HP BladeSystem Networking Reference Architecture: HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric Module and VMware vSphere 4

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redundancy. The ToR switches can be placed End of Row to save on infrastructure cost. Ports X7 are
used for vertical External Stacking Links, while X8 are used for Internal Stacking Links.
As noted in the previous section, Virtual Connect FlexFabric Stacking Links will only carry Ethernet
traffic, and do not provide any Fibre Channel stacking options. Thus, ports X1 and X2 from each
module are populated with 8Gb SFP+ transceivers, providing 16Gb net FC bandwidth for storage
access. Ports X3 and X4 are available to provide additional bandwidth if FC storage traffic is
necessary.
If additional Ethernet bandwidth is necessary, ports Enc0:Bay2:X5, Enc0:Bay2:X6, Enc1:Bay1:X5,
and Enc1:Bay1:X6 can be used for additional Ethernet Networks or Shared Uplink Sets.