HP Cisco MDS 8/12c HP Virtual Connect: Common Myths, Misperceptions, and Objec - Page 18

#33: VC implements an immature loop avoidance mechanism Incorrect: Since the Virtual Connect loop avoidance mechanism is modeled after both NIC Teaming/bonding and after simple layer 2 path redundancy features (for example, Cisco's Flex Link feature10), the mechanism inherits the maturity that these seasoned technologies provide. Add to that HP's years of experience in data center networking and NonStop server architecture that the Virtual Connect developers bring to the product, and the result is a highly reliable HP server identity virtualization and I/O management product that thousands of HP customers have successfully deployed across the globe. #34: VC Uplink failures require re-convergence on the external network and may cause dropped server sessions Incorrect: Since Virtual Connect connects to the external network in the same way as a virtual server hypervisor (i.e. STP isn't used to manage Layer 2 redundancy), Spanning Tree re-convergence will not occur as long as the administrator has appropriately configured the external switches directly connected to Virtual Connect. Fundamentally, Virtual Connect failover between VC uplinks behaves the same way as failover between Server NICs in a NIC Team (or NIC Bond) - failover from one uplink (or NIC) to another is transparent to the external network's Spanning Tree and does not require a re-convergence. For a complete discussion of HP's recommendations on configuring switches directly connected to Virtual Connect Uplinks, see the section entitled "Cisco Configuration Guidelines for VC Uplink Ports" on page 21 of the whitepaper "Virtual Connect for the Cisco Network Administrator". #35: Cisco's N-Port Virtualization (NPV11) or Brocade Access Gateway12 provide all the same advantages as VC-FC Incorrect: Both Cisco's NPV and Brocade Access Gateway are features that use NPIV (N-Port ID Virtualization) to allow a traditional Fibre Channel switch to operate more as a simple Fibre Channel aggregator instead of as a traditional Fibre Channel switch. This reduces domain ID proliferation. Virtual Connect also supports this feature for reducing domain ID proliferation. However, neither NPV nor Access Gateway provides all the additional features that VC Fibre Channel does. For example, FC boot parameter management in server blade BIOS, server move enablement, support for "Server Profiles" that contain a server's complete identity - MAC & VLAN, WWN & Fabric, serial number, UUID, MACs & WWNs), server adds or replacements without rezoning WWNs or reconfiguring host storage presentation, server pre-provisioning using managed WWNs, and so on. #36: Cisco VFrame Data Center provides the same capabilities as VC Incorrect: Virtual Connect and Cisco VFrame Data Center are products that target different problems within a customer's data center. Cisco VFrame Data Center is a network-driven service orchestration solution that enables the coordinated provisioning and reuse of physical and virtualized computing, storage, and network resources from shared pools13. Virtual Connect, on the other hand, is a server identity virtualization and I/O management product that provides an enhanced way to add, remove, 10 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/blades/3120/software/release/12.2_40_ex/configuration/guide/swflink.html 11 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps4159/ps6409/ps5989/solution_overview_c22-489466.html 12 http://www.brocade.com/downloads/documents/white_papers/Virtualizing_Embedded_Switches_Access_Gateway_WP_01.pdf 13 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps8463/index.html 18