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# About SANs

SANs are Fibre Channel (FC) or Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) storage area networks that connect servers to storage systems. The possible states for SANs are:

Discovered | A SAN that is not associated with a network. SANs are automatically discovered when a SAN manager is added to HPE OneView.
Managed | A SAN that is associated with one or more networks in HPE OneView. Only managed SANs can be configured to be automatically zoned by HPE OneView.

Direct-attach SANs

HPE OneView creates a direct-attach SAN (flat SAN) automatically when you configure an enclosure with a logical interconnect that contains a direct-attach uplink set. HPE OneView names the direct-attach SAN using the format `<interconnect><uplink set>`. The SAN that HPE OneView creates is a Fibre Channel (FC) direct-attach SAN that is not zoned, and cannot be edited.

| NOTE: HPE OneView creates a SAN for each interconnect module that is connected to a direct-attach Fibre Channel network.

## About SAN zoning

#### Zoning policy

A SAN zone enables communication between devices connected to the SAN. SAN zoning policies determine how zoning should be configured on a SAN. SAN zoning policies define whether or not zoning is automated as well as the naming format of zones and aliases. In HPE OneView, you can specify the name format of the zones and aliases that will be created when you associate a storage volume to a server profile via a volume attachment. By specifying zone name and alias formats using text strings and server profile objects, you can create names that are meaningful and conform with your naming conventions.

| NOTE: HPE OneView performs zoning only when you add a connection to a server profile and attach a SAN storage volume to it. When you do this, HPE OneView will determine if the current zoning allows connectivity. If current zoning does not allow connectivity, HPE OneView will create the necessary zoning based on the specified zoning policy.

Automate zoning

Automated zoning enables HPE OneView to automatically create, edit, and delete zones on a zoned SAN when you attach storage volumes to servers through a volume attachment in a server profile.

Yes | Zoning is automated. HPE OneView takes full control of the zone naming and contents based on the zoning policy for the SAN. Use automated zoning when you want HPE OneView to configure new zones for volume attachments to server profiles. Existing zones are not modified unless the SAN storage attributes defined in a server profile change.
No | Zoning is not modified by HPE OneView. You must manually manage zoning.

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