Specifications

HP Virtual Connect for Cisco Network Administrators (version 1.2x) page 30
shared 4 Gb connection (2 port channels x 2 Gb each) to provide blade server connectivity to
VLAN 2 thru 4.
In order to utilize both port channels, the servers can be divided between the vNets associated with
each Shared Uplink Set or each server can be connected using NIC Teaming (as the figure below
depicts) to vNets from both Shared Uplink Sets that represent the same external VLAN. For example,
blade server 1 has one NIC assigned to VC_LAN_4_A and one assigned to VC_LAN_4_B. Both
teamed NICs are effectively assigned to VLAN 4 and load balancing and\or Fault Tolerance can be
provided over both logical paths at the same time. When each server is connected to multiple
vNets using NIC Teaming, the load balancing algorithm in the NIC Teaming driver controls how data
frames are load balanced over each vNet.
Figure 13. VC Domain Showing Advanced Usage of Shared Uplink Sets, EtherChannel, and Untagged Server NICs
(see Appendix A for a description of the elements in the above diagram)
Advanced VC-Enet Designs: Example Design #4
The last example of an advanced design is depicted in the figure below. In this diagram, two ESX
hosts, server 1 & 16, are each connected to two vNets, vNet_tunnel_1 and vNet_tunnel_2. Both
vNets are tunneling VLANs 2 thru 4 over their own 2 Gb port channel. Each ESX server is tagged with
VLANs 2 thru 4 and can assign Virtual Machines (VMs) to any of the three VLANs. Since both port
channels are active, the VC Domain has a shared 4 Gb connection (2 port channels x 2 Gb each)
to provide blade servers connectivity to VLAN 2 thru 4 by tunneling the VLANs to any blade server
with a NIC port assigned to either vNet.
In order to utilize both port channels, the servers can be divided between the vNets associated with
each Shared Uplink Set or each server can be connected using NIC Teaming\bonding (as the
figure below depicts). For example, blade server 1 has one NIC port assigned to vNet_tunnel_1 and
one assigned to vNet_tunnel_2. Both vNets represent 802.1Q tunnels for VLANs 2 thru 4. Also, both