Networking |
| Q1. |
What are the new ProLiant BL p-Class network features? |
| A1. |
The next generation ProLiant BL p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Switch is now available for fully redundant Gigabit Ethernet network adapter (NIC) signal consolidation, advanced network functionality, and support for layer 3-7 switching and 10 Gigabit Ethernet expandability. |
|
| Q2. |
How does ProLiant BL address the challenges of network cabling in a dense, rack-server environment? |
| A2. |
There are two ways that ProLiant BL reduces the cabling burden often associated with dense, rack-server environments. First, the cables are plugged into the back of the enclosures and not the servers themselves. This means that when a server needs to be removed or redeployed, a customer can just pull out the server and not have to remove all the network, storage, and power connections. Second, customers have the option of using the interconnect switch to consolidate all the server network ports to just one to twelve Gigabit Ethernet uplinks.
|
|
| Q3. |
How do I connect ProLiant BL servers to the company network? |
| A3. |
Network connectivity can be facilitated through patch panels or interconnect switch options in the rear of the enclosures. The ProLiant BL40p has six NIC connections where as the ProLiant BL20p G2 has four NIC connections. There can be two BL40p servers per 6U enclosure, one BL40p server and up to four BL20p or BL20p G2 servers, or up to eight BL20p or BL20p G2 servers. This translates to 12 to 32 network connections in total.
The choice of cable management options for the 6U enclosure includes
- Patch Panel: The network connections are routed through the rear via RJ-45 ports.
- Patch Panel 2: Same as the Patch Panel plus pass-through of BL20p G2 Fibre Channel signals.
- GbE Interconnect Switch: Up to 32 network signals are consolidated via redundant managed layer 2 Ethernet switches.
- GbE2 Interconnect Switch: Adds NIC consolidation up to Gigabit Ethernet speeds, advanced network switching, network expandability, and optional pass-through of BL20p G2 Fibre Channel signals.
|
|
| Q4. |
What are the key features that distinguish the new GbE2 Interconnect Switch from the GbE Interconnect switch? |
| A4. |
The new p-Class GbE2 Interconnect Switch offers several major enhancements including:
- Gigabit Ethernet performance on all ports allowing 10/100/1000 Mbps gigabit NIC consolidation and increased data throughput.
- Design architected to support future expandability options including layer 3-7 switching and 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks
- Additional network feature support including spanning tree protocol compatibility with PVST+ and PVST , RADIUS, SSH and secure copy file transfer (SCP), 9k Jumbo Frames, redundant configuration images in memory, and more.
- Optional pass-through of ProLiant BL20p G2 Fibre Channel signals.
|
|
| Q5. |
What servers do the ProLiant BL p-Class interconnect switch kits support? |
| A5. |
Any ProLiant BL p-Class interconnect switch kit may be used with all available ProLiant p-Class servers (BL20p, BL20p G2, and BL40p). Any possible combination of these servers is supported.
|
|
| Q6. |
How do I know what interconnect switch kit (GbE versus GbE2) to purchase? |
| A6. |
The GbE Interconnect Kit is intended for applications that require 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet NIC consolidation.
The new GbE2 Interconnect Kits are intended for applications that require up to 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet NIC consolidation, advanced network feature support including up to layer 7 switching, ProLiant BL20p G2 Fibre Channel pass-through, and/or 10 Gigabit Ethernet bandwidth connectivity to the network.
|
|
| Q7. |
Is the GbE2 Interconnect Switch available with fiber-based Ethernet uplinks? |
| A7. |
Yes. Both the GbE and GbE2 Interconnect Switches are available with either 10/100/1000T copper-based (C-GbE and C-GbE2 kits) or 1000SX fiber-based uplink connectivity (F-GbE and F-GbE2 kits).
|
|
| Q8. |
Can I upgrade my existing p-Class system from a GbE Interconnect Switch or Patch Panel to a GbE2 Interconnect Switch? |
| A8. |
A GbE2 Interconnect Switch itself cannot be upgraded, but existing interconnects may be removed and replaced with GbE2 Interconnect Switches; no other hardware modification is required. The GbE2 Interconnect Switch is compatible with the existing p-Class system infrastructure. End-user upgrades are possible without the need to power down the server blade enclosure. One interconnect may be upgraded at a time leaving the other interconnect operational.
|
|
| Q9. |
What level of ProLiant BL p-Class Interconnect Switch Kit network cable consolidation is possible with the various combinations of ProLiant BL20p, BL20p G2, and BL40p servers? |
| A9. |
Each ProLiant BL p-Class Interconnect Switch Kit includes eight switch ports at the rear and four at the front of the server blade enclosure. One to all 12 ports may be used as desired for data connections to the network, local switch management, additional inter-switch cross connections, etc.
The total network cable consolidation depends on the mix of ProLiant server blades:
- A maximum of a 32 to 1 network cable consolidation for any combination of up to eight ProLiant BL20p and BL20p G2 servers.
- A maximum of a 22 to 1 network cable consolidation for one BL40p server and any combination of up to four ProLiant BL20p and BL20p G2 servers.
- A maximum of a 12 to 1 network cable consolidation for two BL40p servers.
|
|
| Q10. |
Whose switch solution are you using? |
| A10. |
The switches offered in the ProLiant BL line are HP switches. The switches are designed with industry standard components, including Broadcom switch ASIC chips. The switches support industry standard network protocols compatible with other network components in the customer environment. |
|
| Q11. |
Can the NICs on ProLiant BL servers be teamed? |
| A11. |
Yes, all three types of ProLiant network adapter teaming are fully supported when using any patch panel or interconnect switch option. |
|
| Q12. |
What network adapters are included with the ProLiant BL40p server? |
| A12. |
Each ProLiant BL40p server includes six (6) network adapters: five embedded NC7781 10/100/1000T Gigabit Ethernet WOL (Wake On LAN) enabled with Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) plus one additional 10/100T Ethernet adapter dedicated to Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) management. |
|
Rack and Power Infrastructure |
| Q1. |
Is 3-phase power required for the ProLiant BL p-Class power infrastructure? |
| A1. |
No. The ProLiant BL p-Class power infrastructure is flexible and supports 3-phase, single-phase and -48 volt facility DC power. 3-phase power and-48 volt facility 8 volt facility DC power can support a full 42U rack of ProLiant BL server blades; single-phase power can support half of a 42U rack or 6 ProLiant BL40p server blades. |
|
| Q2. |
What if the customer has -48 volt facility DC power? |
| A2. |
The ProLiant BL p-Class power supplies are designed to convert AC input power to -48 volt DC power to the 6U server enclosures via the bus bars. A customer can, however, connect their -48 volt (+ or - 10%) facility DC power directly to the bus bars without having to use the power enclosures. A facility DC option kit would need to be purchased to make the connection. |
|
| Q3. |
What is the power draw for each of the servers? |
| A3. |
We have created a ProLiant p-Class graphical power calculator to help determine the amount of power needed for a particular configuration. The tool provides power, cooling, weight, and configuration information. The tool can be found at http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliant-bl/p-class/index.html
|
|
| Q4. |
Does the ProLiant BL p-Class fit in 3rd party racks? |
| A4. |
Yes. The ProLiant BL p-Class was designed to fit in HP ProLiant racks, Telco racks and most 3rd party racks. The BL p-Class will fit into 3rd party racks that meet the minimum rack requirements below:
- Compatible with 19" Standard EIA rail sets
- EIA rail to rail depth is 29-30"
- Cabinet depth must be at least 36" deep overall (Additional min. 3.5" clearance from rear RETMA rail to rear door, inclusive in the 36" overall depth)
- Ample room for top and bottom cable egress (approximately 8 square inches for full rack configuration with patch panel)
- Must be capable of supporting 1600 lbs (for full rack configuration)
- Perforated front and rear doors to accommodate front-to-back cooling
- Must have 65% open perforation on server blade enclosure doors to support airflow requirements
|
|
| Q5. |
What is the redundancy of the power? |
| A5. |
The ProLiant BL p-Class architecture supports dual power enclosures. Each 3U power enclosure is attached to two power circuits to enable redundant power feeds (the equivalent of dual power cords). Each 3U power enclosure must be able to support the full load of the rack in case of AC failure. Therefore, to ensure redundancy, the draw on each power feed must be limited to half its maximum power rating. |
|
| Q6. |
Will there be a UPS solution since that's currently an option when you build a rack? |
| A6. |
Since the BL p-Class power is distributed at the rack level versus the server level, the BL p-Class solution would utilize a Datacenter site UPS versus an individual UPS. |
|
Deployment and Management |
| Q1. |
How do the server deployment tools work? |
| A1. |
Server software deployment is accomplished via the Insight Rapid Deployment software, developed through a partnership with Altiris. It is a GUI-based system, which makes it easy to rapidly configure many servers and propagate images. The Insight Rapid Deployment software will also include the traditional DOS-based scripting tools that are currently part of the SmartStart Scripting Toolkit, giving customers more flexibility. |
|
| Q2. |
Can ProLiant BL servers be managed with Insight Manager 7? |
| A2. |
Yes. The ProLiant BL line was designed to use the same management tools as all other ProLiant servers. The ProLiant BL line even has graphical representations of the rack that can be seen in Insight Manager 7. |
|
| Q3. |
How can ProLiant BL p-Class servers be managed remotely? |
| A3. |
Each BL p-Class server blade will have integrated Lights Out (iLO) advanced technology embedded in the motherboard and accessible via a dedicated 10/100 NIC. |
|
| Q4. |
What is the ProLiant BL Diagnostic Station and how does it work? |
| A4. |
The ProLiant BL p-Class diagnostic station provides power to ProLiant BL p-Class server blades and ProLiant BL p-Class interconnect switches outside of the rack environment. The diagnostic station contains one or two power supplies (depending on the server being serviced) that provide power to the server blade or to the interconnect switch. In addition, there is a system board with connectors for data transfer between the server blade or interconnect switch, and a client PC (a laptop, desktop, or workstation). The client PC provides the keyboard, video, mouse, and diskette interface and facilitates the use of the iLO Remote Console.
|
|
| Q5. |
How are the interconnect switches managed? |
| A5. |
A browser-based interface and scriptable command line interface (CLI) are provided to configure, manage, and monitor the interconnect switch on a per port basis. Any combination switch ports can be disabled, enabled, and configured and monitored as required. Out-of-band and in-band access is supported locally and remotely from anywhere on the network.
Additional management features include:
- Fault detection and monitoring of switch functionality with through Insight Manager 7, OpenView, and other SNMP managers
- Access the browser-based interface through the provided local Ethernet ports or via any uplink port
- Access the CLI through the provided serial console port or via a Telnet session over the network
|
|
Service and Support |
| Q1. |
What is the warranty for the ProLiant BL p-Class? |
| A1. |
The ProLiant BL p-Class has a 3-3-3 warranty on the infrastructure components and the blades. |
|
Printable version
