ProLiant BL p-Class Interconnect Overview - White Paper

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ProLiant BL p-Class Networking Overview

white paper

Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 2

Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 2

ProLiant BL p-Class server NICs ............................................................................................................. 2

ProLiant BL p-Class server blade enclosure .............................................................................................. 3

Blade enclosure network signal routing............................................................................................... 3

PXE ................................................................................................................................................ 4

ProLiant BL p-Class interconnects............................................................................................................ 5

RJ-45 Patch Panel and RJ-45 Patch Panel 2 Kits.................................................................................... 6

ProLiant GbE Interconnect Kit............................................................................................................. 8

ProLiant GbE2 Interconnect Kit......................................................................................................... 10

Investment protection.......................................................................................................................... 11

Conclusion........................................................................................................................................ 11

For more information.......................................................................................................................... 12

Summary of content (12 pages)

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ProLiant BL p-Class Networking Overview white paper Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 2 ProLiant BL p-Class server NICs .............................................................................................................
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Abstract This white paper describes how the Ethernet network signals are routed through the ProLiant BL pClass system components and provides an overview of the patch panel and Ethernet switch interconnect options for connecting the network signals to the external network infrastructure. For more information about the interconnect switch options, see the ProLiant BL p-Class GbE Interconnect Overview white paper1 and the ProLiant BL p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Switch Overview white paper2.
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Each ProLiant NC series NIC has been designed, developed, and manufactured to meet the needs of ProLiant customers. HP's testing, certification, and validation of NICs within ProLiant servers further enhance this value.
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Figure 3. The server blade enclosure backplane routes Ethernet signals from each server blade bay to both interconnect bays. The network signal routing from the NICs in each ProLiant BL p-Class server blade to the interconnect bays is provided in Table 2. Table 2.
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ProLiant BL p-Class interconnects All network signals from the server bays are routed to the interconnect bays. HP offers four ProLiant BL p-Class interconnect options that allow customers to choose how the networking and storage signals exit the server blade enclosure. These interconnect options include two ProLiant RJ-45 patch panel kits and two ProLiant GbE interconnect kits.
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Each interconnect kit includes two interconnects for one server blade enclosure. Each interconnect itself consists of two hot-pluggable components, a front loading interconnect blade and a rear mounted interconnect module that contains the network connectors. This modular design provides two key benefits: • The interconnect blade can be quickly and easily removed and replaced from the front of the rack without the need for re-cabling.
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Whether using the RJ-45 Patch Panel or RJ-45 Patch Panel 2 Kit, each RJ-45 connector corresponds to a specific embedded NIC in each server blade. A ProLiant BL20p or BL20p G2 server blade installed in the server bay 1 occupies the bottom row of connectors (Figure 6). Each consecutive server blade occupies the next highest row of connectors. Figure 6.
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ProLiant GbE Interconnect Kit The ProLiant BL p-Class server enclosure provides eight server blade bays, each supporting up to four Ethernet network adapters. Therefore, a fully configured server blade enclosure can have up to 32 Ethernet cables, and a 42U rack fully configured with BL p-Class server blades can have up to 192 Ethernet cables. As a result, the number of Ethernet network cables within this space can quickly become overwhelming.
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The two GbE Interconnect Switches are connected across the server blade enclosure backplane through a pair of redundant 10/100 Ethernet crosslinks bundled into a multi-port EtherChannel compatible trunk (see Figure 9). These crosslinks permit communication between the switches for additional management capability, fault tolerance, and cable reduction. As a result, any single uplink port may be used to connect to all 32 NICs for a 32-to-1 network cable reduction. Figure 9.
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ProLiant GbE2 Interconnect Kit The second generation ProLiant GbE2 Interconnect Kit is also designed to significantly reduce the number of Ethernet network cables attached to the rear of the server blade enclosure. However, it is designed for applications that require network adapter consolidation to 1000 Mb/s (Gigabit Ethernet), advanced network functionality, future upgradeability including layer 3-7 switching and 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplink bandwidth, and BL20p G2 Fibre Channel signal pass-through.
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• Optional pass-through of ProLiant BL20p G2 Fibre Channel storage signals using the GbE2 Storage Connectivity Kit. Therefore, both Ethernet signal consolidation and Fibre Channel pass-through is now possible using a single interconnect (see the ProLiant BL p-Class SAN Connectivity technology brief6. Figure 11. ProLiant BL p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Kit architecture For more information, see the ProLiant BL p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Switch Overview white paper7.
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For more information For additional information, refer to the resources detailed below. Resource description Web address ProLiant BL system home page http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/platforms/index-bl.html ProLiant BL p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Switch home page http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliant-bl/p-class/bl-pinterconnect-switch2.html ProLiant BL p-Class GbE Interconnect Switch home page http://h18004.www1.hp.