HP ProLiant BL p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Switch Compatibility with Cisco-based Networks - White Paper

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The GbE2 Interconnect Switch provides other familiar management capabilities consistent with
Catalyst switches. These include a local console port with XModem support, access through Telnet
and secure shell (SSH), and deployment, back-up, and restore capabilities using trivial file transfer
protocol (TFTP) and secure copy protocol (SCP).
Port mirroring
The GbE2 Interconnect Switch port mirroring feature provides the ability send a copy of any network
traffic that enters or leaves the switch to a designated (monitor) port for examination by a network
analyzer. Traffic ingressing the port, egressing the port, or both may be monitored. The GbE2 port
mirroring provides similar functionality as the switched port analyzer (SPAN) feature on Catalyst
switches. The GbE2 Interconnect Switch also interoperates with the Cisco Remote SPAN (RSPAN)
feature. By targeting mirrored GbE2 data to a port connected to a Catalyst switch utilizing RSPAN,
the traffic can be captured for analysis on the designated Catalyst monitoring port.
Multicast traffic
Multicasting reduces network traffic and congestion. The GbE2 Interconnect Switch has the ability to
pass IP multicast traffic that is forwarded to it from Catalyst switches. Support for actively participating
within internet group management protocol (IGMP) multicasting is not provided on the GbE2
Interconnect Switch at this time, but this support is planned for a future release. Meanwhile, provided
the VLANs between the GbE2 Interconnect and Catalyst switches are correctly configured, the GbE2
Interconnect Switch will automatically forward IP multicast traffic out all ports on the VLAN from which
the multicast traffic was received.
Network time
The industry standard network time protocol (NTP) synchronizes timekeeping among a set of
distributed network devices and time servers. This synchronization allows events to be correlated
when system logs are created and other time-specific events occur. As with Catalyst switches, the
GbE2 Interconnect Switch provides NTP support. On the GbE2 Interconnect Switch, users can specify
the NTP server IP address, update interval, and time zone, and then the Cisco and GbE2 switches are
synchronized to the same network time. The GbE2 Interconnect Switch includes a battery-backed real
time clock that will maintain the time in the event the NTP server is unavailable.
Conclusion
With the introduction of industry-standard blade servers, the number of Ethernet connections and
cables within a rack can quickly become overwhelming. To consolidate theses cables, blade
manufacturers introduced the concept of integrated Ethernet switches. For network administrators to
successfully deploy these new blade switches within their existing networks, interoperability with
existing devices and compliance to network industry standards is a must.
Available as one of the several interconnect options for ProLiant BL p-Class systems, the GbE2
Interconnect Switch is ideal for reducing Ethernet network cabling and the time required to deploy,
manage, and service ProLiant BL p-Class systems. Its advanced feature support and compliance to
IEEE and other Ethernet protocols permits interoperability with networks based on Cisco Catalyst
switches and devices from other common vendors found in today’s datacenter.