AB291A Fabric Clustering System Support Guide (12-port Switch), April 2004

Installation Planning
Planning the Cluster
Chapter 3
23
Point-to-Point Configuration You can interconnect large servers like the HP Superdome to run HP-MPI
and TCP/UDP/IP applications.
Point-to-point connections between HP servers support the performance benefits of HP Fabric Clustering
System without investing in HP Fabric Clustering System Switches. This is a good solution in small
configurations where the benefits of a switched fabric cluster might not be required (see configuration A in
Figure 3-1).
Multiple fabric adapters may be installed in HP servers and also be connected in point-to-point fashion (see
configuration B in Figure 3-1).
NOTE In this release, HP-MPI is constrained to support only a single port per server node, so
Configuration B may not be used.
Figure 3-1 Fabric Point-to-Point Configuration
Switched Configuration Where greater numbers of nodes need to be connected, HP recommends the use
of the AB291A 12-port 4X Fabric Copper Switch.
For simple configurations with up to 12 end nodes, a single AB291A 12-port 4X Fabric Copper Switch is
sufficient (see Figure 3-2).
Single Connection Between Two Nodes
Multiple Connections Between Two Nodes