Specifications

HP Virtual Connect for Cisco Network Administrators (version 1.2x) page 4
Ethernet components and technology. The subsequent sections will be devoted to covering the
details of many networking features where Virtual Connect and the external Cisco infrastructure
intersect.
Definitions
ACL (VACL) Access Control List or VLAN Access Control List: A set of rules that allows
or disallows network traffic to flow between network devices
BPDU Bridge Protocol Data Unit: A spanning tree configuration frame
exchanged between switches in the same spanning tree domain
CDP Cisco Discovery Protocol: A proprietary Cisco protocol used to
exchange neighbor information between two directly connected Cisco
devices
CX-4 An industry standard cabling specification used by VC for network
connectivity using 10 Gbit Ethernet over copper
External Network The network and associated network devices external to the VC domain
Internal cross-connect A non-visible port that interconnects two horizontally adjacent VC-Enet
modules
LACP Link Aggregation Control Protocol: An 802.3ad Link Aggregation
configuration frame exchanged between two devices that form a port
trunk\channel between them
LAG Link Aggregation Group. 802.3ad terminology for a port trunk\channel
group
LLDP Link Layer Discovery Protocol. An IEEE protocol that provides CDP-like
functionality
Logical Path A single physical port or a single port channel. Both represent a single
communication path.
LOM LAN on Motherboard. A NIC embedded on the system board of a
server.
Port Trunk (channel group) A group of two or more ports that operate as a single logical port and
single logical path for the purposes of load balancing. 802.3ad and
EtherChannel are both port trunking technologies
Quality of Service (QoS) A very broad term associated with network traffic classification,
prioritization, queuing, marking, etc
Server Profile An object within the Virtual Connect domain that is assigned to a server
bay and contains the server’s LAN and SAN connectivity settings (vNet
assignments, managed MAC addresses & WWNs, server boot
parameters, PXE configuration, and fiber channel boot parameters).
SFP A hot-pluggable modular 1 Gbit port. Pluggable modules allow for
electrical or optical connectivity at 1 Gbit speeds
Shared Uplink Set (SUS) The term used by Virtual Connect to configure one or more VC uplinks as
a VLAN trunk connected to a switch employing IEEE 802.1Q VLAN
trunking
Stacking Link A link that directly connects two VC ports from the same VC domain
VC Virtual Connect: Broad term used to reference all the Virtual Connect
components as a whole – Ethernet & Fiber Channel modules and Virtual
Connect Manager.
VC-Enet A Virtual Connect Ethernet module
VC-FC A Virtual Connect Fiber Channel module
VCM Virtual Connect Manager: The user interface, web or CLI, used to
manage a Virtual Connect domain
Virtual Connect Domain All VC Fiber Channel modules and all stacked VC-Enet modules within
the same enclosure and under the control of the same Virtual Connect
Manager
Virtual Connect Network
(vNet)
A logical grouping of VC ports (downlinks or downlinks & uplinks) that
comprise a single layer 2 network or broadcast domain.
VC Downlink Non-visible ports that are directly connected to server NIC ports through
the enclosure midplane.
VCEM Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager: A separate software product that
extends management to as many as 100 VC domains from a single