How to interpret SAN worldwide names

All devices on a storage area network need to be uniquely identifiable. This is to ensure that data transmission occurs
between the correct source and target device across a SAN fabric or loop.

In the Ethernet world, devices are uniquely identified by their MAC (media access control) address. This is a set of 6
hexadecimal pairs of numbers guaranteed to be assigned to a unique network card or device. In the SAN world, host bus
adaptors and other SAN devices also utilise a unique identifier. With a little knowledge, we can interpret these codes to
ensure that when we are cabling SAN infrastructures, we can correctly identify our connected devices and validate that
cabling work has been performed correctly.

The SAN equivalent of a MAC address is the worldwide name (WWN). You will also see references to WWPN
(Worldwide Port Name) and WWNN (Worldwide Node Name). Usually, the WWPN is the name you will more likely use as it
is the name an HBA will present when logging into a SAN fabric. Worldwide Names consist of 16 hexadecimal digits
grouped as 8 pairs. These are written with colon characters separating each pair. Some WWN examples are shown below:

50:06:04:81:D6:F3:45:42 (EMC disk subsystem)

10:00:00:00:c9:22:fc:01 (Emulex HBA card)
21:00:00:e0:8b:05:05:04 (Qlogic HBA card)

The format of the WWN is defined by the IEEE, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a global (non-profit)
organisation responsible for setting and maintaining a large number of IT standards. You can find full details of the WWN
standard from the IEEE but here’s a quick breakdown.

The specific format of a WWN is defined by the Name Address Authority field value, which is the first digit of the WWN. The
following values are used:

1 – IEEE 803.2 standard 48 bit ID

2 – IEEE 803.2 extended 48-bit ID
5 – IEEE Registered Name
6 – IEEE Extended Registered Name

Most commonly seen are options 1, 2 and 5. We will not discuss format 6.

IEEE Standard (NAA=1)

This format is divided into 3 sections. We will use the previous Emulex example above to illustrate this format.

10:00 00:00:c9 22:fc:01

Section 1 identifies the WWN as a standard format WWN.
Only one of the 4 digits is used, the other three must be
zero filled. Section 2 is called the OUI or “company_id” and
Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 identifies the vendor (more on this later). Part 3 is a unique
identifier created by the vendor.
IEEE Extended (NAA=2)

This format is divided into 4 sections. Using the Qlogic example, we can illustrate this:

2 0:00 00:e0:8b 05:05:04

Section 1 identifies the WWN as an extended format
WWN. Section 2 is a vendor specific code and can be
used to identify specific ports on a node or to extend the
Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 serial number (section 4) of the WWN. Section 3 identifies
the vendor. Section 4 is the unique vendor-supplied serial
number for the device.

IEEE Registered Name (NAA=5)

Format 5 enables vendors to create unique identifiers without having to maintain a database of serial number codes. This
format tends to be used by hardware vendors to create unique WWN values based on the serial number and physical port
number of hardware devices such as disk arrays. The format has 3 sections, using the EMC example we can illustrate this.

5 0:06:04:8 1:D6:F3:45:42
Section 1 identifies this as a registered name WWN.
Section 2 identifies the vendor. Section 3 is a vendor-
specific generated code, usually based on the serial
Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 number of the device, such as a disk subsystem. The
hardware vendor will use an algorithm to generate the
WWN. The EMC algorithm is quite complex and for disk
subsystems is based on the array serial number and the
port number. The code demonstrated above represents a WWN for port 3aa on a disk frame with serial number 123456789.

Company Ids

All vendors wishing to create WWNs must register for a company ID or OUI (Organisationally Unique Identifier). These are
maintained and published by IEEE, the current list can be found here.

All company identifiers are six digits in length and used within the WWN. In our examples, 00-60-48 is the code for EMC, 00-
00-C9 is the code for Emulex and 00-E0-8B is the code for Qlogic.

Decoding Registered Name WWN

The following Visual Basic program can be used to decode and encode WWPNs for EMC and HDS disk subsystems. I can’t
guarantee that this code is 100% accurate, so if anyone has any comments or finds and bugs, let me know. Likewise if
anyone has WWNs with serial numbers for disk subsystems from other manufacturers, let me know and I will add them in.

This is a brief introduction to WWNs but should help in validating that the correct device has been plugged into a SAN. One
thing we have not mentioned is where to locate the WWN for an HBA. These are usually printed on the card itself, or can be
obtained from the host. You should check with the HBA vendor on how to obtain this information.

If there were ever a role that debunked today’s obsession with technology
stealing our jobs, it is that of the data scientist.

The growth in artificial intelligence, data science, and big data analytics has
created a jobs boom, with 2.7m new jobs forecasted globally by 2020.
The term summons up images of white coat-wearing people, beavering away on
arcane topics of only theoretical interest to their employers. But the reality is quite
different – both in terms of the role and its practical importance to the
organisation.

Instead of fearing a lack of jobs, we should all be deeply concerned about the
shortage of data scientists, which could soon be costing billions in lost
opportunities across a range of industries.

What do data scientists do all day?

Money may make the world go round, but it’s data that greases the wheels. Each
day, people and organisations create around 2.5 exabytes of structured and
unstructured data. That’s a whopping 2.5 billion gigabytes. But this information –
thanks to its size, format, and dispersal among so many different platforms and
silos – is a wasted asset without data scientists who can translate the raw data
into insights, and consequently solve real-world problems.

I must interject here to say that a good data scientist is more than a
mathematician, statistician, or writer of algorithms – although these skills are
obviously central to the role. The government defines data scientists as “hybrid
experts in analysis and software programming (who) possess strong business
acumen, coupled with the ability to communicate findings.”

This means you can’t drop a statistics graduate straight into a data scientist
position and expect them to start delivering insights from day one. The job
requires far more than theory – data scientists need to have a thorough
understanding of the domains in which their insights will be applied. So on top of
maths, data engineering and visualisation, a data scientist might also need a high
level knowledge of supply chain, finance, logistics, human resources, or any
other line of business.

Little wonder, then, that data scientists are so valued – and why they are in such
short supply.

A role with serious ROI

Good data scientists don’t come cheap. Fresh graduates achieve starting salaries in the $100K+ range, the figure
significantly higher for more experienced experts.
But, used wisely, data science is one of the best bargains a business can make. By turning billions of bytes into actionable
insights, data scientists can solve long-standing business problems, identify inefficient processes, develop new revenue
streams or markets, improve data security, enhance customer service, develop tailored services – and provide answers to
the unknown.

And while data science might once have been a luxury, that’s no longer true. It’s business benefits – such as accelerated
time-to-market – make the discipline compulsory for organisations in practically every industry. But finding the right talent is
becoming increasingly difficult.
Read more:Qantas Credit Union to replace core platform

Skills in short supply

As we move into the year, regulatory changes like Open Banking will dictate an entirely new paradigm – one where users
have more rights around how their data is used. In fact, last year’s Productivity Commission Data Availability and Use report
gave multiple recommendations around how this will play out, and advised that new legislation will be in place by the end of
2018. In a world where customers finally have a say over their own information, managing this newly complex network of
data will be in the hands of data scientists.

But the scale of the data science skills shortfall is so large, you’d almost have to be a data scientist to make sense of it. And
the low number of data science graduates is only part of the problem. As we’ve discussed, no matter how many technical
skills they have, graduates need several years at the coalface where they can learn to apply theory to the specific business
challenges that they have been tasked to solve.