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GbE2
User Manual
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User Manual 2
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HP GbE2 User Manual

ProLiant BL p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Switch Overview
white paper
Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 3
GbE2 Interconnect Kit .......................................................................................................................... 4
Modular hot-swappable design.......................................................................................................... 4
Support for copper and fiber-based networks ...................................................................................... 4
Interconnect switch architecture ............................................................................................................. 4
Downlink ports................................................................................................................................. 5
LAN interconnect module uplink ports................................................................................................. 6
Front panel ports.............................................................................................................................. 6
10-Gb fabric ................................................................................................................................... 6
Crosslink ports................................................................................................................................. 7
Maximizing network cable reduction ..................................................................................................... 7
Network load balancing....................................................................................................................... 8
Investment protection............................................................................................................................ 8
Fibre Channel pass-through................................................................................................................... 9
Switch management........................................................................................................................... 11
Rapid deployment, back-up, and restore........................................................................................... 11
IP addressing................................................................................................................................. 12
Web browser-based interface.......................................................................................................... 12
Scriptable command line interface ................................................................................................... 13
Simple network management protocol ..............................................................................................13
Switch security............................................................................................................................... 13
Serviceability and diagnostics ......................................................................................................... 14
Virtual LAN ................................................................................................................................... 16
Spanning tree................................................................................................................................ 16
EtherChannel compatible link aggregation........................................................................................16
Enterprise-class performance............................................................................................................... 16
Network adapter teaming................................................................................................................... 16
Conclusion........................................................................................................................................ 17
Appendix: Summary of features of the ProLiant BL p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Kit....................................... 18
Switch performance........................................................................................................................ 18
Switch network features .................................................................................................................. 18
Switch deployment and configuration............................................................................................... 18
Switch diagnostics and monitoring................................................................................................... 19
Switch security............................................................................................................................... 20
Switch availability.......................................................................................................................... 20
Switch investment protection............................................................................................................ 20
Switch ports per server blade enclosure ............................................................................................ 21
Switch physical and environmental................................................................................................... 21
For more information.......................................................................................................................... 22

Abstract

The intended audience for this paper includes engineers and system administrators familiar with the overall network design of the ProLiant BL p-Class system. For readers not familiar with this overall network design, please see the ProLiant BL p-Class Networking Overview
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white paper.

Introduction

The HP ProLiant BL p-Class system includes a portfolio of ProLiant BL p-Class server blades, the p-Class server blade enclosure, and four interconnect options.
The ProLiant BL p-Class server blade family includes the dual-processor ProLiant BL20p and BL20p G2 server blades for mid-tier applications and the quad-processor BL40p server blade for back-end applications.
The 6U (10.5 inch) p-Class server blade enclosure has eight server bays, and two outermost interconnect bays for collection of the network and storage signals. The signals are routed from the server blades, across the server blade enclosure backplane, and to the interconnect blades.
HP offers a family of interconnect options so that customers can choose how the Ethernet network signals exit the server blade enclosure. Interconnect options include two patch panel pass-through kits and two integrated Ethernet switch kits (the GbE Interconnect Kit and the GbE2 Interconnect Kit). The two patch panel options allow all Ethernet network signals to pass through to third-party LAN devices, thus giving customers flexibility in choosing their own switches. The GbE and GbE2 Interconnect Kit options include managed Ethernet switching technology that provides up to a 32-to-1 reduction in network cables at the back of the BL p-Class enclosure. This cable reduction significantly reduces the time required to deploy, manage, and service ProLiant BL p-Class systems.
Please see the ProLiant BL p-Class Networking Overview white paper for a summary of all four interconnect options along with an interconnect decision chart to assist in choosing the appropriate type of interconnect switch to use.
This white paper describes the GbE2 Interconnect Switch. The GbE2 Interconnect Switch is intended for applications that require up to 1000 megabits per second (Mb/s) Gigabit Ethernet network adapter (NIC) consolidation, advanced network feature support (including a future option for layer 7 switching), ProLiant BL20p G2 Fibre Channel pass-through, and future upgradeability for 10 Gigabit Ethernet bandwidth connectivity to the network.
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Available at http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliant-bl/p-class/bl-p-interconnect-switch2.html.
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GbE2 Interconnect Kit

The GbE2 Interconnect Kit contains two redundant, hot-swappable GbE2 Interconnect Switches and two 4-port LAN interconnect modules. Users first insert the LAN interconnect modules into the bottom­left and bottom-right interconnect bays at the rear of the server blade enclosure and then install the interconnect switches into the interconnect bays from the front of the enclosure (Figure 1). The GbE2 Interconnect Switches consolidate the 32 Ethernet ports from the server blades into one to twelve external Gigabit Ethernet ports: eight ports on the two LAN interconnect modules and four additional ports on the front of the switches. If desired, users can configure the GbE2 Interconnect Kit to concentrate the 32 Ethernet signals into a single external Ethernet port (see the section titled "Maximizing network cable reduction").
Figure 1. Installation of LAN interconnect modules and GbE2 Interconnect Switches

Modular hot-swappable design

To enhance the system serviceability and simply upgrades, both the GE2 Interconnect Switch and the LAN interconnect modules are hot swappable. This modular design provides two key benefits:
• The GbE2 Interconnect Switches can be quickly and easily removed and replaced from the front of
the rack without the need for re-cabling.
• Each GbE 2 Interconnect Switch can support copper or fiber Ethernet network uplinks by using
different LAN interconnect modules. This design also allows the uplinks to be easily upgraded to 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

Support for copp er and fiber-based networks

Two interconnect kit options are available: the C-GbE2 Interconnect Kit for copper-based networks and the F-GbE2 Interconnect Kit for fiber-based networks. These kits are identical with exception of the interconnect modules, which are described in the "Interconnect switch architecture" section.

Interconnect switch architecture

Each GbE2 Interconnect Kit provides an end-to-end, fully redundant architecture that maximizes network availability (Figure 2). Redundant network adapters are routed from each server blade bay to each hot-swappable interconnect switch (four NICs total per server bay) creating a fully meshed topology to the external Ethernet network. The interconnect switches are c o ol ed by on -bo ard
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redundant fans and they are powered by two independent feeds via the redundant, N+N hot-plug ProLiant BL p-Class power enclosure.
Users can independently disable or enable the switch ports as desired. Auto-MDI/MDIX with auto­negotiation of speed and duplex mode is supported. Each GbE2 Interconnect Switch includes the following Ethernet ports:
• Sixteen dedicated internal 10/100/ 1000 Mb/s Ethernet downlink ports connecting the server
NICs to the switch.
• Six external Ethernet ports for data, interconnect switch A and B management, Integrated Lights-out
(iLO) management, and/or pre-boot execution environment (PXE) remote configuration. – Four 10/100/1000T uplink po rts (C -GbE2) o r fo u r 1000SX u p link ports (F -GbE2) on the rear-
mounted LAN interconnect module.
– Two 10/100/1000T ports o n the switc h fro n t panel.
• A 10-gi gabit (10- Gb) internal fabric that supports future planned GbE2 switch upgrades, including
layer 3-7 switching and 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks.
• Two dedicated internal 10/100 /1000 Mb/s Ethernet crosslink ports bundled as a multi-port trunk
for switch-to-switch communication and failover, if desired.
These Ethernet ports are described in the following subsections.
Figure 2. ProLiant BL p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Kit architecture

Downlink ports

Each GbE2 Interconnect Switch includes sixteen pre-assigned, internal 10/100/1000 Mb/s Ethernet downlink ports connecting the server blade network adapters signals to the switch. The signals are routed as Ethernet from the server blades, across individual category 5e (CAT5e) specified signal traces on the passive backplane assembly of the server blade enclosure, and then to the switches.
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LAN interconnect module uplink ports

The LAN interconnect module uplink ports are typically used to connect the interconnect switches to the network infrastructure; however, they are standard Ethernet switch ports and may be used as desired. The GbE2 interconnect kits are identical with exception of the LAN interconnect modules. The C-GbE2 Interconnect kit includes two QuadT2 interconnect modules, each with four 10/100/1000T Ethernet ports with RJ-45 connectors. The F-GbE2 Interconnect Kit includes two QuadSX interconnect modules, each with four 1000SX Ethernet ports with LC connectors. Each interco nnect modu le has an independent guide pin to ensure insertion alignment and a robust connector assembly to prevent it from being used with incompatible devices.
Table 1. Interconnect modules used with the C-GbE2 and F-GbE2 Interconnect Kits
Components C-GbE2 Interconnect Kit F-GbE2 Interconnect Kit
Interconnect switches Two GbE2 Interconnect Switches Two GbE2 Interconnect Switches Interconnect modules Two QuadT2 interconnect modules wi th:
• Four 10/100/1000 BASE-T/TX/T ports
• Four RJ-45 connectors with link speed
and activity LEDs .
Two QuadSX inter con n ect modules with:
• Four 1000 BASE-SX ports
• Four LC connectors with link speed
and activity LEDs

Front panel ports

Two 10/100/1000T external ports are conveniently located on the front panel. These front panel ports allow users to perform local management and diagnostic tasks without unplugging a dedicated uplink. This prevents disruption the production network to perform these tasks. See the “Serviceability and diagnostics” section for more details on the switch front panel.
When the front panel ports are not used for local management, one or both ports may be used as additional uplinks. A channel is provided at bottom of each interconnect switch to allow network cables to be routed from the front to the rear of the rack, or vice versa.

10-Gb fabric

The GbE2 Interconnect Switch offers maximum flexibility and investment protection supporting enterprise networking requirements today and in the future. Each GbE2 Interconnect Switch includes a 10-Gb (10,000 Mb/s) internal fabric. This fabric is based on the Broadcom HiGig™ technology for sophisticated chip-to-chip interconnection enabling intelligent packet switching at 20 Gb/s data bandwidth full duplex.
The 10-Gb fabric supports future planned upgrades including:
• A layer 7 option that provides network routing and IP load balancing content delivery switching.
The 10-Gb fabric for each switch includes an internal card slot that supports an optional layer 7 mezzanine card (Figure 3).
• A 10-Gb Ethernet uplink upgrade, which is ideal for bandwidth-intensive applications and
convergence of IP-based network and storage systems. Users can add a 10-Gb Ethernet switch mezzanine card to each GbE2 interconnect switch via a second option card slot in the 10-Gb fabric (Figure 3). The existing Gb LAN interconnect modules are replaced with new interconnect
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module that contain a 10-Gb Ethernet high-bandwidth uplink. The 10-Gb LAN interconnect modules may also contain Gigabit Ethernet ports, if space permits.
With these future planned options for the GbE2 Interconnect Switch, an administrator will be able to independently select the switching layer as well as the uplink bandwidth, all within a single switch. Both options can be installed by users in the field without powering down the server blades or the server blade enclosure. Availability of these options will be announced in the near future.
Figure 3. ProLiant BL p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Switch 10 gigabit fabric

Crosslink ports

The two GbE2 Interconnect Switches are connected through a pair of redundant, 10/100/1000 Mb/s Gigabit Ethernet crosslink connections that are bundled in a 2000 Mb/s Cisco EtherC hannel compatible multi-port trunk. The signals are routed as Ethernet from switch to switch via individual CAT5e specified signal traces on the passive backplane assembly of the server blade enclo su re. The crosslinks permit communication between the switches, if desired. They also provide the ability to:
• Manage both switches, perform PXE server boots, and access all iLO interfaces using any number
of external switch ports. Therefore, a single switch uplink can be used to perform all Ethernet management tasks.
• Configure the p-Class system for advanced ProLiant Network Adapter Teaming including switch
fault tolerance. See the section “ProLiant Network Adapter Teaming” for additional information.
• Communicate with any server network adapter from any switch uplink port. As a result, any single
uplink port may be used to communicate to all 32 NICs. This permits the 32-to-1 cable reduction and provides additional system redundancy. If uplinks on one switch or the connection to a switch were to fail, all NICs still can be accessed via the other switch.

Maximizing network cable reduction

For maximum (97 percent) cable reduction, the 32 Ethernet signals within the server blade enclosure can be concentrated into any one external Ethernet port. This results in a total of six Ethernet connections for a fully configured 42U rack of six server blade enclosures containing 192 network adapters.
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