Specifications

HP Virtual Connect for Cisco Network Administrators (version 1.2x) page 40
Quality of Service
In the current version of firmware, Virtual Connect does not support any user-configurable settings
for traffic classification, marking, or prioritization. In addition, VC does not utilize layer 2 quality of
service markings (802.1p Class of Service) nor layer 3 quality of service markings (TOS, DSCP) for
frame prioritization. However, just like with any server-to-Cisco-switch deployment, QoS settings can
be applied to the Cisco switch port connected to VC uplinks.
If an Administrator needs the blade server NIC ports to receive layer 2 QoS markings (Class of
Service), then the server NIC ports will need to be assigned to a vNet operating in 802.1Q\p
tunneling mode. See the section above entitled “VC Uplinks and VLAN Trunking” for more
information.
Security
ACLs & VLAN ACLs
In the current version of firmware, Virtual Connect does not support user-configurable port or VLAN
ACLs. However, an Administrator can specifically design the deployment of vNets to make use of
ACLs or VACLs configured on the upstream Cisco switch.
In the figure below as an example, all four blade servers are on VLAN 1 even though they are split
between two different vNets. Since the uplink ports for both vNets are connected to Cisco switch
ports assigned to VLAN 1, both vNets represent VLAN 1 within the VC Domain. While server 1 can
communicate directly with Server 2 without leaving the VC Domain, Server 1 cannot talk to Servers 3
or 4 without transiting the external Cisco switch. Server 1’s traffic will exit the VC domain via vNet
VC_LAN1_A connected to interface gi0/1, be switched by the Cisco switch over to interface gi0/3,
and reach Server 3 via the vNet VC_LAN1_B.
Since Server 1’s traffic must transit the external Cisco switch to reach either Server 3 or Server 4,
Server 1’s traffic will be subject to any port ACLs or VLAN ACLs configured on the external Cisco
switch. In this case, the Administrator could apply a VACL on VLAN 1 of the external Cisco switch to
prevent Server 1 from communicating with Server 3 while still allowing Server 1 to communicate with
Server 4.
The scenario above is just one example of the many ways an Administrator can creatively use vNets
to accommodate complex network configurations.