Patent Publication Number: US-10333866-B1

Title: Soft zoning of virtual local area networks in a fibre channel fabric

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/299,734, entitled “Address Resolution Protocol Operation in a Fibre Channel Fabric;” Ser. No. 15/299,741, entitled “Automatic Zoning of Virtual Local Area Networks in a Fibre Channel Fabric;” and Ser. No. 15/299,767, entitled “Hard Zoning of Virtual Local Area Networks in a Fibre Channel Fabric,” all of which are filed concurrently herewith and are hereby incorporated by reference as if reproduced in their entireties. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to network switches and routers. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Storage networking is becoming ever more complicated. Storage area networks (SANs) are used for block-level storage of data. File area networks (FANs) are used for file-level storage of data. FANs are commonly formed using Internet Protocol (IP) addressing on an Ethernet network or local area network (LAN) and the storage units are referred to as Network Attached Storage (NAS) units. SANs are commonly formed in several different ways. First, the Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) protocol, which is based on IP and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), can be used over Ethernet networks. Second, the SAN can use Fibre Channel (FC) links and a fabric. Third, the SAN can be formed using the Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) protocol, which may be all over Ethernet or combined with an FC fabric and devices. As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , two options for the storage units have been developed. In  FIG. 1  NAS storage unit  102  and iSCSI storage unit  104  are connected to a LAN  106  and share the LAN  106  with all other LAN-connected devices. FC storage units  108 ,  110 ,  112  are connected to an FC SAN  114 . Each server  116  includes a network interface card (NIC)  118  to connect to the LAN  106  and a host bus adapter (HBA)  120  to connect to the SAN  114 . The LAN  106  and the SAN  114  are connected to a wide area network (WAN) or the Internet  122  to allow external communication. In  FIG. 2  NAS storage unit  102  and iSCSI storage units  104 ,  124  have been placed on their own dedicated IP storage network  126 . In some embodiments, an additional NIC  128  is provided to connect to the IP storage network  126  to avoid mixing LAN traffic and IP storage traffic even at the top of rack (TOR). In  FIG. 1  traffic quality and security is compromised as IP storage traffic and general IP traffic share the same LAN  106 , while  FIG. 2  adds complexity by adding the IP storage network  126  and a second NIC  128 . Further, there are potential administrative issues that may result between storage administrators and network administrators in the various configurations. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A network according to the present invention provides a Unified Storage Fabric (USF), which is a network where FC and Ethernet storage traffic share the underlying network, which is optimized for storage traffic. USF extends FC SAN storage specific attributes—high performance, lossless, equal cost multi-path (ECMP) routing, storage specific analytics, etc.—to Ethernet storage devices. As the USF is preferably formed of FC switches, each edge USF switch acts as an FCoE Fibre Channel Forwarder (FCF) for FCoE operations, with internal communications done using FC. IP packets are encapsulated in FC packets for transport through the USF. Preferably each outward facing or edge USF port on a USF switch can be configured as either an Ethernet port or a FC port, so devices can be connected as desired. 
     FCoE devices connected to the USF are in particular virtual LANs (VLANs). To allow the USF to restrict communications between FCoE devices to those devices in the same VLAN, the name server database is extended to include VLAN information for the device and the zoning database has automatic FCOE_VLAN zones added to provide a mechanism for enhanced hard zoning. Reference to the VLAN information in the name server database and the FCOE_VLAN zone information in the zoning database allows soft zoning and hard zoning to be performed with the conventional zoning restrictions enhanced by including the factor that any FCoE devices must be in the same VLAN. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an implementation of apparatus and methods consistent with the present invention and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain advantages and principles consistent with the invention. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a prior art network. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a second embodiment of a prior art network. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a network according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a second embodiment of a network according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a third embodiment of a network according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a first block diagram of a network according to the present invention illustrating packet flow for FCoE devices and for IP devices. 
         FIG. 7  is a second block diagram of a network according to the present invention illustrating packet flow for FCoE devices and between an FC device and an FCoE device. 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram of a network according to the present invention illustrating IP connection options and separation of storage and LAN traffic. 
         FIG. 9  is a first block diagram of a network according to the present invention illustrating network provisioning. 
         FIG. 10  is a second block diagram of a network according to the present invention illustrating network provisioning. 
         FIG. 11  is a third block diagram of a network according to the present invention illustrating network provisioning. 
         FIG. 12  is a block diagram of a network according to the present invention illustrating redundancy and multi-pathing. 
         FIG. 13  is a block diagram of a network according to the present invention illustrating traffic isolation in the USF network. 
         FIG. 14  is a block diagram of zoning in a network according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 15  is a name server database table according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a zoning table according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 17  is a flowchart of zoning operations of a switch in a network according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 18  is a block diagram of an exemplary switch according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A network according to the present invention provides a Unified Storage Fabric (USF), which is a network where FC and Ethernet storage traffic share the underlying network, which is optimized for storage traffic. The USF extends FC SAN storage specific attributes—high performance, lossless, ECMP, storage specific analytics, etc.—to Ethernet storage devices. 
     Generally a USF: 
     Supports FC and Ethernet based storage protocols on a Fibre Channel-based switch. 
     Provides an isolated storage fabric separate from a data network. 
     Supports IP storage protocols. Generally, iSCSI and NAS, most commonly Server Message Block (SMB)/Common Internet File System (CIFS) and Network File System (NFS), fall into this category. However, any future storage protocols that work on a generic IP network can also be supported. 
     Within this document, “Ethernet storage protocol” generally refers to FCoE, iSCSI and NAS, while “IP storage protocol” generally refers to iSCSI and NAS. 
     Supports FCoE and IP-based storage protocol within the same fabric. 
     Supports RDMA over converged Ethernet (RoCE) and internet wide area RDMA protocol (iWARP) for Ethernet. 
     Provides L2 and L3 TOR connectivity. 
     Supports Ethernet storage protocols across subnets. i.e. hosts and storage units in different subnets. 
     Supports Ethernet storage protocols in addition to FC protocol without affecting the FC protocol adversely. 
     Integrates seamlessly into an existing Ethernet infrastructure. 
     Generally minimizes Ethernet features to provide simplified Ethernet storage fabric management and topology. 
     A USF allows all storage protocols to coexist within a single storage optimized fabric. For example, see  FIGS. 3 and 4 . In  FIG. 3 , a USF  302  has attached a NAS storage unit  102 , iSCSI storage units  104 ,  124 , FC storage unit  108  and an FCoE storage unit  304 . The server  116  has an adapter or adapters  306  as needed for the various protocols. For example, an HBA is needed for FC communications but a converged network adapter (CNA) or a NIC can be used for iSCSI, NAS and FCoE communications. A single NIC that can use different VLANs to separate the iSCSI, NAS and FCoE packets can be used instead of having a separate NIC for each protocol. There are as many links as needed between the server  116  and the USF  302  to accommodate the desired protocols. 
       FIG. 4  is an alternate embodiment configured for redundancy of the USF. Conventional storage units and HBAs, NICs and CNAs include two ports to allow connection to redundant fabrics. The use of multipath techniques allows continued communication even if a single fabric fails. In the embodiment of  FIG. 4 , all communications from the servers is done using Ethernet, so FCoE is used with FC storage units. A plurality of servers are contained in a server rack  402 . The server rack  402  has two TOR/FIP snooping bridge (FSB) switches  404 , so that each server is connected to each TOR/FSB switch  404 . Each TOR/FSB switch  404  is connected to an Ethernet switch  408  in a LAN  406 . The switches  408  connect to an IP core  410 , such as the Internet or another LAN. There are two parallel, redundant SANs, SAN A  412  and SAN B  414 . Each SAN A  412  and SAN B  414  is a USF formed of a series of USF switches  416 . Each TOR/FSB switch  404  is connected to two USF switches  416  in one of SAN A  412  or SAN B  414 . Each of SAN A  412  and SAN B  414  has two USF switches  416  connected to each storage unit in the storage array  418 . This configuration provides redundancy at the SAN level and inside each SAN. The TOR/FSB switch  404  splits the traffic into general data network vs. USF. This configuration allows for data vs. storage Ethernet traffic segregation that both network and storage admins are looking for and yet minimizes the number of NICs needed in each server. 
     However, even though all storage protocols are sharing the same underlying network, a USF does not provide protocol mapping or bridging. In other words, a host or server using a specific storage protocol generally remains bound to a target that is using the same storage protocol. See generally  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  illustrates four different storage protocols, iSCSI, NAS, FCoE and FC. USF  502  includes subnet 1, which has rack servers  504  and related TOR Switches  506  connected to USF switch 1  508  and has iSCSI storage unit  510  connected to USF switch 5  512 . USF  502  includes subnet 2, which has rack servers  514  and related TOR switches  516  connected to USF switch 2  518  and NAS storage unit  520  connected to USF switch 6  522 . USF  502  includes FCoE VLAN 1, which has rack servers  524  and related TOR switches  526  connected to USF switch 3  528  and FCoE storage unit  530  connected to USF switch 7  532 . Finally, rack servers  534  are connected to USF switch 4  538  using FC and FC storage unit  540  is connected to USF switch 8  542  using FC. Rack servers  504  in subnet 1 cannot communicate with NAS storage  520  in subnet 2, for example, as that is crossing from an iSCSI protocol boundary to a NAS protocol boundary. This configuration is conceptual, as a given server or host may use FCoE, iSCSI and NAS protocols all at the same time. In  FIG. 5  the server is then considered as being in subnet 1 for iSCSI, subnet 2 for NAS and FCoE VLAN 1 for FCoE. Thus, each communication is bounded to targets that specifically speak the protocol. 
     The only exception to these protocol boundaries is FCoE, where hosts using the FCoE protocol can communicate with an FCoE target or an FC target, and vice versa. This is due to the nature of FCoE, where it was created to map FC on an Ethernet infrastructure. 
     The allowed communication matrix within a USF is: 
     FC host&lt;-&gt;FC target 
     FC host&lt;-&gt;FCoE target 
     FCoE host&lt;-&gt;FCoE target 
     FCoE host&lt;-&gt;FC target 
     iSCSI host&lt;-&gt;iSCSI target 
     NAS host&lt;-&gt;NAS target 
     As the USF is preferably internally formed of FC switches, each edge USF switch acts as an FCoE FCF for FCoE operations, with internal communications done using FC. Referring to  FIG. 6 , FCoE and IP storage packet flow is illustrated. A USF  602  has connected an FCoE host  604 , an FCoE target  606 , an FC target  608 , an IP host  610  and an IP target  612 , such as a NAS storage unit. The FCoE host  604  provides an FCoE packet  614  to the USF  602 . The FCoE packet  614  has an Ethernet header with an FCoE Ethertype and an encapsulated FC packet. The USF  602  removes the Ethernet header and transmits the FC packet  616  internally in the USF. When exiting the USF  602  to the FCoE target  606 , an FCoE frame with an Ethernet header with an FCoE Ethertype and the FC packet are sent to the FCoE target  606 . If the FC target  608  is the destination, the FC packet is simply provided from the USF  602  to the FC target  608 . The IP host  610  provides an Ethernet packet  618  with an IP payload, typically a TCP/IP payload, for use with the IP target  612 . The USF  602  encapsulates the Ethernet packet  618  in an FC packet  620 , which is routed through the USF  602 . The Ethernet packet  618  is recovered and provided to the IP target  612 . 
       FIG. 7  is an alternate embodiment illustrating the various Ethernet connections that are used with a USF. A USF  702  includes for USF switches  704 ,  706 ,  708 ,  710 . As each USF switch has a FC back end, each USF switch also has an FC domain value. In the illustrated embodiment, USF switch  704  is domain 01, USF switch  706  is domain 02, USF switch  708  is domain 03 and USF switch  710  is domain 04. The USF switches  704 ,  706 ,  708 ,  710  are interconnected using FC interswitch links (ISLs). A server  712  having a native MAC address and a fabric provided MAC address (FPMA), as FCoE operations are being performed, is connected to a TOR/FSB switch  714 . The TOR/FSB switch  714  is connected to the USF switch  704  using a link aggregation group (LAG)  716  for increased bandwidth. A second server  718  having a native MAC address and an FPMA is directly connected to the USF switch  704 . 
     An FCoE storage unit  720  having a native MAC address and an FPMA is connected to a TOR/FSB switch  722 . The TOR/FSB switch  7224  is connected to the USF switch  706  using a LAG  724 . A second FCoE storage unit  726  having a native MAC address and an FPMA is directly connected to the USF switch  706 . An FC storage unit  730  is directly connected to the USF switch  706 . 
     In this embodiment only FCoE packets are being provided from the servers  712 ,  718 , so the FCoE packets are received at USF switch  704 , converted to FC packets, transmitted through the USF  702  to USF switch  706  and then converted back to FCoE packets if going to the FCoE storage units  720  or  726  or remaining as an FC packet if going to FC storage unit  730 . 
     The above embodiments have shown both Ethernet and FC connections on a USF switch. Preferably, each outward facing or edge USF port on a USF switch is configurable as either an Ethernet port or an FC port, so devices can be connected as desired. 
       FIG. 8  provides an embodiment illustrating the various methods of connecting Ethernet servers/hosts and storage units. A USF  802  and a LAN  804  are shown. Hosts  806 ,  808  using Ethernet storage are most likely to connect to the USF  802  through an L2 TOR  810  or an L3 TOR  812 . Ethernet storage units  814 ,  816 , such as FCoE storage, iSCSI storage, or NAS storage, connect to the USF  802  through an L2 TOR  818  or an L3 TOR  820 . Ethernet ports on these storage units  814 ,  816  most likely wholly belong to storage VLANs. These devices will directly communicate with hosts if belonging to the same TOR. They also communicate with hosts through the USF. 
     Hosts  822  connect to the USF  802  directly. In this case, the host  822  normally uses two separate Ethernet ports to directly split data vs. USF at the host level. Ethernet storage units  824  normally connect to the USF  802  directly. Ethernet ports on these storage units  824  normally connect to the USF  802  only. 
     A virtualization server  826  running a hypervisor and having a virtual switch  828  is shown as also directly connecting to the LAN  804  and the USF  802 , like the hosts  822 . 
     IP addresses are assigned to USF-connected devices through static or dynamic methods. The USF does not dictate a particular IP address assignment model and the USF does not rely on the model for discovery and routing. However, the USF does provide helper functions to aid in the dynamic model. 
     IP devices connected to the USF must have a valid IP address and an appropriate subnet mask. These IP addresses can be statically assigned to IP devices through a customer specific process or orchestration application such as vCenter™. If the device is expected to communicate outside of the resident subnet, a Gateway IP address is also provided. 
     When IP devices are assigned IP addresses through dynamic means, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) protocol is used. In preferred embodiments, the USF does not provide native DHCP service but instead provides a DHCP relay service that allows IP devices to communicate with the customer&#39;s own DHCP server. When a DHCP request is received by a USF switch, the request is relayed to the customer&#39;s DHCP server through a management Ethernet port on a switch&#39;s front panel. This model assumes that the management Ethernet port is likely to be on the general data network with easy access to the customer&#39;s DHCP server. 
     When an IP device is resolving an IP address of a remote device to human readable host name, domain name system (DNS) is used. Preferably, the USF does not provide a native DNS service but does provide a DNS forwarder service that allows IP devices to communicate with the customer&#39;s own DNS server. When a DNS request is received by a USF switch, the request is forwarded to the customer&#39;s DNS server through a management Ethernet port on switch&#39;s front panel. 
     Various combinations of IP addresses are shown in  FIGS. 9-11 . In  FIG. 9 , the servers  902 , the virtualization server  904  and the storage unit  906  are all in a single/24 subnet, in the illustrated case the 10.1.20 subnet. In  FIG. 10 , the servers  1002 , the virtualization server  1004  and the storage unit  1006  are all in different/24 subnets, the 10.1.20, 10.1.30 and 10.1.40 subnets, respectively. In  FIG. 11 , an L3 TOR switch  1102  is present, with servers  1104  connected to the L3 TOR switch  1102 . A storage unit  1106  is directly connected to the USF  1108 . The L3 TOR switch  1102 , the servers  1104  and the storage unit  1106  are on different/16 subnets, the L3 TOR switch  1102  on 10.200.1, the servers  1106  on 10.2.50 and the storage unit  1106  on 10.1.100. The USF  1108  is configured to route between the 10.1.100 and 10.200.1 addresses, while the L3 TOR switch  1102  is configured to route between the 10.200.1 and 10.2.50 addresses. 
     As can be seen, the address assignments and routing in the various embodiments is very flexible. 
       FIG. 12  illustrates redundancy and multi-pathing performed in a USF according to a preferred embodiment. A USF  1202  is formed by USF switches  1204 ,  1206 ,  1208 ,  1210 ,  1212 ,  1214 , where USF switches  1204 ,  1206  are connected to each of USF switches  1208 ,  1210 ,  1212 ,  1214 . A storage unit  1218  is connected to USF switches  1212 ,  1214 . An L2 switch  1216  is connected to USF switches  1208 ,  1210 . Servers  1220  are connected to the L2 switch  1216 . In this configuration, there are two paths from the L2 switch  1216  to the storage unit  1218 , providing good redundancy and multi-pathing. 
       FIG. 13  illustrates that different virtual channels (VCs) are used on the FC ISLs (inter-switch links) to provide traffic isolation in the FC fabric of a USF. A USF  1302  has two connected USF switches  1304 ,  1306 . The USF switches  1304 ,  1306  are connected by an FC ISL  1307 . As is well known, FC ISLs have a series of virtual channels (VCs) used to separate flows. In the preferred embodiments, IP traffic and FC traffic are carried on different VCs for traffic isolation. An iSCSI host  1308  and an FC host  1310  are connected to USF switch  1304 , while an iSCSI target  1312  and an FC target  1314  are connected to USF switch  1306 . Thus, the flow from the iSCSI host  1308  to the iSCSI target  1312  travels on a different VC from the flow from the FC host  1310  to the FC target  1314 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 14 , a USF  1402  is formed by switch S1  1404 , switch S2  1406 , switch S3  1408  and switch S4  1410 . In the illustrated embodiment, switch S1  1404  has an FCoE host H1  1412  connected, while switch S2  1406  has an FCoE host H2  1414  connected. An FCoE target T1  1416  and an FCoE target T2  1418  are connected to switch S3  1408 . An FCoE target T3  1420  and an FC target T4  1422  are connected to switch S4  1410 . Host H1  1412 , target T1  1416  and target T2  1418  all are on VLAN 1, while host H2  1414  and target T3  1420  are on VLAN 2. Host H1  1412  and target T2  1418  are in a common Zone_A  1424 . Host H2  1414 , target T3  1420  and target T4  1422  are in a common Zone_B  1426 . Host H1  1412  and target T3  1420  are in common Zone_C  1428 . 
     According to FC zoning, two nodes are allowed to communicate only if they are in at least one common zone. Zoning is enforced in FC by two mechanisms, soft zoning and hard zoning. Soft zoning is performed using the name server and is done by providing only the devices in the same zone when a node queries for available nodes, which is normally done during the login process. More details on soft zoning are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,919, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Hard zoning is when each frame is inspected to ensure that frames are only being transmitted between allowed devices. More details are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,919 and in U.S. Pat. No. 7,167,472, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Additional details on zoning can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,980,525; 7,366,194; 7,352,740; 7,430,203 and 7,936,769, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     Fibre Channel zoning concepts are enhanced in a USF according to the present invention. In a first embodiment, VLAN information is added to the name server database to allow VLAN to be considered when performing soft and hard zoning. In a second embodiment, VLAN zones are automatically added to the zone database to aid in both soft zoning and hard zoning. As an overview, zoning is enhanced by requiring that for two FCoE devices to communicate, they must not only be in the same normally defined zone but also must be in the same VLAN or VLAN zone. This enhancement provides a method for an FC fabric to enforce normal VLAN restrictions for FCoE devices. 
     An FCOE_VLAN_01_Zone  1430  is shown in  FIG. 14 , as is an FCOE_VLAN_02_Zone  1432 . These FCOE_VLAN zones reflect the automatically developed zones to correspond to the VLANs. As known, the name of the zone incorporates functional aspects of the zone, such as LSAN for LSAN zones. In the preferred embodiments, FCOE_VLAN_xx is used to indicate an FCoE-based VLAN zone, with xx representing the VLAN number. 
       FIG. 15  illustrates portions of a name server database augmented with VLAN information, in the provided example, the configuration of  FIG. 14 . Only portions of the name server database are illustrated for simplicity. Further details can be found in the Fibre Channel standards such as FC-GS-7 or documentation from various vendors. Columns  1504  for port ID;  1506  for worldwide name (WWN);  1508  for port symbol, here simplified to correspond to  FIG. 14  and new  1510  for VLAN are illustrated. Host H1  1412 , target T1  1416 , target T2  1418 , host H2  1414  and target T3  1420  are illustrated with their respective VLANs. Target T4  1422  does not have a VLAN entry as it is an FC device. 
       FIG. 16  illustrates portions of a zoning database  1602 , with automatically added FCOE_VLAN zones included. Again, many portions are omitted for simplicity. As can be seen, there is an entry for each zone for each device in the network. For VLAN zones, the specific zone name is based on the VLAN number, thus representing this Ethernet parameter in the zoning database  1602 . Further elements in the zone entry are conventional FC parameters, such as PDI and WWN. An entry including an FCOE_VLAN_xx_Zone zone name is distinguished from a zone name such as Zone_A, as the FCOE_VLAN_xx_Zone includes the VLAN number where Zone_A has no such information, the entry being just FC parameters. 
       FIG. 17  illustrates operation for determining the VLAN, providing the VLAN entries into the name server database and the zoning database and installing the hard zoning. In step  1702 , the FCoE node, such as host H1  1412  or target T3  1420 , performs a port login (PLOGI) operation with the USF switch. In step  1704 , the switch traps the FCoE frame and obtains the VLAN and PID from the frame, the VLAN being in the Ethernet header and the PID being the S_ID value in the FC header. In step  1706 , the switch places the VLAN in the device entry in the name server database, the PID and WWN having been previously inserted during the fabric login (FLOGI) operation. In step  1708 , the switch adds the FCOE_VLAN_xx_Zone entry into the zoning database, which includes the PID and the WWN being included in the entry to allow more flexible zoning, as is conventional. 
     In step  1709 , an FC device performs a PLOGI with the switch as part of the FC device becoming operational. In step  1710 , which follows step  1708  or step  1709 , the switch determines the new hard zone information to apply to the switch ASIC. This is done by the switch first analyzing the zoning database to determine the relevant zones for the device being added, both conventional zones and FCOE_VLAN zones, if there are any. In some embodiments, FCOE_VLAN zones are not utilized, with the VLAN information only maintained in the name server database. The retrieved zones are evaluated for devices in common zones and if any devices in the common zones are FCoE devices, then if all of the FCoE devices are in the same VLAN. If the device being added is an FCoE device and all of the FCoE devices are not in the same VLAN, any device not in the VLAN of the device being added is omitted. In normal operation, this condition should not exist, as VLAN match is checked in the zone manager software when a device is being added to a zone, but this check provides a backstop for configuration errors. If the device being added is an FC device and all of the FCoE devices are not in the same VLAN, this is a misconfiguration, the device is not added and the error is flagged. Again, this condition should not occur because of the operation of the zone manager, but this test may be performed as a final check. 
     Following this evaluation, the name server database is inspected for each device to determine if the name server database indicates that a device has a VLAN entry. This check of the name server database is performed as some embodiments do not include the automatic development of the FCOE_VLAN zones and because FCOE_VLAN zones may deleted from the zoning database. If the name server database check indicates at least one FCoE device based on a VLAN entry, then all of the devices are checked to make sure they are all either in the same VLAN or not FCoE devices. Any devices that are FCoE devices and not in the same VLAN as the FCoE device being added are dropped from inclusion in the hard zoning deployment, though the same remarks as above apply that this condition should not normally exist. If the device being added is an FC device and not all of the FCoE devices are in the same VLAN, this is a misconfiguration, the device is not added and the error is flagged, as discussed above. 
     After the name server database inspection and VLAN check, the hard zones are deployed to the switch ASIC. The detailed mechanics of this operation depend on particular design of the hardware filtering logic in the switch ASIC but in general are based on analyzing the zoning database. The conventional hard zoning is enhanced according to the present invention by adding a further requirement that if two devices are FCoE devices they must be in the same VLAN, as described above. 
     In step  1712 , the node queries the name server for available devices. This is conventional operation, as the node needs to determine the devices with which it can communicate. In step  1714 , the switch replies with the devices in common zones with the querying node and if the querying node is an FCoE device, in the same VLAN if the other device is also an FCoE device. This is conventional soft zoning enhanced by the additional requirement that any FCoE devices must be in the same VLAN. This operation is performed similarly to the hard zoning deployment check, first checking the zoning database for common zones and FCOE_VLAN zones and then checking the name server database for VLAN entries. Similar to above, a device is returned only if in a common zone and in the same VLAN as a querying FCoE device. Again as above, if the querying device is an FC device and there is a VLAN mismatch of devices in common zones, such as host H1  1412  and target T3  1420 , this is a misconfiguration, the device is not added and the error is flagged. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 14 , host H1  1412  would be able to communicate with target T2  1418  as both are in Zone_A and in VLAN 1, at least as indicated by being in the FCOE_VLAN_01_Zone. Host H1  1412  would not be able to communicate with target T1  1416  even though both are in the FCOE_VLAN_01_Zone because they are not in a common normal zone. Host H1  1412  would not be able to communicate with target T3  1420  because even though both are in normal Zone_C, they are not in the VLAN, at least as indicated by being in different FCOE_VLAN_xx_Zones. Host H2  1414  would be able to communicate with target T3  1420  and target T4  1422 . All three are in Zone_B, meeting the first test. Host H2  1414  and target T3  1420  are both in VLAN2, so the enhanced VLAN requirement is also meet. Because target T4  1422  is an FC device, the enhanced VLAN requirement does not apply. 
       FIG. 18  is a block diagram of an exemplary switch  1898 . A control processor  1890  is connected to a switch ASIC  1895 . The switch ASIC  1895  is connected to media interfaces  1880 , which are connected to ports  1882 . The media interfaces can be Ethernet or Fibre Channel as desired. Generally, the control processor  1890  configures the switch ASIC  1895  and handles higher-level switch operations, such as the name server, routing table setup, and the like. The switch ASIC  1895  handles general high-speed inline or in-band operations, such as switching, routing and frame translation. The control processor  1890  is connected to flash memory  1865  or the like to hold the software and programs for the higher level switch operations and initialization, such as the operating system, the name server, the zoning logic and the like; to random access memory (RAM)  1870  for working memory, such as the name server, zoning and route tables; and to an Ethernet PHY  1885  and serial interface  1875  for out-of-band management. 
     The switch ASIC  1895  has four basic modules, port groups  1835 , a frame data storage system  1830 , a control subsystem  1825  and a system interface  1840 . The port groups  1835  perform the lowest level of packet transmission and reception. In the preferred embodiments, each port in the port groups  1835  can be configured to operate using Ethernet or Fibre Channel. Generally, frames are received from a media interface  1880  and provided to the frame data storage system  1830 . Further, frames are received from the frame data storage system  1830  and provided to the media interface  1880  for transmission out of port  1882 . The frame data storage system  1830  includes a set of transmit/receive FIFOs  1832 , which interface with the port groups  1835 , and a frame memory  1834 , which stores the received frames and frames to be transmitted. The frame data storage system  1830  provides initial portions of each frame, typically the frame header and a payload header for FCP frames, to the control subsystem  1825 . The control subsystem  1825  has the translate  1826 , router  1827 , filter  1828  and queuing  1829  blocks. The translate block  1826  examines the frame header and performs any necessary address translations, such as those that happen when a frame is redirected as described herein. There can be various embodiments of the translation block  1826 , with examples of translation operation provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,752,361 and 7,120,728, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Those examples also provide examples of the control/data path splitting of operations. The router block  1827  examines the frame header and selects the desired output port for the frame. The filter block  1828  examines the frame header, and the payload header in some cases, to determine if the frame should be transmitted. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, hard zoning as described above and in the incorporated references is accomplished using the filter block  1828 . The queuing block  1829  schedules the frames for transmission based on various factors including quality of service, priority and the like. 
     Various other patents and patent applications can be referenced to provide additional background for portions of this description. Those patents and applications include U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2011/0299391, 2011/0286357, 2011/0268125, 2011/0299535, 2011/0268120, and 2011/0292947, which describe a VCS architecture where an Ethernet fabric is formed using a TRILL and Ethernet data layer and a combination TRILL and FC control layer, with these applications hereby incorporated by reference. An Ethernet Name Server (eNS) distribution service, which is used to maintain coherency of information among the various RBridges (RBs) is discussed in Publication No. 2011/0299535 incorporated above, to notify all other RBs of link establishment, status, etc. In addition, U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2014/0269745, 2014/0301402 provide details of using an Ethernet fabric to connect FCoE hosts to other FCoE hosts and to an FC switch or an FCF. Both applications are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     Embodiments according to the present invention provide a Universal Storage Fabric, allowing FC and Ethernet storage devices to be connected to a single fabric that has the properties of an FC fabric. As FCoE devices can be connected to the USF, VLAN information is maintained in the name server database and automatically provided to the zoning database to provide assurances that FCoE operations are restricted to the proper VLAN, both by soft zoning and by hard zoning. 
     The above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-described embodiments may be used in combination with each other. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.”