HP XC System Software 3.2.1 3.3.3 Switch Port Connections, 3.3.2 Administrator Passwords on ProCurve Switches

Root Administration Switch	This switch connects directly to Gigabit Ethernet ports
	of the head node, the Root Console Switch, Branch
	Administration Switches, and other nodes in the utility
	cabinet.
Root Console Switch	This switch connects to the Root Administration Switch,
	Branch Console Switches, and connects to the
	management console ports of nodes in the utility cabinet.
Branch Administration Switch	This switch connects to the Gigabit Ethernet ports of
	compute nodes and connects to the Root Administration
	Switch.
Branch Console Switch	This switch connects to the Root Console Switch and
	connects to the management console ports of the compute
	nodes.

IMPORTANT: Switch use is not strictly enforced on HP XC systems with HP server blades.

For more information about switch use with HP server blades, see Chapter 2 (page 33).

Table 3-1lists the switch models that are supported for each use.

Table 3-1 Supported Switch Models

Switch Use	ProCurve Switch Model
Administration Switch	ProCurve 2848 or 2824
Console Switch	ProCurve 2650 or 2626

3.3.2 Administrator Passwords on ProCurve Switches

The documentation that came with the ProCurve switch describes how to optionally set an administrator's password for the switch.

If you define and set a password on a ProCurve switch, you must set the same password on every ProCurve switch that is a component of the HP XC system.

During the hardware discovery phase of the system configuration process, you are prompted to supply the password for the ProCurve switch administrator, and the password on every switch must match.

3.3.3 Switch Port Connections

Most HP XC systems have at least one Root Administration Switch and one Root Console Switch. The number of Branch Administration Switches and Branch Console Switches depends upon the total number of nodes in the hardware configuration.

The administration network using the root and branch switches must be parallel to the console network root and branch switches. In other words, if a particular node uses port N on the Root Administration Switch, its management console port must be connected to port N on the Root Console Switch. If a particular node uses port N on the Branch Administration Switch, its management console port must be connected to port N on the corresponding Branch Console Switch.

A graphical representation of the logical layout of the switches and nodes is shown in Figure 3-2.

3.3 Switches 47