General |
| Q1. |
What is HP Virtual Connect? |
| A1. |
Virtual Connect is a set of interconnect modules and embedded software for HP BladeSystem c-Class enclosures that simplifies the setup and administration of server connections. HP Virtual Connect includes the HP Virtual Connect 4Gb Fibre Channel Module, two HP Virtual Connect Ethernet modules, the HP Virtual Connect Manager and the HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager.
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| Q2. |
How does Virtual FC Connect work? What are the key technologies involved? |
| A2. |
While Virtual Connect uses the standard HBAs within the server, it uses a new class of NPIV based Fibre Channel interconnect modules to simplify connection of those server HBAs to the datacenter environment. Virtual Connect also extends the capability of the standard server HBAs by providing support for securely administering their Fibre Channel WWN address.
The HP Virtual Connect 4Gb Fibre Channel Module will allow the c-Class administrator to define uplinks to their datacenter Fibre Channel switches, and then allow the administrator to select which server HBA ports will be connected to each external network. Looking in to the enclosure from each external Fibre Channel network, only the selected Fibre Channel HBA ports will be visible on what appears to be an isolated, private, loop-free network.
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| Q3. |
What is the Virtual Connect Architecture? |
| A3. |
The c-Class infrastructure was designed with Virtual Connect in mind. The OnBoard Administrator, PCI-Express mezzanine cards, NICs & drivers, and iLo communication channel are all incorporated in and necessary to the operation of Virtual Connect and together with the Virtual Connect modules constitute the Virtual Connect Architecture. The fact that Virtual Connect is so tightly and completely integrated into the c-Class infrastructure helps make its functionality so powerful and seamless to c-Class BladeSystem users.
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| Q4. |
How many Virtual Connect FC modules do I need? What is the minimum supported configuration? |
| A4. |
The c-Class enclosure requires one interconnect module for each Fibre Channel port used on the half-height server bays. There are a minimum of two Fibre Channel ports on each FC mezzanine card, if both ports are to be used then there will need to be two Virtual Connect 4Gb FC modules installed per FC Mezzanine card. At least one Virtual Connect Ethernet Module is required to manage the Fibre Channel modules. An environment with a single Virtual Connect-Enet module per enclosure is supported, but not recommended as it doesn't provide a high-availability configuration for the Virtual Connect Manager or allow for resilient server Ethernet network connections.
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| Technology |
| Q1. |
Isn't Virtual Connect just shifting the workload from network admins to server admins? |
| A1. |
No, the network administration responsibility remains in the hands of the networking specialist. A few simple networking setup steps at initial deployment is all that is required. The server specialist then has the flexibility to adjust which servers and NICs are connected to the specific networks provided and he/she can do it on his/her own without needing to schedule help from the network admin.
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| Q2. |
Isn't the network admin losing control of his networks? |
| A2. |
Not at all. The networking admin still decides which networks will be made available* to the servers in a Virtual Connect Domain; but he/she just treats all of those servers as a pool instead of as individual servers. Once Virtual Connect is configured, the networking admin doesn't have to help with server changes. The server admin will have the flexibility to decide, and change as needed, which NICs are connected to which of the networks provided by the network administrator.
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| Connectivity |
| Q1. |
Why would a customer say he doesn't have enough Fibre Channel domains to be able to use non-Virtual Connect BladeSystem FC switches? |
| A1. |
In the most common way that FC SAN fabrics are designed, the SAN is limited to a specific number of switches that it can incorporate. That number changes depending on brand: McData allows 24 switches, Cisco FC allows 40, and Brocade allows 56. In the dense server environment typical of blade usage, the natural limit of one switch per 16 HBAs requires a lot of BladeSystem FC switches. When they add up the director-class and other switches in the SAN, frequently there isn't enough capacity left to allow blade server FC switches.
The Virtual Connect 4Gb Fibre Channel Module is not a switch and so doesn't count against these limits. So, a SAN fabric can include as many Virtual Connect FC modules as needed! The fact that a user can reduce the number of cables without overcrowding his SAN will be enough for many customers to buy Virtual Connect. On top of that are all of the advantages of extra flexibility in moving and adding servers without the SAN admin needing to be involved.
- The specific technology that allows Virtual Connect FC to operate in this way is an ANSI T11 Fibre Channel standard called NPIV (N_Port Identifier Virtualization) and is supported by all of the major FC switch and HBA manufacturers.
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| Q2. |
How do you get the FC cable reduction without adding switches? |
| A2. |
Virtual Connect FC provides HBA aggregation using an ANSI T11 Fibre Channel standard called NPIV (N_Port Identifier Virtualization) that is supported by all of the major FC switch and HBA manufacturers. It allows one FC switch port to talk with multiple HBAs. Originally developed to support some zoning and security needs of virtual machines, it also nicely solves the problem of reducing FC cable count without adding switches.
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| Q3. |
Are there a lot of extra steps added for a FC SAN to comprehend Virtual Connect? |
| A3. |
No, many existing FC switches already support N-port logins using N_port_ID virtualization. There is usually no special configuration or set up on the Fibre Channel switch. When the server blade HBAs login to the fabric (through the Virtual Connect FC module), the HBA WWN is visible to the FC switch name server and is managed (fabric zoning) the same as it was if it was directly connected.
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| Q4. |
If a user has qualified his FC SAN with a brand of HBAs (e.g. McData with Emulex), will he need to qualify his SAN and HBA with Virtual Connect FC? |
| A4. |
Once the initial HBA login sequence is completed, the Virtual Connect FC device is transparent and does not alter the FC frames sent/received to/from the server HBA. This transparency helps ensure that existing configurations with specific models of HBAs, FC switches, and SAN targets will continue to work reliably.
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| Q5. |
Does the Virtual Conect 4Gb FC module look truly transparent to all FC elements? |
| A5. |
Yes - During the fabric login sequence, the Virtual Connect 4Gb FC module will convert regular N-port fabric login (FLOGI) frames to comply to the NPIV standard. Once that is complete, the frames are passed through the Virtual Connect FC Module without change. At that point, the Virtual Connect FC Module operates as a transparent, buffered multiplexer.
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| Miscellaneous |
| Q1. |
Does my FC SAN zoning still work? How? |
| A1. |
Yes - Since each server HBA port still logs into the SAN fabric with its port WWN and receives back a port ID from the switch name server, all of the switch WWN-based SAN zoning still works! The only limitation is that customers that use switch port-based zoning would need to restrict movement of Virtual Connect server profiles among servers that map to the same SAN uplink. Since WWN-based zoning is more frequently used, this restriction is usually not a problem.
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| Q2. |
Will I be able to buy NPIV devices from other vendors? |
| A2. |
Yes. NPIV is an industry standard capability. But, other solutions will not have full Virtual Connect functionality. They may reduce cables but they won't support addition or movement of servers without affecting the SAN.
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| Q3. |
What switch firmware versions support NPIV logins? |
| A3. |
Every major Fiber Channel Switch vendor has either announced support or has included support for NPIV in their latest version of switch firmware.
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| Health & Management |
| Q1. |
Does it work with Microsoft Windows Server 2008? |
| A1. |
Yes, the HP Virtual Connect 4Gb Fibre Channel module is transparent to any operating system. It provides 128 NPIV host ports to those operating systems that support NPIV addressing.
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