HP StorageWorks 4000/6000/8000 .HP StorageWorks SAN Design Reference Guide, Pa - Page 192

• Redundant SANs, with each server connecting to one fabric through one AG module • Ability to connect to B-series, C-series, and M-series fabrics • Support for up to six AGs per blade enclosure BladeSystem with Cisco N_Port Virtualization mode NPV mode is a software-enabled feature available on the Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch for HP c-Class BladeSystem with SAN-OS 3.2(1a) or later. NPV mode does not require the purchase of additional hardware or software. NPV is available only if the Cisco MDS 9124e is in NPV mode; if the fabric switch is in switch mode, NPV is not supported. To use NPV, the end devices connected to a switch in NPV mode must log in as N_Ports. All links from the end switches in NPV mode to the core switches are established as NP_Ports, not E_Ports for ISLs. An NP_Port is an NPIV uplink from the NPV device to the core switch. Switches in NPV mode use NPIV to log in multiple end devices that share a link to the core switch. The Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch is transparent to the hosts and fabric-they no longer function as standard switches. NOTE: This section describes HP c-Class BladeSystems. NPV mode is also supported on the Cisco MDS 9124 and MDS 9134 Fabric Switches. For more information, see the Cisco MDS 9000 Configuration Guide. The Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch in NPV mode supports a maximum of 24 ports: • Up to 16 ports for back-end connections to the BladeSystems • Up to 8 external ports used as uplink ports (NP_Ports) NPV mode features include: • Eight external ports used as NP_Ports, supporting NPIV. These ports connect to standard switches (including vendor switches) that support NPIV-compliant F_Ports. • Does not use domain IDs, removing any domain-count limitations in large fabrics. • Port mapping between the host-facing ports (virtual F_Ports) and the external uplink ports (NP_Ports). Figure 51 shows an HP c-Class BladeSystem in NPV mode. 192 Heterogeneous server rules