METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR SERIAL ATTACHED SCSI (SAS) ZONING MANAGEMENT OF A DOMAIN USING INITIATOR ISOLATION

Embodiments of the invention include a method and apparatus for managing SAS zoning using initiator isolation. The method includes assigning initiator devices in the SAS domain to a first initiator zone group, assigning target devices in the SAS domain to a second target zone group, and establishing an access control policy in which each of the initiator devices assigned to the first initiator zone group can communicate with each of the target devices assigned to the second target zone group but no initiator devices assigned to the first initiator zone group can communicate with any other initiator devices assigned to the first initiator zone group. Assignment of devices can be based on attachment information associated with each device, such as the ZPSDS entry point of the device, the SAS address of the device, and the phy of the zoning expander device in the SAS domain that is closest to the device.