HP DL360 Server virtualization technologies for x86-based HP BladeSystem and H - Page 9

Flex-10 for Virtual Connect Flex-10 technology is the newest extension of HP Virtual Connect technology. It is a hardware-based, I/O abstraction solution that allows customers to partition a 10 gigabit (Gb) Ethernet connection, to regulate the size and data speed of each partition, and to prioritize each of those partitions. Customers can configure a single 10Gb network port to represent up to four physical NIC devices, or FlexNICs, for a total bandwidth of 10Gbps. Flex-10 hardware consists of two components: a 10Gb Flex-10 LAN-on-motherboard (LOM) device or 10 Gb Flex-10 mezzanine card; and the HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 10Gb Ethernet Module. The 10Gb Flex-10 LOM or mezzanine card connects to a 10Gb server port on select BladeSystem servers. To the server OS (bare-metal OS), each of the four FlexNICs appears as a discrete NIC, with its own driver. The administrator defines the bandwidth available to each FlexNIC-from 100Mb to 10Gb- through the Virtual Connect interface. While the FlexNICs share the same physical port, traffic flow for each FlexNIC is isolated with its own MAC address and virtual local area network (VLAN) tags (see Figure 5). The Virtual Connect Flex-10 Ethernet Module recognizes Flex-10 connections from the server as part of a Virtual Connect server profile. Figure 5. FlexNics share a physical link. BladeSystem Server Flex10 LOM or Mezz Card FlexNIC FlexNIC FlexNIC FlexNIC FlexNIC FlexNIC FlexNIC FlexNIC Flex10 NIC (port 1) Flex10 NIC (port 2) Single lane of 10Gb/s Ethernet for each Port vNet 1 vNet 2 vNet 3 vNet 4 VC Flex-10 Enet Module Flex-10 technology complements virtual machine technology by providing a large I/O bandwidth, multiple hardware-virtualized NICs, and the ability to change the bandwidth allocated to each FlexNIC. Flex-10 is currently available with supported HP BladeSystem servers (for supported servers, see http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/blades/components/ethernet/10-10gbf/questionsanswers.html#c1). For more information about Flex-10 technology, see the technology brief ―HP Flex-10 technology‖ at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01608922/c01608922.pdf. 9