Methods and apparatus for implementing a fibre channel zone policy

A method, comprising:

• receiving, at a first network switch within a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) network without a Fibre Channel Forwarder (FCF), a proposed logical identifier from a first network device, the FCoE network having a plurality of network switches including the first network switch and a second network switch;
• determining whether a conflict exists between the proposed logical identifier and remaining logical identifiers stored at the first network switch;
• sending, to the second network switch, a multicast signal including the proposed logical identifier causing the second network switch to enforce a Fibre Channel zone policy prior to sending the proposed logical identifier to a second network device in response to the proposed logical identifier being not in conflict with the remaining logical identifiers stored at the first network switch;
• sending, to the second network device, a designated logical identifier of the first network device based on the Fibre Channel zone policy, the designated logical identifier of the first network device being not in conflict with remaining logical identifiers in the FCoE network and being different from the proposed logical identifier when the proposed logical identifier is in conflict with a logical identifier of the remaining logical identifiers in the FCoE network;
• sending, to the second network device, a data packet when the second network device is an approved device based on the Fibre Channel zone policy and in response to an acknowledgement signal received at the first network device from the second network device, the acknowledgement signal associated with the designated logical identifier;
• and
• removing the designated logical identifier when the second network device is not an approved device based on the Fibre Channel zone policy.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first port at a first network switch configured to be within a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) network having a plurality of network switches including the first network switch, the first port configured to be operatively coupled to a first network device, the first network switch configured to receive, via the first port and from the first network device, a FCoE login signal including a proposed logical identifier selected by the first network device, the first port configured to receive a FCoE data packet from the first network device after receiving the FCoE login signal;
• an address resolution module executed by a processor and operatively coupled to the first port and at the first network switch, the address resolution module configured to, via the processor, determine whether a conflict exists between the proposed logical identifier and remaining logical identifiers stored at the first network switch, the address resolution module configured to, via the processor, send a multicast signal including the proposed logical identifier to remaining network switches including a second network switch from the plurality of network switches causing the second network switch to enforce a Fibre Channel zone policy in response to the proposed logical identifier being not in conflict with the remaining logical identifiers stored at the first network switch;
• a zone enforcement module executed by the processor and operatively coupled to the first port and at the first network switch, the zone enforcement module configured to, via the processor, enforce the Fibre Channel zone policy on the FCoE data packet;
• and
• a second port at the first network switch, the second port configured to be operatively coupled to a second network device, the first network switch configured to send, via the second port and to the second network device, a designated logical identifier of the first network device based on the Fibre Channel zone policy, the designated logical identifier of the first network device being not in conflict with remaining logical identifiers in the FCoE network and being different from the proposed logical identifier when the proposed logical identifier is in conflict with a logical identifier of the remaining logical identifiers in the FCoE network,
• the first network switch configured to send, via the second port and to the second network device, the FCoE data packet when the second network device is an approved device based on the Fibre Channel zone policy and in response to an acknowledgement signal received at the first network device from the second network device, the acknowledgement signal associated with the designated logical identifier,
• the first network switch configured to remove the designated logical identifier when the second network device is not an approved device based on the Fibre Channel zone policy.