HP ProLiant BL660c HP BladeSystem Networking Reference Architecture: HP Virtua - Page 5

Directly connecting an IP-based Storage array has certain limitations:  Each storage array front-end port will require a unique vNet  Each defined vNet will require separate server network connections  You are limited to the number of IP-based arrays based on the number of unassigned uplink ports Note: Please review the Virtual Connect with iSCSI Cookbook Third Edition or newer6 for more information on how to directly attach an IP-based storage device to Virtual Connect. Virtual Connect has the capability to create an internal, private network without uplink ports, by using the low latency mid-plane connections to facilitate communication. This vNet can be used for cluster heartbeat networks, or in this case VMotion and/or Fault Tolerance traffic. Traffic will not pass to the upstream switch infrastructure, which will eliminate the bandwidth otherwise consumed. Figure 1-1: Physical VMware vSphere Cluster Design Figure 1-2 show the physical cabling. The X5 and X6 Ethernet ports of the FlexFabric module are connecting to a redundant pair of Top of Rack (ToR) switches, using LACP (802.3AD) for link 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. 6 http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02533991/c02533991.pdf 5