> # About Enhanced Zoning

> Table 17-3 lists the advantages of the enhanced zoning feature in all switches in the Cisco MDS 9000 Family.

> Table 17-3 Advantages of Enhanced Zoning
> Basic Zoning | Enhanced Zoning | Enhanced Zoning Advantages
> --- | --- | ---
> Administrators can make simultaneous configuration changes. Upon activation, one administrator can overwrite another administrator’s changes. | Performs all configurations within a single configuration session. When you begin a session, the switch locks the entire fabric to implement the change. | One configuration session for the entire fabric to ensure consistency within the fabric.
> If a zone is part of multiple zone sets, you create an instance of this zone in each zone set. | References to the zone are used by the zone sets as required once you define the zone. | Reduced payload size as the zone is referenced. The size is more pronounced with bigger databases.
> The default zone policy is defined per switch. To ensure smooth fabric operation, all switches in the fabric must have the same default zone setting. | Enforces and exchanges the default zone setting throughout the fabric. | Fabric-wide policy enforcement reduces troubleshooting time.
> To retrieve the results of the activation on a per switch basis, the managing switch provides a combined status about the activation. It does not identify the failure switch. | Retrieves the activation results and the nature of the problem from each remote switch. | Enhanced error reporting eases the troubleshooting process.
> To distribute the zoning database, you must reactivate the same zone set. The reactivation may affect hardware changes for hard zoning on the local switch and on remote switches. | Implements changes to the zoning database and distributes it without reactivation. | Distribution of zone sets without activation avoids hardware changes for hard zoning in the switches.
> The MDS-specific zone member types (IPv4 address, IPv6 address, symbolic node name, and other types) may be used by other non-Cisco switches. During a merge, the MDS-specific types can be misunderstood by the non-Cisco switches. | Provides a vendor ID along with a vendor-specific type value to uniquely identify a member type. | Unique vendor type.
> The fWWN-based zone membership is only supported in Cisco interop mode. | Supports fWWN-based membership in the standard interop mode (interop mode 1). | The fWWN-based member type is standardized.

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