HP XC System Software 3.2.1 manual Cabling for the Interconnect Network

Figure 2-5 Console Network Connections

Non-Blade Server
			PCI SLOT
MGT	NIC	NIC	PCI SLOT

C-Class Blade Enclosure

	Interconnect bay 1
NIC 1
NIC 2	Interconnect bay 2
NIC 3
NIC 4	Interconnect bay 3
MEZZ 1
	Interconnect bay 4
MEZZ 2
MEZZ 3	Interconnect bay 5
iLO2
	Interconnect bay 6
NIC 1
	Interconnect bay 7
NIC 2
MEZZ 1	Interconnect bay 8
MEZZ 2
	ONBOARD
iLO2	ADMINISTRATOR

Non-Blade Server
			PCI SLOT
MGT	NIC	NIC	PCI SLOT

Admin ProCurve 2800 Series Switch

Console ProCurve 2600 Series Switch

Gigabit Ethernet Interconnect Switch

External Public Network

2.5 Cabling for the Interconnect Network

The interconnect network is a private network within an HP XC system. Typically, every node in an HP XC system is connected to the interconnect. The interconnect network provides a high-speed communications path used primarily for user file service and for communications within applications that are distributed among nodes in the cluster.

Gigabit Ethernet and InfiniBand are supported as the interconnect types for HP XC hardware configurations with server blades and enclosures. The procedure to configure the interconnect network depends upon the type of interconnect in use.

•“Configuring a Gigabit Ethernet Interconnect” (page 39)

•“Configuring an InfiniBand Interconnect” (page 40)

•“Configuring the Interconnect Network Over the Administration Network” (page 41)

2.5.1Configuring a Gigabit Ethernet Interconnect

A Gigabit Ethernet interconnect requires one or more external Ethernet switches to act as the interconnect between the enclosures that make up the HP XC system.

On systems using a Gigabit Ethernet interconnect, one NIC on each server blade is dedicated as the connection to the interconnect network. On a server blade, NIC2 is used for this purpose. NIC2 of all server blades connects to interconnect bay 2 on the enclosure.

The entire interconnect network is formed by connecting the device (either a switch or a pass-thru module) in interconnect bay 2 of each enclosure to one of the Gigabit Ethernet interconnect switches.

If the device is a switch, the Gigabit uplink to the higher level ProCurve switch can be a single wire or a trunked connection of 2, 4, or 8 wires. If the device is a pass-thru module, there must be one uplink connection for each server blade in the enclosure.

Non-blade server nodes must also be connected to the interconnect network. See Chapter 3 (page 45) to determine which port on the node is used for the interconnect network; the port you use depends on your particular hardware model.

Figure 2-6illustrates the connections for a Gigabit Ethernet interconnect.

2.5 Cabling for the Interconnect Network 39