Direct-attach Fibre Channel networks

The direct-attach Fibre Channel solution, also called the Flat SAN solution, eliminates the need for a connection from the enclosure interconnects to a Fibre Channel SAN switch. This means you can connect the enclosure interconnects directly to the Fibre Channel SAN storage system.

Servers connecting to a direct-attach Fibre Channel network have access to all devices connected on the uplink ports defined for that network. If there is more than one connection from a FlexFabric module to the storage system, each server can access as many paths to the storage LUN (logical unit number) as there are connections to the Fibre Channel SAN storage system.

For direct-attach Fibre Channel networks, the enclosure interconnect does not distribute server logins across uplink ports. Server login distribution does not apply to direct-attach Fibre Channel networks.

IMPORTANT:

If you do not use automated storage provisioning, you must manually update the boot connection when moving a server profile. When you move a server profile to a different enclosure and the profile is configured to boot from a direct-attach storage system, you must manually update the boot connection of the profile to specify the WWPN (World Wide Port Name) used for the storage system that is directly attached to the enclosure.

Each enclosure connects to a different port of the direct-attach storage system, so the WWPN for that storage system is different for each enclosure. If you do not specify the correct WWPN and LUN for the storage system, the server will not boot successfully from the boot target.