FC Security Model
Fibre Channel security is implemented at the fabric level, not the host level. Host-level authentication is not part of the FC transport. Security controls for FC storage access are:
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Fabric zoning: the primary access control mechanism. Only zoned initiators can communicate with target ports.
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LUN masking / host registration: FlashArray independently enforces which hosts can access which volumes based on WWPN registration and host group membership.
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Hard zoning: enforce at the switch port level (not just name-server soft zoning) for strongest isolation.
Best practices:
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Use hard zoning on all production FC switches
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Audit zone membership quarterly - remove stale host entries
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Register each host with a specific OS type on FlashArray for correct SCSI behavior
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Use separate host groups per cluster; do not share host groups across unrelated workloads
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Do not place HBA WWPNs in more zones than necessary
In-Transit Encryption
FlashArray supports encryption of FC frames in flight between host and array, providing wire-level confidentiality beyond fabric zoning. In-flight encryption operates on the HBA below the SCSI / FCP layer; LUN access, multipath, and ALUA behavior are unchanged, and the host-side multipath.conf and queue-depth settings apply identically whether encryption is enabled or not.
No Host-Level Firewall Required
FC storage traffic does not traverse IP networks. No firewalld or iptables rules are needed for FC storage access on RHEL.