Bladesystem With Cisco N_Port Virtualization Mode - HP StorageWorks 4000/6000/8000 - Enterprise Virtual Arrays Reference Manual

Redundant SANs, with each server connecting to one fabric through one AG module
Ability to connect to B-series, C-series, and M-series fabrics
Support for up to six AGs per blade enclosure

BladeSystem with Cisco N_Port Virtualization mode

NPV mode is a software-enabled feature available on the Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch for HP
c-Class BladeSystem with SAN-OS 3.2(1a) or later. NPV mode does not require the purchase of
additional hardware or software.
NPV is available only if the Cisco MDS 9124e is in NPV mode; if the fabric switch is in switch mode,
NPV is not supported. To use NPV, the end devices connected to a switch in NPV mode must log in
as N_Ports. All links from the end switches in NPV mode to the core switches are established as
NP_Ports, not E_Ports for ISLs.
An NP_Port is an NPIV uplink from the NPV device to the core switch. Switches in NPV mode use
NPIV to log in multiple end devices that share a link to the core switch. The Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric
Switch is transparent to the hosts and fabric—they no longer function as standard switches.
NOTE:
This section describes HP c-Class BladeSystems. NPV mode is also supported on the Cisco MDS 9124
and MDS 9134 Fabric Switches. For more information, see the Cisco MDS 9000 Configuration Guide .
The Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch in NPV mode supports a maximum of 24 ports:
Up to 16 ports for back-end connections to the BladeSystems
Up to 8 external ports used as uplink ports (NP_Ports)
NPV mode features include:
Eight external ports used as NP_Ports, supporting NPIV. These ports connect to standard switches
(including vendor switches) that support NPIV-compliant F_Ports.
Does not use domain IDs, removing any domain-count limitations in large fabrics.
Port mapping between the host-facing ports (virtual F_Ports) and the external uplink ports (NP_Ports).
Figure 51 shows an HP c-Class BladeSystem in NPV mode.
192 Heterogeneous server rules