HP Virtual Connect Manager Version 1.15b and 1.
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Contents Hardware and firmware requirements ............................................................................................. 4 HP Virtual Connect Manager firmware ......................................................................................................... 4 Supported hardware.................................................................................................................................. 4 Firmware upgrade requirements ..............................................
Hardware and firmware requirements HP Virtual Connect Manager firmware The latest HP Virtual Connect Manager firmware package (version 1.16) contains the following firmware versions: • HP 1/10Gb VC-Enet version 1.16 • HP 4Gb VC-FC version 1.02 IMPORTANT: The VC-Enet module firmware must be updated to version 1.15 before updating the VC-FC module firmware. Otherwise, the VC-FC firmware might not appear to be successfully updated. Supported hardware Versions 1.15, 1.15b, and 1.
For the latest list of supported hardware, see the HP website (http://www.hp.com/go/bladesystemupdates). Firmware upgrade requirements IMPORTANT: For compatibility and proper operation of HP Virtual Connect Manager, all system firmware must be current.
Server blades and mezzanine cards that do not meet the required firmware versions will not properly accept Virtual Connect-assigned parameters (MACs, WWNs, etc.) and will maintain factory defaults. However, these server blades will have the Ethernet network and Fibre Channel fabric connectivity specified in their Virtual Connect server profiles. This connectivity enables the use of network-based firmware update tools to update server blade and mezzanine firmware.
New features The VC-Enet version 1.15 firmware includes the following features: • Smart Link A network enabled with Smart Link automatically drops link to the server ports if all uplink ports lose link. This feature can be useful for certain server network teaming (bonding) configurations. • Native VLAN Identifying a network on a shared uplink set as the native VLAN causes all untagged incoming packets to be placed on this network. All outgoing packets are VLAN tagged.
Important notes and recommendations When a c-Class enclosure is used with Virtual Connect v1.15, 1.15b, and 1.16, the following configuration restrictions and guidelines apply: • Plan your interconnect module usage carefully before running the Virtual Connect Domain Setup Wizard. After an interconnect bay is configured for use with a VC-Enet or VC-FC module, it remains configured for that module type until the overall VC domain is deleted.
• Back up the VC domain configuration each time changes are made. While saved in non-volatile memory and check-pointed to the neighboring module, HP recommends saving the configuration external to the enclosure. • Removing a VC-Enet module and plugging it into another enclosure causes the configuration information on that module to be cleared. This action prevents a configured spare from overwriting configuration data in another enclosure.
Known issues General • During an Onboard Administrator failover, Virtual Connect Manager can lose communication with the Onboard Administrator for as long as 15 minutes. During this time, Virtual Connect Manager is not able to make profile changes to server blades or perform some enclosure administration functions, such as powering servers on and off. • Changes in the server ROM-based setup utilities (RBSU) can override Virtual Connect server profile settings for PXE (enabled or disabled).
User interface • Virtual Connect Manager allows users to change the number of VC-FC Module uplink ports connected to an external Fabric Switch without a warning while a server might be accessing remote storage devices. • Virtual Connect Manager shows either a server blade or an interconnect module as degraded (but not both) for an I/O Ekey mismatch. • If non-Administrator credentials are entered for the Onboard Administrator during Virtual Connect Domain Import, the import fails without explanation.
Resolved issues The following issues that existed in Virtual Connect 1.10 have been resolved in Virtual Connect 1.15: • To move a server profile from a device bay containing a storage blade to another bay, the storage blade must first be removed. • Do not create or modify a network name with a hyphen ("-") in the name. Only use characters that are alpha-numeric (a-z, A-Z, 0-9) and the underscore ("_").
• When running with 16:1 oversubscription ratio on a VC-FC module, the hardware registers do not allow auto-routed traffic for the sixteenth server blade. When this scenario occurs, the firmware routes FC frames, causing a significant drop in the performance. The following issues that existed in Virtual Connect 1.15b and earlier versions have been resolved in Virtual Connect 1.16: • Server profiles could be assigned to a bay occupied by a non-server device.
