Two servers have been connected to a SAN with redundant fabrics and the zone configuration needs to be changed. How can you safely change the zone configuration?

Saving, modifying, and applying the configuration to both fabrics simultaneously without testing one fabric first carries the risk of propagating errors to both fabrics, potentially causing a complete outage.

In a redundant fabric environment, modifying one fabric at a time allows the other fabric to continue providing connectivity to the servers. This enables thorough testing of the new zone configuration on the first fabric while maintaining production access via the second fabric. If issues arise, the first fabric can be reverted without impacting the entire SAN, and then the process can be repeated for the second fabric.

Copying the configuration directly from the first (tested) fabric to the second fabric bypasses the opportunity to test the changes specifically on the second fabric, where unforeseen differences in hardware or configuration might cause issues.

Modifying and enabling zone configurations on both fabrics simultaneously is highly risky, as any error would immediately affect both fabrics, leading to a complete SAN outage and severe disruption to connected servers.