HP 1/10G Virtual Connect Ethernet Module for c-Class BladeSystem

[Dr_No]

I have a question that has been lingering in my head for a couple of days now...

Below is the product I am inquiring about:
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/blades/components/ethernet/vc/index.html

If I have 8 Blades with each 4 embedded NICs (total of 32 NICs), and have only ONE Virtual Connect, can I use all 32 ports? or am I limited to 16 since it says "16 downlinks"?

[rick jones]

I'm still acclimating to blades, but my understanding is that when you have blades with four built-in NICs they are spread across two I/O modules. That is consistent with the docs talking about 16 downlinks for the 1/10G VC module. IE, you will need two modules to use all 32 NICs.

[TTr]

You normally buy the interface blades in pairs. The 16 downlinks are assigned one to each blade slot. If you need more than two NIC ports on a blade you have to buy a mezanine card and additional LAN blade switches.