HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager 6.1 User Guide

DescriptionPart numberLicense type
HP VCEM BL-c7000 Single enclosure license459864-B21VCEM software licenses
HP VCEM BL-c7000 Single flexible quantity
license – covers multiple enclosures
459865-B21
HP VCEM BL-c7000 Tracking license –
quantity license used only with a current
Activation Key Agreements (AKA)
459866-B21
HP VCEM BL-c7000 E-LTU – Electronically
delivered license (email) that can cover
single or multiple c7000 enclosures
T9094AAE
HP VCEM BL-c3000 Single enclosure license459867-B21
HP VCEM BL-c3000 Single flexible quantity
license – covers multiple enclosures
459868-B21
HP VCEM BL-c3000 Tracking license –
quantity license used only with a current
Activation Key Agreements (AKA)
459869-B21
HP VCEM BL-c3000 E-LTU – Electronically
delivered license (email) that can cover
single or multiple c3000 enclosures
T9095AAE
1 Includes 2x Virtual Connect Flex-10 10Gb interconnect modules and 1 x VCEM license for an HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure
Architectural overview
This section provides an overview of the architecture, functionality, and operations of Virtual Connect
technology and VCEM.
HP Virtual Connect technology
HP Virtual Connect (VC) is the preferred interconnect technology for HP BladeSystem environments. Virtual
Connect is used in place of traditional pass-through and managed switches to reduce costs and simplify
blade server connectivity to production LANs, SANs and converged networks. VC virtualizes I/O connections
by putting an abstraction layer between the servers and their external networks, so that LANs and SANs see
network interface (NIC) or host bus adapter (HBA) addresses presented by the VC modules instead of the
default burned-in interface addresses. Virtual Connect provides several key advantages:
• Reduces physical server-to-network cabling, complexity and leased network ports.
• Maintains constant end-to-end connections to preferred networks and fabrics.
• Enables administrators to wire LAN and SAN connections once and limit changes.
• Allows network assignments to be pre-provisioned even to empty server bays - enables rapid server
deployment and limits configuration errors.
• Separates server administration from LAN and SAN administration.
• Enables system administrators to be self-sufficient – add, replace, or modify servers in minutes to meet
changing workload and business requirements without impacting production networks.
• Relieves LAN and SAN administrators from server-centric maintenance.
The following figure compares traditional network connections to Virtual Connect technology.
Architectural overview 13