4aa0-5821enw virtual connect guide(1)

7/27/2019 4AA0-5821ENW Virtual Connect Guide(1)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/4aa0-5821enw-virtual-connect-guide1 1/12

More than an innovative technology—a new way to connect data centersProcess speed ultimately depends on how manypeople are involved in the process, the number

of steps to be implemented—and the wait time inbetween steps. A 30-minute task is not done in30 minutes if multiple people, and several days areneeded to schedule and initiate it. For instance, eachtime a server is added, moved, or replaced, it requiresthe coordination of the storage, network, and serveradministrators to complete it successfully. Constantcoordination forces employees to spend time onroutine tasks when they could be investing that timein focusing on your business priorities.

Many server administrators try to avoid time-consumingcoordination by choosing pass-through networkconnections. However, pass-throughs are expensive,unreliable, and add even more cables and incrementalcosts to the error-prone network cable jungle youalready have.

Imagine the things you could do without all thatmanual coordination. What if “wire-once” is more thanjust a buzzword? What if you really could provision

once—coordinate with local area network (LAN)and storage area network (SAN) administrators o

What if you could add, move, and replace serverminutes instead of days or weeks—to an infrastructhat is ready to go when you power it up? What if

you could take the profile or personality of a LANor SAN connection and just send it over to anotheserver anywhere in your data center with just a fewmouse clicks? What if you could add more networconnections without adding more switches, cablesand management overheads?

And finally, what if all of your connections were,well, virtual?

A breakthrough in the name of change

To overcome the challenges discussed above, HPintroduced HP Virtual Connect—a unique approa

to connecting and adapting server, LAN, and SANdomains across the data center. It is an interconneoption for HP BladeSystem designed to simplify thconnection of blade servers to data center networFor the first time, server administrators can automatmanage resources independent of server connectionetwork and storage resources in an HP BladeSystesaving days or even weeks of administrative “wait t

Unraveling the full potential of virtualization

HP Virtual Connect technology guide



Virtual Connect is a technology that redefines howservers are connected to your LAN and SAN, andbrings benefits to everyone involved. Virtual Connectinterconnects increase SAN and LAN utilization;improve operational flexibility and efficiency; andreduce the amount of equipment normally purchasedto achieve the same I/O capability. It reduces cablesand saves time for everybody—server, LAN, and SANadministrators. And because you have virtualizedthe connections to the outside world, you can make

changes behind the scenes without impacting othersystems or other departments.

Virtual Connect Flex-10 and VC FlexFabric modulesand FlexFabric adapters build even more flexibilityinto each server blade to add up to four timesas many network connections, and fine-tune thebandwidth of each connection. It helps remove upto 95 percent of server-edge infrastructure, lowerpurchase costs by up to 65 percent, and reducepower consumption by up to 40 percent.1 VirtualConnect enables you to transform your infrastructureand uncover its full potential.

Connect to simplicity

•Simplify networks

− Reduce cables without adding switches to manage

− Centrally manage LAN and SAN connections,and reduce the risk of address conflicts

•Simplify server connections

− Separate server management from LAN and SANmanagement using industry-standard technologies

− Create a network-ready environment bypre-provisioning LAN and SAN connectionsbefore physical servers are installed

− Increase consistency and decrease configurationerrors with a central management tool for up to1000 HP BladeSystem enclosures

•Change servers in minutes, not days

− Add, replace, and recover servers fast withoutaffecting LANs or SANs

− Significantly reduce time and costs to deploy andmaintain your server infrastructure

− Assign and failover network connections and theirworkloads across the data center

•Tailor your network speeds based on yourapplication needs

− Reduce cables and network components by usingup to four physical FlexNICs or three FlexNICsand one FlexHBA per 10 Gb server connection

− Control and manage your bandwidth by settingNIC speeds at the server edge

Saving time, saving work

Today, many users want to buy a rack, fill it withHP BladeSystem enclosures, wire it up, and then aserver blades as they need them. This sounds veryefficient, but they still have to engage LAN and SAadministrators each time they install a new serverblade in an enclosure or replace existing servers.It takes a lot of scheduling and wastes time for all departments involved.

With HP Virtual Connect, you can connect and

pre-assign all the LAN and SAN connections thatthe server pool might ever need—at the same timethat you wire the rack and enclosures. Using VirtuConnect Flex-10 and VC FlexFabric modules andFlexFabric adapters, you can choose how many Nor HBAs are on each server and dynamically set tbandwidth of each connection in increments of100 Mb between 100 Mb and 10 Gb.

Then, when each server blade is installed, theserver administrator can quickly use the HP VirtuaConnect Enterprise Manager software or CommanLine Interface to assign whatever LAN and SAN

connections are needed for that server. There is nolonger the need to coordinate with LAN and SANadministrators or wait for them to be available. Thsaves time, frees LAN/SAN resources, and gives yserver administrator the ultimate flexibility in work.

Let us consider a situation where a company has acentral network operations center, with regional dcenters spread across multiple U.S. states and MeThey only have one or two IT generalists in eachdata center. Each time a server is added or changa storage expert has to travel to the regional datacenters. But with an HP Virtual Connect “wired-onpool of network connections, changes can be madquickly and remotely without impacting networks. means the storage expert no longer needs to travefor each of these routine tasks and all connectionsare updated transparently to the SAN and LAN. Tcompany saves a lot on expenses, gets the job dofaster, and improves productivity for everyone.

1 Based on HP analysis of networking equipment (adapters andenclosure interconnects)A traditional server blade configuration would typically require a duaLAN on Motherboard (LOM), an extra quad port NIC mezzanine, adual port host bus adapter (HBA) along with switch modules (6 Ether

and 2 Fibre Channel). The total traditional configuration componentsup to 40 vs. the VC FlexFabric solution. The VC FlexFabric solution reonly embedded dual port FlexFabric adapters on servers (no mezzancards) and two VC FlexFabric modules. This simple calculation will hyou understand it better, (40-2)/40 = 95%.



Consider another example, the IT group of anotherorganization supports over 200 companies. They haveteams that only deploy servers. However, the processstill takes a couple of weeks to get everything up andrunning—even when it involves only a routine tasksuch as adding a blade to an empty server bay. ButHP Virtual Connect provides a virtual I/O fabric thatclearly separates the management of server connectionsfrom LAN and SAN administration, enabling a true“wire-once” operation. When the need arises to add

a new server, they just plug it in and decide whichnetwork to use. The process has been radicallysimplified so server administrators are self-sufficient tochange what they need—when they need it.

Realize the full potential of yourinfrastructureHP Virtual Connect with Flex-10 technology does morethan improve the way you work. It reduces the numberof steps in complex, routine processes, delivers upto 4x more connections per server, and cuts networkequipment needs by up to 75 percent.2

The Virtual Connect Flex-10 technology quadruples thenumber of NIC ports per server and reduces the numberof network modules by up to 75 percent, without addingmanaged switches to the data center. This means youcan save on network costs and improve flexibility,without complicating LAN or SAN management.

HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric modules and FlexFabricadapters extend Flex-10 to include converged dataand storage traffic over a single wire. It not onlyreduces the number of network modules but alsogreatly reduces the need for Fibre Channel modules.

Virtual Connect also delivers extreme flexibility for theserver administrator to manage servers in completelynew ways—independently. This revolutionaryapproach to I/O or network virtualization provides asimple view of your HP BladeSystem environment to theEthernet and Fibre Channel networks, while relievingthe server, storage, and network administrators oftheir constant interdependence and frequent need forcoordination. Now, they can focus their efforts on theirareas of expertise and be more productive.

Using Virtual Connect modules for HP BladeSystem,

your LAN and SAN connections are available to aserver pool of more than 16,000 physical servers(and any virtual servers on top), when managed with

Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager. You define aserver I/O connection, deploy it with a click of abutton, and migrate it to another server bay elsewin your data center or even in another location,instantly—all without disturbing the SAN or LAN. Tsaves provisioning and maintenance time, improveproductivity, and allows you to maintain and contrserver availability more easily.

A simple solution to mult iple challenges

Virtual Connect Ethernet, FlexFabric, and Fibre

Channel modules are interconnect options forHP BladeSystem c3000 and c7000 enclosures useplace of traditional pass-through or managed switsolutions. They abstract and pool the server-edgeconnections so that they look like NICs and HBAs the external LAN and SAN.

This allows server administrators to independentlymanage server blades and their connectivity, helpto maintain high-availability connections throughoyour server racks as you securely administer Medi

Access Control (MAC) addresses and World WidNames (WWN) for each server.

To complement Virtual Connect hardware modulesHP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager (VCEM)provides a single console to discover and manageup to 1,000 HP BladeSystem enclosures configurewith Virtual Connect (called Virtual Connect doma

A central database administers and controls all yoMAC addresses and WWNs, which decreases thrisk of address conflicts. You can use group-basedconfigurations to streamline enclosure administratiand rapidly move network connections and theirworkloads across your organization—enabling

efficient deployment, systems maintenance, andfailover to spare blade servers.

Together, HP Vir tual Connect modules and VCEMallow you to create a change-ready infrastructureto add, move, and recover servers across the datacenter without impacting production LANs and SAThis enables IT organizations to work smarter, redcomplexity, and respond faster to workload andbusiness demands.

2 Based on HP analysis of networking equipment (adapters andenclosure interconnects)Each NIC on a ser ver requires one switch; thereby eight NICs wouldrequire eight switches. With HP VC Flex-10, eight NICs require only VC switch modules. This simple calculation will help you understand better, (8-2)/8 = 75%.



•InstallsnewserverandconnectstoLAN and SAN using Virtual Connect GUI orCommand Line Interface

•Installsnewserver

•GetsLANconnection

•GetsSANconnection

week(s) minutes



•Installsrackandenclosure

•CablesVirtualConnectEthernetandFibreChanModules to LAN and SAN switches

• AssignsallLANstopoolof1to1000enclosure(16-16000 servers)

• AssignsallSANstopoolof1to1000enclosure(16-16000 servers)

Deployment

Adding a new server

Adding another new server

Adding another new server

Traditional switch/pass-through environment Virtual Connect environment

System Admin Network Admin Storage Admin



•Installsrackandenclosure

•Cablesbladeswitches/pass-throughsto LAN and SAN switches

• AssignsLANconnectionstoser vers initially installed

• AssignsSANconnectionstoservers initially installed





week(s)

week(s)

minutes

minutes

An architecture that is built-in, not bolted-on

HP Virtual Connect architecture is integrated into everyBladeSystem enclosure. It delivers extreme flexibilityfor the server administrator to connect and manageservers the way they want and integrate with theexisting standards, procedures, and familiar brandsin their data center, such as HP Networking, Cisco, orBrocade. This technology takes advantage of thehigh-performance interconnect channels, integrated

I/O connections, Onboard Administratorcommunication and control channels, and modulainterconnect bays delivered as standard withHP BladeSystem.

Turn on the full capability of the Virtual Connectarchitecture with Virtual Connect Ethernet and FibChannel modules and advanced software like VirtConnect Enterprise Manager to control environmewith multiple BladeSystem enclosures.



HP FlexFabric adapters are now integrated on variousHP server blades integrated or available as a FlexFabric

Adapter mezzanine card to add more flexibility to your Virtual Connect environment at lower costs.

Inventing new ways to solve old problems

HP BladeSystem is not just about applying ahigh-performing technology to support your business.It is also about helping you streamline the deliveryof IT services to rapidly meet workload and businessdemands and to improve your productivity.

As a blade infrastructure pioneer, HP has beentackling some of the toughest IT challenges, leveraginginnovations and expertise from across the company.This includes technologies from HP NonStop andSuperdome servers to deliver the NonStop midplanewith no single-point-of-failure and tremendousbandwidth for high performance.

The limitations of pass-through modules and inefficientprocesses behind network connections were the keyissues. HP gathered a team of senior technologists tofind a better approach to solving this problem.

In-depth interviews with server, LAN, and SAN teakey customer sites revealed to us the way they workthe problems they faced, and what they needed toboost productivity. The team used this information trefine the hardware cable reduction and server-edgvirtualization concepts that became HP Virtual Con

Server sparing: Fast and affordable

Today you have two choices: Buy and operate twoservers for every one you need; or keep one spare fmany servers as you need, and then spend everyon

time to get LAN and SAN administrators to adjust thnetworks when you need to replace a failed server.

HP Virtual Connect gives you the best of bothalternatives. VCEM allows you to spare 16 serverblades with just one server, allowing the serveradministrator to quickly and independently assignLAN and SAN connections to replace any failed se

VCEM lets you spare up to 16,000 server blades wmanaging a whole data center full of enclosures froa single console. Individual servers or whole encloscan be migrated, repurposed, recovered, or shiftedbetween workloads quickly and reliably.

•Holdsoneservertobeusedasspareforall c-Class servers in the data center

•Pullsoutfailedserverandreplacesitwithsparereplacement server

• AssignssameLANstoVirtualConnectpool of servers

• AssignssameSANstoVirtualConnectpool of servers

minutesweek(s)

Spare server configuration Pre-configuration for N+1 redundancy

Failure occurs

Traditional switch/pass-through environment Virtual Connect environment

•ForN+1redundancy,removesthefailedserver,thenidentifies the spare server and cables to the samenetworks as of the original failed server*

•UpdatesLANconnectionsfor change of servers

•Purchasestwoserversforeveryoneserverneeded

• AssignssameLANstoproductionand spare server

• AssignssameSANstoproductionand spare server

•UpdatesSANconnections for change of servers

* For N+N redundancy uses hot standby



Virtual Connect FlexFabric module

16—10 GbE downlinks to servers8—10 Gb SFP + uplinks and stacking links2—10 GbE shared internal cross-connect links

4—10 GbE4—10 GbE or4—2/4/8 Gb FC

side by side for redundancy

Virtual Connect Flex-10 Ethernet module

side by side for redundancy

Virtual Connect domain

can pool four enclosures as one

Virtual Connect Fibre Channel module

16—10 GbE downlinks to servers8—10 GbE SFP + uplinks2—10 GbE shared internal cross-connect links1—10 GbE CX4 for stacking

16—8 Gb FC downlinks to server

8—8 Gb FC SFP + uplinks

Build a Virtual Connect environmentwith your enclosureHP BladeSystem

HP BladeSystem has been designed from thebeginning with HP Virtual Connect technology,so that computing resources automatically meet yourbusiness demands.

This technology works in concert with virtual machinesand the virtual machine capabilities of HP InsightControl software to help you manage a data centerfull of virtual machines. You can now add newoperating flexibility for the system administrator andlighten the load on SAN and LAN administrators.

Build-in flexibility in your network connections

HP BladeSystem enhances the variety andperformance of your interconnect options. The reaof the enclosure accommodates eight single-wideinterconnect modules. For redundancy, simply useof the modules (same model) side-by-side. You can

•Plug Virtual Connect FlexFabric, Ethernet, and FChannel modules into the interconnect bays to

reduce cables without adding switches to mana•Reduce cables by plugging in your favorite Ethe

and Fibre Channel switches.

•Get high performance with an unmanaged 4x DInfiniBand switch.

•Use pass-through modules when you need to ha1:1 server-to-network connection.

Connect the way you wantThe HP Virtual Connect management firmware locally administers and holds the MAC addresses and WWN constant for each server so you do not need to update them in the LAN and SAN when you add or move a server. As the architecture incorporates an Ethernebridge and an HBA aggregator, once you do the initial configuration the connection is mapped and made between the NIC and HBAhardware, without having to change LAN and SAN addresses and names. Because these connections appear static, LAN and SANnetworks do not have to change to accommodate the movement of servers and their physical NICs and HBAs.



B

l a d e e n c l o s u r e

A H B A

N I C

B H B A

N I C

C H B A

N

I C

Spare H B A

N I C

E t h e r n e t

S w i t c h

F i b r e C h a n n e l

S w i t c h

Mac address

WWN

Server administrator Network administrator

Storage administrator

A simpler, better way to connectthan beforeConstant incremental coordination creates more work

In a typical data center environment, network andstorage administrators need to help with routine servermaintenance such as moves, additions, and changesfor each server, one at a time. For example, when youreplace or move a server, the network administrator

has to connect a spare server to the same Ethernenetworks as the original server and account forMedia Access Control address changes. The storaadministrator needs to update the SAN fabric toaccount for changes in WWNs. And you have toschedule all these changes every time you make achange. It is slow. It is complicated. It limits flexibiliIt must be done individually for every server, everysomething happens. And it wastes everyone’s time

For every routine server move, addition or change, network administrators must connect a new server to the same Ethernet networks aoriginal and account for MAC address changes. Storage administrators need to update SAN fabric zoning and target selective storagpresentation to account for WWN changes.



B l a d e e n c l o s u r e

A

B

C

Spare H P V i r t u a l C o n n e c t F l e x F a b r i c m o

d u l e s

Server-edgevirtualization

Server administrator Network administrator

Storage administrator

HP Virtual Connect makes your datacenter change-readyUsing the HP Virtual Connect modules, you can removeLAN and SAN switches from the HP BladeSystemenclosure to isolate and simplify administrationamong server, LAN, and SAN teams. This gives youthe flexibility to pre-configure a rack of enclosures,

including LAN and SAN connections, so you canwire once and add, change, or move servers withoutaffecting the LAN or SAN. You can also save on travelcosts when remote data centers need server changes,but do not require onsite LAN or SAN administrators.

A holistic approach to virtualizationHP Virtual Connect—a foundational building block

in your virtualized IT environment

More than point products, HP Virtual Connect workswith other virtualization technologies to provide virtualconnections for your virtual machines and a complete

solution with a roadmap to future capabilities.

In traditional use, virtual machine technology canmake your server hardware more productive, butthose benefits stop at the server boundary—at thelevel of NICs, HBAs, and CNAs. HP Virtual Connecttakes it from there. Once configured, Virtual Connecttechnology allows failover from one server to another

without requiring updates to LAN and SAN locatiotables. Virtual machines and hypervisors also requmany NICs per server and the expensive networkequipment to support it. Virtual Connect FlexFabrimodules and FlexFabric adapters lets you add 4xmore data and storage connections per serverwith a decrease of up to 95 percent in the networequipment at the server edge. These FlexNICs and

FlexHBAs support virtual machines while pooling aabstracting the LAN and SAN connections to provserver flexibility, and make time-consuming LAN aSAN management activities unnecessary.

Blade architectures provide operational cost savincable consolidation, and power and cooling beneto the data center. The latest blade servers give yoincreased processing core and memory capacitiesalong with native 10 Gb network connectionsallowing more VMs per server. However, with theidensity, there are trade-offs in the number of NICconnections. Most blade servers, such as those fro

IBM, Dell, and Sun, have a practical limit of six Nconnections. Now more than ever, increased netwconnections per server are needed in virtual machapplications. HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 is theworld’s first technology to divide and fine-tune 10 Ethernet network bandwidth at the server edge toincrease the number of NIC connections to up tofour-fold per server, network modules.

HP Virtual Connect reduces cables without adding switches to manage. It maintains end-to-end connections with your favorite networkstorage brands without adding Fibre Channel domains. And it cleanly separates management of servers from LANs and SANs to reliethose administrators of server maintenance tasks. So you can add, move, replace, or upgrade servers when your business needs it, foultimate in change-ready server environments.



VC FlexFabric VC FlexFabric

Enclosure Managed Switches Virtual Connect Modules

1 GbLOM

QuadNIC

DualHBA

FlexFabric Adapter

Dual 10 Gb Mezz

Each 10 Gb connectionsupports up to 4 FlexNICsor 3 FlexNICs

and 1 FlexHBA

1 Gb Switch 1 Gb Switch

4 Gb FC Switch 4 Gb FC Switch



E E

Traditional Blade Server HP ProLiant BL G6 Server

FC FCE E E E E E FCEE E FCE

Understanding Virtual Connect Flex-10

Server Blade Server Blade

Server SideNPIV

Single WWN

Single

Multiple W

VM1 VM1 VM2 VM2 VM3 VM3

Virtual Connect FC Virtual Connect FC

Vol 1 Vol 3

Vol 2

HBA/CNA HBA/CNA

VHBA-1 VHBA-2 VHBA-3 VHBA-1 VHBA-2 VHBA-3

It also adds the first-ever capability to fine-tune thebandwidth of each NIC to match the demands of yourvirtual servers and application workloads. HP VirtualConnect FlexFabric modules and FlexFabric adaptersextend those capabilities to a converged serveredge. Data and storage traffic flow over one wirewith the same bandwidth adjustability, and multipleconnections to one interconnect device.

HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric modules and FlexFabricadapters and Flex-10 technologies reduce infrastructurecosts by breaking the barriers of rigid networkconnections, speeds, and NIC ports, providingunparalleled server I/O scale-out, virtualization, andnetwork efficiency in the data centers. Traditionally,storage resources have been tied to a physical HBAand could not be provisioned to the virtual machinesusing the SAN administrator’s tools of choice, such aszoning and selective storage presentation. With HP

Virtual Connect Fibre Channel and FlexFabric Modulesand server-side N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV),

storage management is no longer limited to a single

HBA WWN on the physical server. Each virtualmachine can have its own unique WWN and itremains associated with that virtual machine even the virtual machine is dynamically moved. Now, SAadministrators can manage and provision storage virtual HBAs—up to 256 per server blade—with thsame methods and quality of service as physical H



Connected to other key HP BladeSystem innovations

In addition to HP Virtual Connect technology, HP has builtother innovations into the HP BladeSystem infrastructure.

HP Insight Control management is a unifiedmanagement toolset. It combines software andintelligent infrastructure to help IT organizationssave time, streamline processes, and reduce humanerror while provisioning, monitoring, and controllingphysical and virtual resources.

HP Thermal Logic technology helps to turn energy intoa resource in your HP BladeSystem. It automaticallyadjusts and shifts power loads and cooling volumebased on changing workload demands. As a result,every component or application does not use more

power or cooling than it needs. An intelligent fabrof built-in sensors monitors and helps optimize powheat, and cooling capacity—reducing energy costand the impact of heat on your data center.

Commitment to steady streams of innovation

HP Virtual Connect provides an easy interfacetoday and the foundation for future innovations andcapabilities, such as solutions for shared multi-proceservers, shared storage, and converged fabrics.

As a leader in virtualization technology and bladeinfrastructure innovation, HP plans to continue tobring together innovation from HP hardware, storasoftware, services, and HP Labs.

Virtual Connect features

irtual Connect server profile •NIC MAC addresses•Fibre Channel HBA WWN•OS boot configuration•PXE settings•Port speed settings• Virtual Serial Numbers and Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs)

upported configurations •Up to eight Virtual Connect Ethernet or FlexFabric Modules per enclosure•Up to six Virtual Connect FC modules per enclosure

•Stacking through 10 GbE or 1 GbE links

thernet connections •Define up to 64 unique external networks•High density copper Ethernet module with two 10 GbE (CX4) and eight 10/100/1000 BASE-T uplinks•Media flexible fiber optic Ethernet module with two 10 GbE (XFP), one 10 GbE (CX4), two 1 GbE (SFP), and four 10/100/1000 BASE-T•HighperformanceFlexFabricmodulesandFlex-1010GbEthernetmoduleswith8SFP+uplinksandone10GbECX4(Flex-10only)conne•External network connections support LACP trunks and failover•External networks may be tagged VLANs on external ports•Captures and displays LLDP information from external switches•Supports up to 128 VLANs per uplink set•Pass-through of host VLAN tags•Supports Port Mirroring on any available uplink Port•Does not participate in external Spanning Tree Protocol (no loops within HP Virtual Connect domain)

erver Ethernet ports •Supports all Ethernet NICs on system boards and mezzanine cards with no changes to the device drivers•2-6 ports per half-height (HH) blade server•2-10 ports per full-height (FH) blade server

•Flex-10 Enabled NIC’s (FlexNICs) support up to 24 ports per half-height and 40 ports per full-height server with 10 Gb LOMs•FlexNIC’s are speed selectable from 100 Mb to 10 Gb•Maps each physical port to any external network•Sets movable MAC address to each physical NIC (using HP or customer-supplied MAC range)

bre Channel connections •Up to eight 2/4/8 Gbps auto-sensing Fibre Channel ports per module•Supports all FC mezzanine cards with no changes to the host OS device drivers•Sets movable WWN to each physical HBA port (using HP or customer-supplied WWN range)• Allows connectivity to up to 8 unique external Fibre Channel SAN fabrics•Supports enhanced server-side NPIV capabilities•Storage resources can be provisioned and associated directly to a specific virtual machine, up to 256 virtual machines per server blade

Management interface • Virtual Connect Manager—default web console embedded into Ethernet module firmware for single enclosure management − Web GUI or Command Line Interface

− SNMPv1 and SNMPv2

− Define available external networks, create server I/O profiles, map to server bays, migrate to new server bays

− Integrated with HP SIM for events and sign-on − Assistance in cabling stacking links

• Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager option provides a single console to manage up to 250 VC domains with a total of 1000 BladeSystemenclosures, and includes a central database to administer over 65,000 MAC addresses and WWNs, Virtual Connect domain grouping ancross-enclosure server connection profile movement and failover



Services to get you started

HP experts can help you plan, design, implement,and manage virtualization solutions to build aflexible infrastructure. Our service professionals have

processes in place to assess your needs, evaluatereturn on investment (ROI), and deliver the rightsolution for you.

Many clients start with HP Business Discovery or Agility Assessment services to explore business agilityrequirements and assess not only the technology, butalso the people and processes that drive the business.HP thoroughly examines the IT infrastructure to uncoverhidden costs and untapped potential. We then workwith you and our partners to develop a plan for eachsolution. Once the design is finalized, HP offers awide range of integrated services that can help you

deploy and configure a Virtual Connect infrastructurebuilt around best practices.

Our proactive service management solutions also helpyou build processes and decision-making practicesthat deliver service management and service-levelimprovements in support of virtualized IT solutions.

With the expertise gained from engagementsaround the world, HP understands the forces thatimpact an industry, as well as the technology thatcan drive it forward. HP has expertise supporting ITorganizations at any point along the HP BladeSystemimplementation path.

FAQsQ: What is HP Virtual Connect technology?

A: HP Virtual Connect technology is an innovative

virtual I/O architecture to deliver flexibility forthe server administrator to manage servers incompletely new ways. This revolutionary approto network virtualization provides a simple viewof your server blade environment out to yourconverged network, Ethernet and Fibre Channenetworks while stripping away the interdependand frequent multi-group coordination that haveplagued server maintenance productivity.

Q: Does Virtual Connect come standard with th

HP BladeSystem or is this a premium capab

that I must purchase?

A: The connectivity capabilities are already built intevery HP BladeSystem enclosure. AddingHP Virtual Connect modules turn on the full beneThe HP Virtual Connect Ethernet, Fibre Channeland FlexFabric modules can be installed withyour HP BladeSystem purchase, or you can ordeand install them later, based on your connectivityneeds. The Virtual Connect Manager Web-baseconsole comes built-in to the Virtual Connect Ethehardware for managing one Virtual Connect doat a time. The more advanced VCEM software oenables you to manage up to 1000 Virtual Conn

enclosures quickly and easily from a single conso



Get connectedwww.hp.com/go/getconnected

Current HP driver, support, and security alertsdelivered directly to your desktop

© Copyright 2006–2011 Hewlett- Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.he only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services.othing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions

ontained herein.

Q: Will I need an HP technician or consultant to

implement the capabilities and technologies

associated with Virtual Connect or can I do

it myself?

A: Installation for the modules is similar to switchesand other interconnect modules and doesnot require technical assistance. Of course,HP technical support is available to assist you to set

it up and tailor it to your current processes.Q: Is the HP BladeSystem with Virtual Connect

compatible with other virtualization technology

that we have already implemented across our

IT environment?

A: HP Virtual Connect works with other virtualizationproducts and technologies to provide connectionsfor your virtual machines. Virtual machinetechnology can make your server hardware moreproductive, but those benefits stop at the serverboundaries—at the level of NICs and HBAs. Onceconfigured, Virtual Connect technology allows

failover from one virtual server to another acrophysical blades without requiring updates to LAand SAN location tables. It seamlessly supportsvirtual machines while pooling and abstractingthe server, LAN, and SAN connections to provserver flexibility, while making time-consuming and SAN management activities unnecessary.

Q: Do you have a service that will help me

configure my Virtual Connect solution?

A: HP Enhanced Network Installation and StartupService for HP BladeSystem deliver a highly-skiHP network professional to configure and testEthernet switches, Virtual Connect, Virtual ConFlex-10, and FlexFabric modules. This servicehelps deploy networks quickly and more securefacilitates proper implementation of networkprotocols, and gives access to advanced featurthat can help improve the performance, scalaband reliability of your data center network.

It is simple, flexible, and easy-to-use—just like HP BladeSystem itself. To learn more, visit;www.hp.com/go/virtualconnect and www.hp.com/go/vcem

4aa0-5821enw virtual connect guide(1)

Documents