NPIV in SAN Design
Question
You are the SAN designer for the ABC Company.
Due to budget constraints, there is increased pressure by management to further optimize server utilization by implementing virtualization technologies on all servers and increase virtual machines density.
Faced with some SAN challenges, the server team requests your help in the design and implementation of the SAN in the new virtualized environment.
In which two ways can NPIV be used in your proposed design? (Choose two.)
Answers
Explanations
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A. B. C. D.AD.
N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) is a Fibre Channel protocol that allows multiple Fibre Channel IDs to share the same physical Fibre Channel port. In a virtualized environment, NPIV is a useful tool for optimizing the use of storage resources and reducing the complexity of SAN management.
In the proposed design, NPIV can be used in the following two ways:
A. NPIV is used to assign multiple FCIDs to a single N Port:
In a virtualized environment, NPIV allows multiple virtual machines to share a single physical Fibre Channel port. Each virtual machine can be assigned a unique FCID, which enables the SAN administrator to manage the storage traffic from each virtual machine separately. This feature is particularly useful when a large number of virtual machines are present, as it simplifies SAN management and reduces the number of required physical ports.
B. NPIV is used to define and bind multiple virtual WWNs (VIs) to a single physical pWWN:
In a virtualized environment, NPIV allows the SAN administrator to create multiple virtual WWNs (VIs) that can be bound to a single physical WWN (pWWN). Each virtual machine can be assigned a unique VI, which enables the SAN administrator to manage the storage traffic from each virtual machine separately. This feature is particularly useful when a large number of virtual machines are present, as it simplifies SAN management and reduces the number of required physical ports.
C. You recommend NPIV so that hosts can be members of different zones:
NPIV allows a single Fibre Channel port to appear as multiple ports to the SAN fabric. This means that different virtual machines can be assigned to different zones, even though they are connected to the same physical port. This feature enhances security and simplifies SAN management.
D. NPIV can be used to allow multiple applications on the same port to use different IDs in the same VSAN:
NPIV allows multiple Fibre Channel IDs to share the same physical port, enabling multiple applications on the same port to use different IDs in the same VSAN. This feature is useful when different applications require different Quality of Service (QoS) settings, such as different levels of priority, bandwidth, or latency.
In summary, the proposed SAN design can use NPIV to optimize storage resources and simplify SAN management in a virtualized environment. NPIV can be used to assign multiple FCIDs to a single N Port, define and bind multiple virtual WWNs (VIs) to a single physical pWWN, enable hosts to be members of different zones, and allow multiple applications on the same port to use different IDs in the same VSAN.
