Overview - HP Integrity BL890c - i2 Server Manual

Scenario 2:4 - Flex- 1 0 - VLAN Tagging (802.1Q)
with Multiple Shared Uplink Sets (SUS) and
Tunneled VLANs - ESX 4

Overview

This scenario discusses the Flex-10 features provided in Virtual Connect. For an overview of Flex-10,
please refer to the following technology brief. HP Flex-10 technology brief;
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01608922/c01608922.pdf
Virtual Connect Flex-10 provides the ability to either present the 10Gb server NICs as single 10Gb NICs,
or divide each NIC into as many as 4 "physical function" NICs per NIC port. These physical function
NICs look to the server hardware and OS as physical NICs, have their own MAC address and can be
configured at speeds from 100Mb to 10Gb.
As shown in earlier scenarios, VLAN access can be handled in two different ways. Virtual Connect can
either pass VLAN/Non-VLAN traffic untouched to the host (Tunneling Mode) or Virtual Connect can
handle all VLAN tagging (Server Mapped VLANs). Each has their advantages as discussed in the
Introduction to Virtual Connect section, earlier in this document.
This scenario, using Tunneled VLAN Tags, will focus on how Virtual Connect can be sued to manage
hundreds of VLANs. In this scenario we have two10Gb uplinks configured with a mix of VLAN
connection types. We will configure a VMware ESX server with EIGHT NICs, 4 per NIC port, configured
at various speed. Some NICs will be connected to specific VLANs, so frames will be presented without
tags, others will be connected to a vNet where hundreds of VLANs are presented with tags. We will also
show how the speed of each NIC can be varied from speeds ranging between 100Mb to 10Gb.
Table 2-3 Flex-10 NIC – Optimization for a VMWARE ESX implementation
Console
NIC #1
Traditional 1Gb
1Gb
technology
Virtual Connect
100Mb
Flex-10
Scenario 2:4 - Flex-10 - VLAN Tagging (802.1Q) with Multiple Shared Uplink Sets (SUS) and Tunneled VLANs - ESX 4 155
VMotion iSCSI Production
NIC #2 NIC #3
1Gb 1Gb
2Gb 4Gb
Console VMotion
NIC #4 NIC #5
1Gb 1Gb
3.9Gb 100Mb
Production
NIC #6 NIC #7
1Gb 1Gb
2Gb 4Gb
iSCSI
NIC #8
1Gb
3.9Gb