VCM on c3000 enclosures.

[The Brit]

The basic question is this;

Does VCM failover occur in a c3000 chassis? (obviously implies more than one VC module)

In other words, if VC ENet modules are installed in IC Bays 1 and 2, will VCM (or can VCM be configured to) fail over to Bay 2 in the event that Bay 1 becomes unavailable.

(I suspect not!)

Second Question:

Can two c3000 chassis be combined into a VC domain by running stacking links (or Uplink ports) between them.

Thanks

Dave.

[Adrian Clint]

Dave,

When you mean VCM failover - what do you actually mean is failing over?

1. One of the VCM modules is managing the VCM config... so that will failover if the VCM module fails.
Do you mean a network to a blade? Well yes it can be configured to. There are ways of configuring this.
What do you mean by unavailable? Crashes?

2. Yes you can run up to 4 enclosures as a single domain. But you need firmware 2.10 and the VCM modules in bays 1 & 2 NEED to be the 1/10 Fibre version. The 1/10 Copper ones do not have enough memory to hold the config for more than 1 enclosure.

[The Brit]

Thanks for your reply Adrian,
But just to be clear, I am talking about c3000 enclosures!

Specifically, I am considering connecting two (2) only, c3000's.

Regarding failover. I am specifically referring to the Virtual Connect Manager Software, for example, when doing FW upgrades. (this is what I mean when I say "unavailable", I mean upgrades, VC module failure, etc.)

The reason I am concerned is that I dont believe there is any "backplane" link between IC Bay 1 and IC Bay 2 in a c3000 (equivalent to the X0 Stacking link in a 7000).

In a c7000 Enclosure, VCM can happily fail back and forth between bay 1 and bay 2, these bays are mapped through the downlinks to the integrated ethernet ports on the blades. In a c3000, all of the integrated NICs on the blades are mapped to IC bay 1. IC Bay 2 maps to MEZZ1.

So it isnt clear whether VCM failover can happen in a c3000.

As far as the VC Domain question is concerned, I just want to reiterate that I am talking about c3000 enclosures.

Dave.

[Adrian Clint · Accepted solution]

Dave,
The X0 link does exist on the c3000. The Virtual Connect User guide specificially mentions it is there between 1&2 and 3&4.
Interconnect interconnectivity and interconnect to NIC mapping are not the same rules.

As for multi domain... the general doc on this does not mention the c3000 specifically
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=115&prodSeriesId=3201263&prodTypeId=329290&objectID=c01724621
But I then checked the 2.10 firmware release notes, and c3000 multi enclosure domains are not supported.

[The Brit]

Thanks Adrian,

One good answer, (and one sad one)

Dave