IBM 8677 manual L2 Switch

Multiport aggregation group 1 Gbps or 100 Mbps links

									Switch A
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10 11 12 13 14
									Mgmt
									Mod
									Switch B

									Switch A
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10 11 12 13 14
									Mgmt
									Mod
									Switch B

									Switch A
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10 11 12 13 14
									Mgmt
									Mod
									Switch B

L2 Switch

10/100 Mbps management links

L2+ Switch

Dual external switches

L2+ Switch

IBM Director

-Chassis management

-Application deployment

-Internal switches

Establishment backbone

Network administrator

-Infrastructure management

-Network hardware and software

In this configuration, each BladeCenter unit contains two Ethernet switch modules and one management module. The external ports on the switch modules are configured for multi-port link aggregation groups, or trunks, as are the corresponding ports on the attached external LAN switches. Additionally, every port in the switch module in I/O-module bay 1 (switch A in this illustration) in the BladeCenter units is connected to the same external LAN switch and every port in the switch module in I/O-module bay 2 (switch B in this illustration) in the BladeCenter units is connected to the second external LAN switch.

Observe the following guidelines when creating this topology:

1.The external ports on the BladeCenter switch modules are designed for point-to-point, full-duplex operation to a compatible LAN switch or router. Configure a corresponding multi-port link aggregation group, or trunk, in both the switch module and the attached LAN switch prior to installing the cables. The connection options are as follows, in order of preference:

v Multi-port Link Aggregation Group or Trunk, 1 Gbps (1000 Mbps) per port

vSingle-uplink port, 1 Gbps

vMulti-port Link Aggregation Group or Trunk, 100 Mbps per port

2.Connect the management module 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port to a separate Layer 2 network if possible, for the best security. If a separate network is not available, you can attach the Ethernet ports of the management module and switch modules to the same Layer 2 network.

3.Avoid network configurations that could lead to data loops, if possible. Loops will be created if you connect multiple ports from the same switch module to the same Layer 2 network device without first enabling link aggregation. If you implement configurations that include data loops, it is essential that you enable Spanning Tree Protocol on the switch module external ports.

50BladeCenter Type 8677: Installation and User’s Guide