ProLiant BL p-Class GbE Interconnect Switch Overview

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white paper

Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 3

Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 3

GbE Interconnect Kit ............................................................................................................................ 4

Modular hot-swappable design.......................................................................................................... 4

Support for copper and fiber-based networks ...................................................................................... 4

Interconnect switch architecture ............................................................................................................. 4

Downlink ports................................................................................................................................. 5

LAN interconnect module uplink ports................................................................................................. 5

Front panel ports.............................................................................................................................. 6

Crosslink ports................................................................................................................................. 6

Maximizing network cable reduction ..................................................................................................... 7

Network load balancing....................................................................................................................... 8

Investment protection............................................................................................................................ 8

Switch management............................................................................................................................. 8

Rapid deployment, back-up, and restore............................................................................................. 9

IP addressing................................................................................................................................. 10

Web browser-based interface.......................................................................................................... 10

Menu-driven console and scriptable command line interface ............................................................... 11

Simple network management protocol and remote monitoring............................................................. 11

Switch security............................................................................................................................... 12

Serviceability and diagnostics ......................................................................................................... 12

Virtual LAN ................................................................................................................................... 13

Spanning tree................................................................................................................................ 14

EtherChannel compatible link aggregation........................................................................................14

Internet Group Management Protocol ............................................................................................... 14

Data Storm Prevention .................................................................................................................... 14

Quality of Service .......................................................................................................................... 14

Summary of content (19 pages)

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ProLiant BL p-Class GbE Interconnect Switch Overview white paper Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 3 GbE Interconnect Kit ........................................................................................................................
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Enterprise-class performance ............................................................................................................... 14 Network adapter teaming................................................................................................................... 15 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................
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Abstract This white paper provides an overview of the first generation Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) Interconnect Kit options for the ProLiant BL p-Class system. Each GbE Interconnect Kit includes a pair of industrystandard Ethernet switches that dramatically reduce the number of Ethernet network cables attached to the rear of the ProLiant BL p-Class server blade enclosure.
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GbE Interconnect Kit The GbE Interconnect Kit contains two redundant, hot-swappable GbE Interconnect Switches and two 4-port LAN interconnect modules. Users first insert the LAN interconnect modules into the top-left and top-right interconnect bays at the rear of the server blade enclosure and then install the interconnect switches into the interconnect bays from the front of the enclosure (Figure 1).
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Users can independently disable or enable the switch ports as desired. Auto-MDI/MDIX with autonegotiation of speed and duplex mode is supported. Each GbE Interconnect Switch includes the following Ethernet ports: • Sixteen dedicated internal 10/100 Mb/s Ethernet downlink ports connecting the server NICs to the switch. • Six external Ethernet ports for data, interconnect switch A and B management, Integrated Lights-out (iLO) management, and/or pre-boot execution environment (PXE) remote configuration.
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and two 10/100T Ethernet ports all with RJ-45 connectors. The F-GbE Interconnect Kit includes two DualTSX interconnect modules, each with two 1000SX Ethernet ports with LC connectors and two 10/100T Ethernet ports with RJ-45 connectors. Each interconnect module has an independent guide pin to ensure insertion alignment and a robust connector assembly to prevent it from being used with incompatible devices. Table 1.
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Maximizing network cable reduction For maximum (97 percent) cable reduction, the 32 Ethernet signals within the server blade enclosure can be concentrated into any one single external Ethernet port. This results in a total of seven Ethernet connections for a fully configured 42U rack of six server blade enclosures containing 192 network adapters.
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In this example, four gigabit uplinks per server blade enclosure were used. Because the two GbE Interconnect Switches provide a total of twelve external Ethernet ports per enclosure, a wide variety of linking configurations are possible. Additionally, the two interconnect switches within each enclosure are connected by redundant crosslinks, which provide additional configuration possibilities.
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locally and remotely from anywhere on the network. Administration of both GbE Interconnect Switches is possible through any uplink port, the serial port, or the two 10/100T ports conveniently located on the front panel of each switch (Figure 4). Figure 4. ProLiant BL p-Class GbE Interconnect Switch front panel Rapid deployment, back-up, and restore HP Rapid Deployment Pack for Windows version 1.40 or greater (RDP for Windows) introduces a new feature called server-side scripting.
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The GbE Interconnect Switch supports trivial file transfer protocol (TFTP) allowing a copy of the interconnect switch configuration file to be saved and downloaded either to the original switch or to a different interconnect switch. This provides a method to rapidly deploy multiple systems with similar configurations and to provide backup and restore capabilities. Configuration settings can be modified through the user interfaces or directly within the configuration file.
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Menu-driven console and scriptable command line interface The menu-driven console and the command line interfaces provide the same configuration options as the BBI, plus the added benefits of an out-of-band connection and CLI scripting (Figure 6). There are three methods of accessing these interfaces: • Locally via the front panel RS-232 console port on each interconnect switch. • Remotely using serial line IP (SLIP) via the front panel RS-232 console port on each interconnect switch.
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• Graphical representation of the p-Class server blades and interconnect switches. Switch security The GbE Interconnect Switch uses a layer 2 access control list or filtering database to segment the network, control communications between segments, and provide intrusion control. The switch allows manual entry of specific media access control (MAC) addresses to be filtered from the network. Filtering of both unicast and multicast traffic is possible.
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The optional HP Diagnostic Station (Figure 8) is available to configure and diagnose an interconnect switch or a server blade that has been removed from the server blade enclosure. The Diagnostic Station provides power to the interconnect switch and can be used to perform any of the following tasks: • Build the initial interconnect switch configuration. • Download a switch configuration file. • Test network adapter and interconnect switch port activity. • Diagnose interconnect switch status.
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Switch VLANs may span other switches that support 802.1Q tagging located within the network infrastructure. Spanning tree The GbE Interconnect Switch meets the IEEE 802.1D spanning tree protocol (STP). Users can configure STP switch parameters, including priority and cost, on a per port basis. Each interconnect switch can automatically find the STP root bridge on the network. Otherwise, the interconnect switch will act as the root bridge for the STP domain.
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• 32-MB Main, 6-MB flash, and 16-MB packet buffer memory per switch (packet buffer memory shared between ports). ProLiant Network Adapter Teaming ProLiant Network Adapter Teaming is typically used to provide fault resiliency for the NICs within the team. If one NIC should fail, the surviving NICs maintain network connectivity. However, network adapter teaming may also be used to maintain network services if an Ethernet switch fails.
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Appendix: Summary of features of the ProLiant BL p-Class GbE Interconnect Kit Switch performance • • • • • • • Non-blocking full wire speed architecture • • • • • • 9.6 Gb/s External port (uplink) bandwidth per server blade enclosure (full duplex) Store and forward mode layer 2 switching standard Support for 3rd party external layer 7 content delivery switch / appliance Support for F5 BIG-IP Blade Controller load balancer and traffic management Frame forwarding throughput of 1.
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• • • • • • Command line interface (CLI) with scripting capability accessible from any switch port • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Serial line IP (SLIP) access to command line and menu-driven console interfaces Telnet access to the CLI and menu-driven console interfaces accessible from any switch port SNMP-based scripting with best-case HP recommended example scripts Integrated switch scripting within Rapid Deployment Pack for Windows v1.
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Switch security • • • • • • • Password protected multi-level user accounts supported on all management interfaces Configurable user interface idle time-out period Ability to disable web-based and Telnet access to the switch user interfaces 256 Port-based IEEE 802.
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For more information For additional information, refer to the resources detailed below. Resource description Web address ProLiant BL p-Class GbE Interconnect switch home page http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliant-bl/p-class/20p/bl-pinterconnect-switch.html ProLiant BL p-Class Networking Overview white paper http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliant-bl/p-class/20p/bl-pinterconnect-switch.