topic Re: C3000 Networking question in BladeSystem - General

C3000 Networking question

DThomson_1 — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:16:42 GMT

How do i make the following connections work, if at all possible.

Planned solution - ESX/VSphere with 4 virtual servers all running on different networks. ESX networking is not a problem.

Bl460 blade with an extra 4 port network mezz card to give me 6 usable network ports.

Each virtual server must connect to a different vlan on an external switch.

How do i get 4 network cables out of one blade ?

Thanks

Re: C3000 Networking question

The Brit — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:19:00 GMT

What interconnect modules are you using.

Dave

Re: C3000 Networking question

BrianDoyle — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:20:54 GMT

Hi,

Are you using Virtual Connect, VC Flex-10's or Pass-Thru?

It is possible with all 3, best is obviously VC Flex-10 as you can decide on the port speed of each NIC.

Re: C3000 Networking question

DThomson_1 — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:26:14 GMT

We have not decided on the interconnects ! Its a new project.

What would be the best one to use and can i get four cables out to the switch ?

Thanks

Re: C3000 Networking question

The Brit — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:04:16 GMT

OK.

If you are using bl460 G6, then you will have 2 onboard 10Gb Flex NICs. These can by partitioned into 4 virtual NIC's each, but will require a Flex10 VC Ethernet module in IC Bay 1. With this config, you will get 8 virtual NICs (each with configurable bandwidth) per blade, without having to install any additional Mezz port NICs.

If you are not using G6's, then you will only have 2 1Gb LOM NICs per blade. You will need to have an Ethernet module of some type on IC Bay one (this is where your LOM NICs are mapped to (not negotiable))

If you add a 4 port NIC card, it will have to go on Mezz2, and the ports will map to IC bays 3 & 4 (Ports 1 & 3 go to Bay 3, and ports 2 & 4 go to Bay 4). This means that to make use of all 4 ports you will have to put Ethernet modules on IC Bays 3 & 4, (also not negotiable).

You don't have to worry about getting network cables out of the blades to the network, the blades are hard wired directly to the IC Bays. All you have to do is put the right type of modules in the appropriate bays.

So, If you dont have G6 blades (or if you do but dont want to spend the money on Flex10), then in order to get 6 NICs from each blade you will require 3 Ethernet modules in bays 1, 3 & 4, and a 4-port Mezz card on Mezz2. In this case it doesn't matter whether your IC modules are VC modules, Switches, or Passthru's, (although there are other good reasons for going with VC Modules.) Note this option only gives you 6Gb of total bandwidth

If you have G6 blades then all you need is a Flex10 module in Bay 1 and you will get 8 Virtual NICs per blade, with a total bandwidth of 20Gb.

If you go the other way, then you can have either
A) 5 NICs (enet in Bays 1,2 & 3, 2 pt NIC card on Mezz1 and 2 pt NIC card on Mezz2.
B) 6 NICs (enet in Bays 1,3 & 4, 4 pt NIC card on Mezz2.
C) 8 NICs (enet in Bays 1,2,3 & 4, 2 pt NIC card on Mezz1 and 4 pt NIC card on Mezz2.

NOTE:: Both of these configurations leave the option of putting a FC module in IC Bay 2 and a FC HBA on Mezz1 to give SAN connectivity if you need it.

If you go with Virtual connect, you will like the flexibility available for configuring connectivity to the external network. (plus the virtualization options) It is well worth reading up on.

hope this helps

Dave.

Re: C3000 Networking question

Emil Velez — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:01:38 GMT

go to

www.hp.com/go/blades

and looks for virtual connect cookbooks.

Ther seems to be a cookbook for all of the scenarios to configure virtual connect.

Re: C3000 Networking question

DThomson_1 — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:26:13 GMT

Thanks the Brit, just to recap as i might have put the question forward incorrectly.

I need 4 physical Ethernet cables coming out of the C3000. These are connecting to 4 different VLANS separated by firewalls on the next switch layer. This is a physical split.

With the following:
B) 6 NICs (enet in Bays 1,3 & 4, 4 pt NIC card on Mezz2.

I need 3 Ethernet pass through modules and from these i will have 4 Ethernet cables coming out of the C-Class to 4 external switches on different networks separated by firewalls.