HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager 6.1 User Guide

1 Introduction
HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager (VCEM) centralizes network connectivity and workload mobility for
HP BladeSystem servers that use Virtual Connect to access local area networks (LANs), storage area networks
(SANs), and converged network environments. VCEM helps organizations increase productivity, respond
faster to workload and infrastructure changes, and reduce operating costs.
Built on the Virtual Connect architecture integrated into every HP BladeSystem c-Class enclosure, VCEM
provides a central console to administer network address assignments, perform group-based configuration
management, and to rapidly deploy, move, and failover server connections and workloads for 250 Virtual
Connect domains (up to 1,000 enclosures and 16,000 server blades when used with Virtual Connect
multi-enclosure domain configurations).
Use VCEM to complete key data center tasks quickly and reliably, without impacting the configuration and
availability of production networks. VCEM enables you to:
• Deploy new BladeSystem enclosures, server blades, and Virtual Connect (VC) Domains
• Perform fast and cost-effective server recovery
• Complete planned systems maintenance with minimal downtime
• Rapidly migrate and repurpose server blades to meet changing workload and application priorities
Together, Virtual Connect and VCEM create a change-ready infrastructure that enables system administrators
to add, replace, and recover blade servers and their workloads across the data center in minutes without
impacting production networks. This flexible infrastructure also provides the foundation for logical server
deployment and orchestration delivered with HP Insight Dynamics software.
For more information on VCEM, see http://www.hp.com/go/vcem.
Key features and benefits
VCEM delivers the following key features and benefits.
Key features
• Single intuitive console to manage up to 250 VC Domains. VCEM is designed to support up to 1,000
BladeSystem enclosures and 16,000 servers when used with Virtual Connect Ethernet multi-enclosure
domains.”
• Central repository administers a total of 256K Media Access Control (MAC) addresses and World
Wide Names (WWNs) per VCEM console.
• Group-based management of Virtual Connect domains using common configuration profiles.
• Scripted and manual movement of server connection profiles and associated workloads between Virtual
Connect domains .
• Automated failover of server connection profiles and workloads to customer-defined spare servers.
• Seamless integration with existing Virtual Connect infrastructures—discovers and aggregates Virtual
Connect resources into a central console.
• Licensed per c-Class enclosure—simplifies deployment and enables support for current and future
BladeSystem and Virtual Connect hardware.
Key benefits
• Centrally manage connectivity and workloads for hundreds of Virtual Connect domains and thousands
of HP BladeSystem server blades.
• The VCEM address repository enables more efficient administration of data and storage network
assignments (MAC and WWN) and eliminate the risk of address conflicts.
• Group-based management of Virtual Connect domains increases infrastructure consistency, simplifies
system deployment and enables rapid change management across hundreds of HP BladeSystem
enclosures.
Key features and benefits 11