We have a RAID array connected to a file server through a Fibre Channel switch. We want to add a second server. Can we just plug the new server into the Fibre Channel switch and share the RAID storage between the two servers?
Directly connecting multiple servers to the same disk space can lead to data corruption, because the servers treat the disk as their own directly connected storage resource. Safely connecting two servers to the RAID storage through the Fibre Channel switch is a little more complicated than plugging them both into the Fibre Channel switch and using the same disk volumes from the two servers.
You will need to use additional storage-area network control software to mediate the file system access, or you will have to configure the servers to use separate volumes on the RAID array.
The two methods typically used for attaching separate volumes to each server are zoning and logical unit number (LUN) masking. Zoning is done at the Fibre Channel switch and segments ports on the switch into zones; devices can connect only to other devices within their own zone. LUN masking is done at the server and identifies which LUN storage volumes are available to the server, and masks or hides the other RAID volumes from that server.
