Understanding the Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager

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Figure 1 shows the BladeSystem management structure. iLO resides within each BladeSystem server, and the
Onboard Administrator in each enclosure is the central control point for an enclosure. Onboard Administrator
controls configuration, power, administrative control, iLO blade management processors, network switches
(depending on the models of switches used), and storage components (such as SAN or SATA).
Figure 1: This is the VCEM management structure showing the integration with iLO, Onboard Administrator, VCM, and
BladeSystem servers.
VCEM provides a central console to administer up to 128K LAN and 128K SAN addresses from a central pool.
Using VCEM, you can rapidly configure, deploy, move, and failover server connections and their workloads for up
to 250 VC domains (up to 1,000 BladeSystem enclosures and 16,000 servers when used with VC Ethernet
enclosure stacking).
You use VCEM to build VC domain groups―that is, groups of VC domains with common Ethernet and Fibre
Channel interconnects, and with uplinks to the same LANs and SANs. All domains belong to a domain group.
VCEM enforces hardware and network consistency across each domain group as your infrastructure grows. It
simplifies adding new enclosures. We recommend using VCEM to get the maximum ease of deployment of Virtual
Connect with bare metal enclosures.
VCEM depends on VCM to communicate with the Onboard Administrator.
Managing with VCEM
VCEM provides unique capabilities to manage MAC and WWN addresses, domain configuration and deployment,
server profiles, and automated failover. VCEM aggregates network connection management and workload mobility
for hundreds of VC domains and thousands of blade servers into a single console.