Fabric Connectivity And Port Mapping - HP Xw460c - ProLiant - Blade Workstation Overview

Connect Ethernet module, because the Virtual Connect Manager software runs on a processor that
resides on the Ethernet module.
When the LAN and SAN connections are made to the pool of servers, the server administrator uses
Virtual Connect Manager to define a server connection profile for each server. Instead of using the
default media access control (MAC) addresses for all network interface controllers (NICs) and default
World Wide Names (WWNs) for all host bus adapters (HBAs), the Virtual Connect Manager creates
bay-specific profiles, assigns unique MAC addresses and WWNs to these profiles, and administers
them locally. Network and storage administrators can establish all LAN and SAN connections once
during deployment. If servers are later deployed, added, or changed, no connection changes are
needed because Virtual Connect keeps the profile for that LAN and SAN connection constant.
To help administrators fully utilize 10 GbE connection bandwidth, HP introduced Flex-10 technology
in the BladeSystem c-Class architecture. Using Flex-10, administrators can partition the bandwidth of
a single 10 Gb pipeline into multiple FlexNICs. In addition, administrators can regulate the
bandwidth for each partition by setting it to a user-defined portion of the total 10 Gb connection.
Speed can be set from 100 Mb per second to 10 Gb per second in 100 Mb increments.
There are advantages to partitioning a 10 GbE pipeline:
More NIC connections per server, which is especially important in a virtual machine environment
Ability to match bandwidths to the network function, such as management console or production
data
Flex-10 technology uses two hardware components:
The HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 10Gb Ethernet Module
Either the 10 Gb Flex-10 LAN-on-motherboard (LOM) or the HP NC532m Flex-10 10 GbE Network
Adapter mezzanine card
The HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 10 Gb Ethernet Module is required to manage the 10 GbE (Flex-10)
server connections to the data center network. The 10 Gb Flex-10 LOM and mezzanine cards are
NICs, each with two 10 Gb ports. Each 10 Gb port can be configured from one to a maximum of
four individual FlexNICs. The server ROM and the operating system or hypervisor recognize each
FlexNIC as an individual NIC.
Full details about Flex-10 technology are available in the technology brief titled ―HP Flex-10
technology‖ on the HP technology website:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01608922/c01608922.pdf
Full details about Virtual Connect technology are available in the technology brief titled ―HP Virtual
Connect technology implementation for the HP BladeSystem c-Class‖ on the HP technology website:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00814156/c00814156.pdf.

Fabric connectivity and port mapping

Because the connections between the device bays and the interconnect bays are hard-wired through
the NonStop signal midplane, the mezzanine cards must be matched to the appropriate type of
interconnect module. For example, a Fibre Channel mezzanine card must be placed in the mezzanine
connector that connects to an interconnect bay holding a Fibre Channel switch.
Interconnect bays 1 and 2 are reserved for Ethernet switches or pass-thru modules supporting server
LAN on Motherboard (LOM) NIC connections to ports on the Ethernet switch or pass-thru module.
Supported bays for additional Ethernet switch modules include unpopulated interconnect bays 3/4,
5/6, or 7/8. Redundant switches must be adjacent to one another in interconnect bays 3/4, 5/6, or
7/8.
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