HP Virtual Connect for c-Class BladeSystem Setup and Install Guide

Installation 23
For information on using IPv6 with Virtual Connect, see the HP Virtual Connect for c-Class BladeSystem User
Guide on the HP website (http://www.hp.com/go/vc/manuals).
Because Virtual Connect communicates with other components through the Onboard Administrator, special
considerations are required when using EBIPA with Virtual Connect Ethernet modules:
• The Onboard Administrator must be on the same IP subnet as all Virtual Connect modules.
• The Onboard Administrator IP address must be set properly before changing the IP addresses of the
Virtual Connect modules.
Recommended stacking connections
Stacking links are used to add VC-Enet modules into a Virtual Connect domain. This feature enables all
Ethernet network controllers on all servers in the Virtual Connect domain to have access to any VC-Enet
module uplink port. By using these module-to-module links, a single pair of uplinks can function as the data
center network connections for the entire Virtual Connect domain. Stacking enables any server NIC
connected physically to a VC module to be connected to any Ethernet network.
Each interconnect module has several numbered Ethernet connectors. All of these connectors can be used to
connect to data center switches, or they can be used to stack VC modules and enclosures.
The HP VC FlexFabric 10Gb/24-port, HP VC FlexFabric-20/40 F8, and HP VC Flex-10/10D Modules only
support external stacking for Ethernet traffic. When these modules have ports configured to carry Fibre
Channel or FCoE traffic, those ports do not support stacking.
Virtual Connect automatically detects when one VC-Enet module port is connected to another VC-Enet
module port within the domain and changes the port ID indicator to amber.
All VC-Enet modules within the Virtual Connect domain must be interconnected. Any combination of 1-Gb
and 10-Gb cables can be used to interconnect the modules. The HP VC FlexFabric-20/40 F8 also supports
40-Gb stacking cables.
The ISL ports provide stacking links between adjacent modules.
Single enclosure stacking diagram Modules (top to
bottom)
Stacking two modules
HP Virtual Connect
FlexFabric
10Gb/24-port Modules
HP Virtual Connect
Flex-10 10Gb Ethernet
Modules