HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem - Manual (Page 249)

Appendix: Using Virtual Connect with nPartitions 249
iLO controls the blade link to change the configuration of nPars in the blade link domain, and the information
about the new configuration is communicated through the OA to VCM. During the process, VCM:
• Removes profile connections from affected nPars
• Updates its nPar configuration information
• Applies profiles to the new or modified nPars
Assigning a VC profile to an nPar
When an i4 server is configured with multiple nPartitions, each nPartition must be assigned its own profile.
Just as is done with multi-blade servers, a profile assigned to a multi-blade nPar is actually assigned to the
monarch bay of the nPar (and just like with multi-blade servers, the monarch bay in an nPar is the lowest
numbered bay in the nPar).
Mapping profile connections
Profile connections are mapped to an nPar exactly like they are mapped to servers: a 1-blade nPar is handled
exactly like a 1-blade server, and a 2-blade nPar is handled exactly like a 2-blade server.
Reconfiguring nPars
When a blade domain is reconfigured, any profile that is assigned to the monarch bay of any new partition
gets applied to all of the blades in the partition (just like applying a profile to a multi-blade server applies the
profile to all of the blades in the multi-blade server).
The following examples illustrate the events that accompany a reconfiguration. In these examples, assume
that there is a profile assigned to each of four bays.
Example 1: Reconfiguration from AAAA to AACD
The current profile assigned to the first bay is applied to the AAAA partition, and the other profiles (assigned
to the second, third and fourth bays) are considered to be assigned to covered bays and will not have been
used. VCM shows such a profile as assigned to a "Covered - Auxiliary" bay.
When the reconfiguration is done, the OA first generates blade remove events for all four blades in the
AAAA partition, resulting in VCM treating the AAAA partition as having been removed. Then the OA
generates blade add events for the first two blades that identify those two blades as belonging to one
partition (the AA partition), a blade add event for the third blade that identifies it as a single-blade partition
(the C partition), and likewise for the fourth blade (the D partition).
The profile assigned to the first bay is now shown as assigned to the AA partition and is applied to the first
two blades. The profile assigned to the second blade is shown as covered and is not used. The profile
assigned to the third bay is now shown as assigned to the C partition and is applied to that blade, and
likewise the profile assigned to the fourth bay is shown as assigned to the D partition and is applied to that
blade.
Example 2: Reconfiguration from AACD to ABCD
The current profile assigned to the first bay is applied to the AA partition, the profile assigned to the second
bay is covered and not used, the profile assigned to the third bay is applied to the C partition, and the profile
assigned to the fourth bay is applied to the D partition.