Multiple, independent SAN fabrics, often called “SAN islands,” offer advantages:
• Isolate fault and fabric reconfiguration • Replicate fabric services • Provide added security
SAN islands also come with disadvantages:
• Resource isolation, inefficient use of assets • More complex administration
Vendors offer solutions that aim to incorporate the advantages of each configuration, while mitigating the disadvantages. Vendors are beginning to adopt an approach of creating virtual partitions within a single physical SAN fabric.