3
Redundancy and High-Availability
The Topspin 360 is architected for full redundancy within a single box. Every component in the data
path can be dual-connected from end to end. For example, a server with a 2-port HCA can be
dual-attached to the two switch blades on the Topspin 360. Each gateway is also dual attached to the
dual switch blades. In turn, the gateway modules are dual attached to Ethernet or Fibre Channel
networks in pairs. With the addition of centralized load balancing and port aggregation, Ethernet and
Fibre Channel uplink connections can be trunked and load balanced, allowing the Topspin 360 to
reroute around failures. Each independently removable component is hot-swappable. Figure 1-3 depicts
the internal Topspin 360 architecture.
Figure 1-3: Fully Redundant System Architecture
The Topspin 360 can be used in a variety of networking environments, including database tiers,
application tiers, and Web tiers. The Topspin 360 provides 10 Gbps connectivity to servers, 1 Gbps
connectivity to Ethernet networks, and 2 Gbps connectivity to Fibre Channel networks. You can also
aggregate uplinks for greater bandwidth and redundancy.
Scalability
You can populate the service end of the Topspin 360 with additional Fibre Channel gateways, Ethernet
gateways, and InfiniBand switch cards to increase the port count of your Server Switch. A second IB
switch card adds 12 InfiniBand ports. Each additional FC gateway adds 2 Fibre Channel ports, and each
additional Ethernet gateway adds 4 or 6 Ethernet ports.
InfiniBand
backplane
Controllers
hosts
IB switches
Ethernet gateway
Fibre Channel Gateways
Ethernet switches
Fibre Channel switches