Specifications

HP Virtual Connect for Cisco Network Administrators (version 1.2x) page 33
Figure 15. VMware ESX server Compared to Virtual Connect Enclosure
After comparing the components and their functionality, it is obvious why many customers treat a c-
Class enclosure with Virtual Connect the same way they would a single VMware ESX server. In other
words, VC allows an entire enclosure to look to the network just like a big VMware ESX server. From
a network redundancy and load balancing perspective, from a security perspective, from a port
monitoring perspective, etc.; VC simplifies the network connectivity for an entire enclosure and
makes it behave on the network like a single VMware ESX server.
Just to reiterate the commonality between the two products from a networking technology
perspective, below is a table of similarities.
Table 2. Networking Technology Similarities Between VC and VMware
VMware Virtual Connect
Provides network connectivity for
multiple servers
3
(virtual)
3
(physical & virtual)
Provides redundancy external
connectivity for internal servers
3 3