ProLiant BL p-Class Interconnect Overview - White Paper

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.

For applications that require network cable reduction, the ProLiant GbE Interconnect Kit consolidates

the server blade network adapter signals to 100 Mb/s (Fast Ethernet) using two Ethernet switches

mounted into the server blade enclosure. The GbE Interconnect Kit includes two hot-swappable, fully

managed layer 2 Ethernet switches and two rear-mounted, 4-port LAN interconnect modules (Figure

8). The GbE Interconnect Kit is available in two options: the C-GbE Interconnect Kit for copper-based

networks and the F-GbE Interconnect Kit for fiber-based networks. The difference between the kits is

the LAN interconnect module that supports the uplink port media. The C-GbE Interconnect kit includes

two QuadT interconnect modules, each with two 10/100/1000T and two 10/100T ports, all with RJ-

45 connectors. The F-GbE Interconnect Kit includes two DualTSX interconnect modules, each with two

1000SX ports with LC connectors and two 10/100T ports with RJ-45 connectors.

Each GbE Interconnect Switch reduces up to sixteen internal server blade network NICs ports to six

external Ethernet ports: four ports on the rear-mounted LAN interconnect module and two ports on the

switch front panel. The front panel ports are for local switch access, port mirroring, or additional

uplinks to the network. Because each external Ethernet port can communicate to all the server blades,

one to twelve external ports (per enclosure) may be used to connect to the network infrastructure.

Figure 8. ProLiant BL p-Class GbE Interconnect Switch front panel and rear view