HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem - Manual (Page 135)

Configuring the Virtual Connect domain using the CLI 135
default MAC addresses while the server remains in that Virtual Connect enclosure. When configured to
assign MAC addresses, Virtual Connect securely manages the MAC addresses by accessing the physical
NICs through the enclosure Onboard Administrator and the iLO interfaces on the individual server blades.
Always establish control processes to ensure that a unique MAC address range is used in each Virtual
Connect domain in the environment. Reusing address ranges could result in server network outages caused
by multiple servers having the same MAC addresses.
If using Virtual Connect assigned MAC addresses, the following notes apply:
• Virtual Connect automatically assigns two MAC addresses to each VC-Enet connection in the server
profile, a primary address for the Ethernet NIC and an iSCSI MAC address for use by multifunction
gigabit server adapters, such as the HP NC373m PCI Express Dual Port Multifunction Gigabit Server
Adapter. Only the primary MAC address is used by standard (not multifunction) Ethernet devices.
• If a server blade is moved from a Virtual Connect managed enclosure to a non-Virtual Connect
enclosure, the local MAC addresses on that server blade are automatically returned to the original
factory defaults.
• If a server blade is removed from a bay within a Virtual Connect domain and installed in another bay
in the same Virtual Connect domain or in a bay in a different domain, it is assigned the new set of
addresses appropriate for that server location.
• When FlexFabric adapters are in use, Virtual Connect assigns a MAC address to each FCoE connection
in the server profile.
• When iSCSI connections are used, Virtual Connect assigns a MAC address to each iSCSI connection
in the profile.
Assigned MAC addresses
The MAC address range used by the Virtual Connect domain must be unique within the environment. HP
provides a set of pre-defined ranges that are for use by VCM and do not conflict with server factory default
MAC addresses.
When using the HP-defined MAC address ranges, be sure that each range is used only once within the
environment.
Selecting VC-assigned MAC address ranges
When using VC-assigned MAC addresses, you can choose between using an HP pre-defined MAC address
range or using a user-defined MAC address range.
• HP pre-defined MAC address range (recommended). These pre-defined ranges are reserved and are
not the factory default on any hardware. There are 64 ranges of 1024 unique addresses to choose
from. Be sure to use each range only once within a data center.
1024 unique addresses might not be enough for a large configuration (multiple enclosures with many
Flex-10 NICs). If you plan a domain of this type, determine the number of MAC addresses you are likely
to use, and then select an option that provides the domain with sufficient MAC addresses.
• User-defined MAC address range. To avoid potential conflict with other hardware MAC addresses in
the environment, consider using a subrange of MAC addresses reserved by the IEEE for
locally-administered MAC addresses. Ensure that the range does not conflict with any Ethernet device
already deployed within the enterprise.