Hp Virtual Connect Architecture - HP BL685c - ProLiant - 4 GB RAM Management Manual

Figure 13. c3000 KVM Option Main Menu

HP Virtual Connect architecture

Virtual Connect is an interconnect option for HP BladeSystem c-Class that simplifies server connectivity
by reducing physical cabling and virtualizing network assignments. It puts an abstraction layer
between the servers and their external networks so that LANs and SANs see a pool of servers instead
of individual servers.
The Virtual Connect architecture is built into every BladeSystem c-Class enclosure and extended with
high performance Virtual Connect Ethernet and Fibre Channel modules that plug into the enclosure
interconnect bays (Figure 14). Each Virtual Connect module provides dense port aggregation that
turns multiple physical network connections to each server into a few simple, high-speed uplinks that
greatly reduce infrastructure complexity and costs. To the external networks, Virtual Connect modules
appear as regular pass-thru devices, but they provide the benefits of integrated switching.
Virtual Connect uses pools of unique media access control (MAC) addresses, World Wide Names
(WWNs), and server profiles to establish reliable server-to-network connections. The server connection
profiles contain MAC, WWN, and boot-from-SAN definitions that are assigned to BladeSystem
enclosure bays and not to individual servers. The physical server in each bay uses the MAC and
WWN assignments in the bay profile instead of its default network interface (NIC) or host bus
adapter (HBA) addresses. Even if a server is replaced, the MAC and WWN assignments for the
enclosure bay remain constant, and the change is invisible to the network.
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