HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 20-port Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem User Manual
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Introduction 8
Virtual Connect implements server edge virtualization between the server and the data center infrastructure
so networks can communicate with pools of HP BladeSystem servers, and so you can upgrade, replace, or
move server blades within the enclosures without changes being visible to the external LAN and SAN
environments. The external networks connect to a shared resource pool of servers rather than to individual
servers. Virtual Connect cleanly separates server enclosure administration from LAN and SAN
administration.
VCM is embedded on the VC-Enet module. You can access VCM through a web-based GUI or CLI. The
Onboard Administrator provides a web link to the Virtual Connect GUI.
The VC modules support the HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure, the HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure, and
all the server blades and networks contained within the enclosure. FlexFabric modules are only supported in
BladeSystem c7000 enclosures and G6 or newer server blades with Virtual Connect firmware v3.15 and
later.
VC-Enet modules enable connectivity to all brands of data center Ethernet switches. VC-Enet modules can
also be directly connected to other types of devices, such as printers, laptops, rack servers, and network
storage devices.
The VC-FC and FlexFabric modules enable connectivity of the enclosure to Brocade, Cisco, McDATA, or
QLogic data center FC switches. Every FC fabric is limited in the number of switches it can support, but the
VC-FC modules do not appear as switches to the FC fabric and do not count against FC fabric limits.
A basic Virtual Connect domain includes a single HP c-Class BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure for a total of 16
servers (or up to 32 servers if the double-dense option is enabled), or a single HP c-Class BladeSystem c3000
Enclosure for a total of 8 servers (or up to 16 servers if the double-dense option is enabled). For more
information on the double-dense option, see "Double-dense server bay option (on page
)" . Within the
domain, any server blade with the requisite LAN or SAN devices can access any LAN or SAN connected to
a VC module, and a server blade of a given processor type (Integrity or X86) can be used as a spare for any
server blade of the same processor type within the same enclosure, as long as the server has the requisite
number and type of connections. Using network access groups feature, the network administrator can clearly
define a separation of networks based on their allowed functionality and prevent the server administrator
from assigning specific network combinations in the same server profile.
By stacking (cabling) the VC-Enet modules together within the domain and connecting the VC-FC or
FlexFabric module FC uplinks on the same bay of all enclosures to the same FC switch, every server blade in
the domain can be configured to access any external network or fabric connection. With this configuration,
you can use VCM to deploy and migrate a server blade profile to any server in the Virtual Connect domain
without changing external LAN or SAN configurations.