HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 10Gb Ethernet Module for BladeSystem
c-Class - key benefits

Receive all of the benefits of Virtual Connect plus Flex-10 technology

• Simplify Networks by reducing cables up to 94% without adding switches to manage
• Simplify server connections makes the system administrator self-sufficient and frees LAN and SAN admins from common server tasks
• Change servers in minutes, not days. Add, move and replace servers on-the-fly without affecting your LAN and SAN. Total control to move workloads fast without impacting LANs or SANs or the people who manage them
• Tailor network speeds based on application needs - Reduce cables and network components by using up to 4 physical NICS per 10Gb server connection. Control and manage your bandwidth by setting NIC speeds at the server edge
• HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 is the world's first technology to fine-tune network bandwidth at the server edge and to adapt to virtual server workload demands on-the-fly

Reduce network infrastructure costs while scaling your virtual server environment

• Reduces infrastructure costs up to 60% because additional NICS and their associated switch connections don't have to be incrementally added. Each 10Gb server port supports up to 4 FlexNICS connecting to a single Virtual Connect Flex-10 Ethernet Module
• Reduces your power consumption and costs up to 56% because there are less networking components needed
• Increase the number of NICS in your servers more than 5 fold! Up to 32 FlexNICS can be supported on a single half height server offering unlimited VMware network scalability and configuration flexibility
• Reduce your network overhead costs by wiring once and making changes on the fly without additional network administrative support. Unlike other network virtualization offerings, Virtual Connect does not require manual changes to network connections each time a server is added or moved

Divide and conquer your server LAN connections for full server-edge network control

• Tailor your application speeds at the NIC level from 100Mb to 10Gb in increments of 100Mbs. No more waisted bandwidth, each application can be network optimized at the server edge
• Server Virtualization requires more bandwidth and more NICs to support higher VM densities. With Flex-10 each VM application has greater NIC capacity and just the right amount of bandwidth for production, management, backup, and disaster recovery
• Add redundant network connections to your Blade servers. Since most blade servers have a limited number of NIC ports you have had to compromise network redundancy for the number of applications needed to run over each NIC. With Virtual Connect Flex-10 architecture there are enough NIC ports available to build more resilient networks at the server edge
• Virtual Connect Flex-10 provides a maximum of 32 NICS in half-height blade servers and 40 NICS in full height blade servers
• More FlexNICS means more options for other network fabrics such as Fibre Channel. No more compromising NIC ports because you needed the Mezzanine slot for Fibre Channel. Flex-10 packs up to 4 physical NICS on a single 10Gb server connection

Build a change ready infrastructure without wasting network resources

• Preparing for a converged fabric architecture in the datacenter requires a 10Gb supporting infrastructure, but the benefits of cable reduction can be overshadowed by an overbuilt architecture with unused bandwidth. Flex-10 allows you to optimize server bandwdith at the server edge providing just the right amount of bandwidth per application
• By fine tuning your network bandwidth at the server edge, you can optimize your data traffic in the core knowing that each server is fully utilizing its connections
• In blades, HP is one step ahead of a converged Fibre Channel and Ethernet solution. Virtual Connect provides a complete Ethernet and Fibre Channel solution today that offers both technologies on standards-based platforms which provide significant cable reduction at the server edge