azure Local deployments — alias creation, zone definition, zoneset activation, and post-zoning validation. Both Brocade FOS and Cisco MDS NX-OS examples are provided.

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Zoning Policy — Single-Initiator/Single-Target

The Azure Local Cloud standard for FC zoning is single-initiator/single-target: each zone contains exactly one HBA port WWPN (initiator) and one SAN array port WWPN (target). This is the pattern recommended by Microsoft and eliminates the multi-initiator contention issues that arise when initiators share a zone.

Zone count formula: For an N-node cluster with 2 HBAs per node and 2 independent fabrics, expect 2N zones per fabric.

Cluster size	HBAs/node	Fabrics	Zones per fabric	Total zones
2-node	2	2	4	8
4-node	2	2	8	16
8-node	2	2	16	32

Why single-initiator/single-target?

When multiple initiators share a zone, a LUN reset or RSCN storm from one initiator disrupts all others in the zone. Single-initiator/single-target zones contain blast radius to one host port, which is critical for Azure Local storage resiliency.

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Naming Conventions

Consistent naming makes zones auditable at a glance and simplifies troubleshooting. Apply these patterns across both fabrics.

Element	Pattern	Example
WWPN alias	<site>-AZL-<nodeNN>-HBA<P>	NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA1
FC zone	Z_<initiator>_<target>	Z_NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA1_ARRAY-CT0FC0
Zoneset	<fabric>_PROD_active	FAB-A_PROD_active

• <site> — a short 3–6 character site code (matches your naming standard, e.g. NYC01, DAL02)
• <nodeNN> — zero-padded node number: N01, N02, etc.
• <HBA<P> — HBA port number, 1-indexed: HBA1, HBA2
• <target> — the array controller and port label as reported by the array vendor

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Brocade Fabric — Example Configuration

The following commands target Fabric A of a 2-node cluster connecting to a dual-controller SAN array. Collect HBA WWPNs from Windows before beginning (see Phase 03 Task 12).

# Connect to Brocade switch
ssh admin@brocade-fab-a.corp.azurelocal.cloud

# Create aliases for HBA WWPNs (collected from Windows: Get-InitiatorPort)
alicreate "NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA1", "10:00:00:90:fa:11:22:01"
alicreate "NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA2", "10:00:00:90:fa:11:22:02"
alicreate "NYC01-AZL-N02-HBA1", "10:00:00:90:fa:11:23:01"
alicreate "NYC01-AZL-N02-HBA2", "10:00:00:90:fa:11:23:02"

# Create aliases for SAN array target ports
alicreate "ARRAY-CT0FC0", "52:4a:93:00:11:11:11:01"
alicreate "ARRAY-CT1FC0", "52:4a:93:00:11:11:11:02"

# Create single-initiator/single-target zones
zonecreate "Z_NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA1_ARRAY-CT0FC0", "NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA1; ARRAY-CT0FC0"
zonecreate "Z_NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA2_ARRAY-CT0FC0", "NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA2; ARRAY-CT0FC0"
zonecreate "Z_NYC01-AZL-N02-HBA1_ARRAY-CT0FC0", "NYC01-AZL-N02-HBA1; ARRAY-CT0FC0"
zonecreate "Z_NYC01-AZL-N02-HBA2_ARRAY-CT0FC0", "NYC01-AZL-N02-HBA2; ARRAY-CT0FC0"

# Add zones to zoneset
cfgcreate "FAB-A_PROD_active", "Z_NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA1_ARRAY-CT0FC0; Z_NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA2_ARRAY-CT0FC0; Z_NYC01-AZL-N02-HBA1_ARRAY-CT0FC0; Z_NYC01-AZL-N02-HBA2_ARRAY-CT0FC0"

# Save and enable
cfgsave
cfgenable "FAB-A_PROD_active"

Repeat the same sequence on Fabric B, substituting the second-fabric port WWPNs for both the HBA aliases and the array target aliases, and naming the zoneset FAB-B_PROD_active.

Existing zonesets

If a zoneset already exists on the switch, use cfgadd to add new members rather than cfgcreate. Verify with cfgshow before enabling.

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Cisco MDS Fabric — Example Configuration

The following NX-OS commands configure Fabric A on a single VSAN. Adjust the VSAN ID to match your environment.

# Connect to MDS
ssh admin@mds-fab-a.corp.azurelocal.cloud
configure terminal

# Create FC aliases (per VSAN)
fcalias name NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA1 vsan 100
  member pwwn 10:00:00:90:fa:11:22:01
exit
fcalias name ARRAY-CT0FC0 vsan 100
  member pwwn 52:4a:93:00:11:11:11:01
exit

# Create zone
zone name Z_NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA1_ARRAY-CT0FC0 vsan 100
  member fcalias NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA1
  member fcalias ARRAY-CT0FC0
exit

# Add to zoneset and activate
zoneset name FAB-A_PROD_active vsan 100
  member Z_NYC01-AZL-N01-HBA1_ARRAY-CT0FC0
exit
zoneset activate name FAB-A_PROD_active vsan 100
copy running-config startup-config

Add additional fcalias, zone, and zoneset member blocks for each remaining initiator/target pair before activating the zoneset. Activate once, after all zones are added — each activation causes a fabric RSCN.

Activate after all zones are defined

On Cisco MDS, each zoneset activate triggers an RSCN across the VSAN. Define all zones for the fabric before activating to avoid multiple disruptions during initial configuration.

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Validation After Zoning

Run the following on each cluster node after zoneset activation to confirm LUN visibility and MPIO path count.

# Run on each cluster node
Get-PhysicalDisk | Where-Object BusType -eq 'Fibre Channel' |
    Select-Object FriendlyName, SerialNumber, OperationalStatus, Size
mpclaim -s -d

Expected results:

• Each LUN appears once per node with OperationalStatus = OK
• Each LUN shows 2 or more MPIO paths (one per fabric)
• mpclaim -s -d lists the LUN with paths in an Active/Optimized or Active/Unoptimized state per the array's preferred path policy

If a LUN does not appear, verify: (1) the zone is active on both fabrics, (2) the correct WWPN was aliased — use Get-InitiatorPort on the node to re-confirm, (3) the LUN has been mapped to the host in the array management interface.

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References

• Microsoft Learn — Enable External Storage
• Microsoft Learn — FC pattern without backup
• Microsoft Learn — FC pattern with backup
• Appendix Q — FC Fabric Maintenance
• Appendix I — Dell Configuration

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Cross-References

Phase	Task	Link
Phase 03	Task 12 — Install FC HBA Drivers	task-12-install-fc-hba-drivers-conditional.mdx
Phase 03	Task 13 — Configure MPIO & MSDSM	task-13-configure-mpio-and-vendor-msdsm-conditional.mdx
Phase 03	Task 14 — Verify LUN Presentation	task-14-verify-san-lun-presentation-conditional.mdx
Phase 05	SAN/AD Portal	portal-instructions.mdx
Phase 05	SAN/AD ARM	arm-template-instructions.mdx
Phase 05	SAN/LI Portal	portal-instructions.mdx
Phase 05	SAN/LI ARM	arm-template-instructions.mdx
Phase 06	Task 05 — Storage Configuration	task-05-storage-configuration.mdx
Planning	Storage Architecture Planning	07-storage-planning.mdx