What control mechanism grants access to a LUN only to the authorized hosts?

What control mechanism grants access to a LUN only to the authorized hosts?

• A. RAID Masking
• B. LUN Masking
• C. RAID Mirroring
• D. LUN Binding

Answer: (B)

Controlling which servers can see and access a storage LUN is done with LUN masking. This technique sits in the storage array’s control plane and uses the initiator identifiers (like WWNs or IQNs) to specify which hosts are allowed to view a given LUN. When a host’s initiator isn’t on the allowed list, the LUN remains hidden from that host, preventing access. If you want a host to access the LUN, you include its initiator in the masking configuration for that LUN. This precise visibility control is what makes LUN masking the right mechanism for granting access only to authorized hosts. RAID masking isn’t a standard concept and doesn’t govern host visibility. RAID mirroring is about duplicating data for redundancy, not about restricting which hosts can access a LUN. LUN binding can map a LUN to a particular host, but masking is the established method used to control visibility across multiple hosts and environments.

Controlling which servers can see and access a storage LUN is done with LUN masking. This technique sits in the storage array’s control plane and uses the initiator identifiers (like WWNs or IQNs) to specify which hosts are allowed to view a given LUN. When a host’s initiator isn’t on the allowed list, the LUN remains hidden from that host, preventing access. If you want a host to access the LUN, you include its initiator in the masking configuration for that LUN. This precise visibility control is what makes LUN masking the right mechanism for granting access only to authorized hosts.

RAID masking isn’t a standard concept and doesn’t govern host visibility. RAID mirroring is about duplicating data for redundancy, not about restricting which hosts can access a LUN. LUN binding can map a LUN to a particular host, but masking is the established method used to control visibility across multiple hosts and environments.