Server profile connections settings

The maximum number of connections supported by a profile is equal to total number of virtual ports available across all the HPE FlexFabric adapters in the server, plus two unassigned connections or 50, whichever is smaller.

About network assignment

For a server profile, you can select either a network or network set to configure the traffic on the ports.

You can add a connection to a server profile without assigning a network or network set by choosing the Unassigned selection. By selecting Unassigned from the network drop-down, you reserve the associated server port to assign networks later.

Valid networks or network sets can be selected for an active connection while the server power is on and without the need to reboot the server. All connection types, including Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), iSCSI, and Fibre Channel (FC), can be created without assigning a network using the Unassigned selection from the network drop-down.

The Unassigned selection also reserves virtual MAC and WWN addresses for a virtual port when used in conjunction with the blade servers.

Rack servers support FC connections. Rack servers can have one connection per physical port.

For blade servers with an iSCSI connection, you can use static values or use DHCP to obtain the IP address, netmask, and gateway.

Network

The connection contains either an unassigned network that reserves the associated port or a valid Ethernet network, network set, Fibre Channel, or FCoE network.

Both rack and blade servers support FC connections. FC connections can be unassigned connections.

An Ethernet network or network set can be accessed by an Ethernet device; a Fibre Channel or FCoE network can be accessed by a Fibre Channel device. To configure an iSCSI boot device with an Ethernet connection, you must select UEFI or UEFI optimized as the boot mode in the Boot Settings pane. Networks are filtered to both Fibre Channel and FCoE when Type is set to Fibre Channel.

You can assign each connection in a server profile template to a single network. Network sets enable you to select multiple networks for a single connection defined in a server profile or server profile template. Network sets are useful with hypervisors, where server profile templates need the ability to define multiple networks.

For blade servers, duplicate networks are not allowed on the same port. This restriction also applies to networks that belong to a network set. For example, if Network_A is part of NetworkSet_A, the individual network and the network set containing it cannot be assigned to FlexibleLOM 1.

Isolated Trunk

This option appears if there are networks present in the network set that is participating in private VLANs.

When isolated trunk is selected, for each PVLAN domain the primary VLAN ID tags are translated to the isolated VLAN ID tags for traffic egressing to the downlink ports. Isolated trunk configuration is only recommended for PVLAN-unaware operating systems.

Boot

You can select a connection as a primary or secondary boot device. A template can contain bootable Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI connections.

• Ethernet: Not bootable, PXE primary, PXE secondary, iSCSI primary, or iSCSI secondary

  NOTE:

  If you select iSCSI primary or iSCSI secondary with an Ethernet function type, you must also select UEFI or UEFI optimized as the boot mode in the Boot Settings pane.

• Fibre Channel: Not bootable, FC primary, or FC secondary

• iSCSI: Not bootable, iSCSI primary, or iSCSI secondary

Requested bandwidth (Gb/s)

For Ethernet, the requested bandwidth applies only to outbound (transmitted) traffic. Inbound traffic is processed on a first come, first served basis by the interconnect. For FCoE, the requested bandwidth controls both inbound and outbound traffic.

When you select a network, the appliance automatically populates the preferred bandwidth with the value from the network definition, but that value can be overridden while defining the connection.

The bandwidth is programmed onto the adapter as an integer percentage of the total possible bandwidth. When specifying preferred bandwidth for a connection in a profile, the possible choices are in increments of 1% of total possible bandwidth. For example, when the total possible bandwidth is 10Gb, then the preferred bandwidth setting is in increments of 100Mb (1% of 10Gb), but if the total possible bandwidth is 25Gb, then the preferred bandwidth specified is in increments of 250Mb. Any value specified that is not an integer percentage of the total bandwidth is rounded down to the nearest integer percentage. For example, when the maximum bandwidth is 10Gb, the requested bandwidth is 1.1Gb, which is 11% of the total bandwidth. But when the maximum bandwidth is 25Gb, the requested bandwidth of 1.1Gb, which is 4.4%, is rounded to 4% and the preferred bandwidth is set to 1Gb. If rounding causes the value to be 0%, then the value is rounded up to 1%.

Total possible bandwidth is the highest available speed that the adapter and the interconnect can both communicate at.

Both the ports on an adapter must always have the same highest available speed. If one port has a slower negotiated speed than the other, both ports would take the lower number as their total possible bandwidth.

If the logical interconnect is formed from a pair of HPE Virtual Connect SE 100Gb F32 Module for HPE Synergy, then the speed can be changed from 25Gb to 50Gb and from 50Gb to 25Gb.

When the downlink speed is reduced on the logical interconnect from 50Gb to 25Gb, each profile with a server associated with the logical interconnect is examined. If the sum of requested bandwidth for any profile exceeds 25Gb, the request to change the speed on the logical interconnect is rejected with an error message. When the speed is changed to 25Gb, the maximum bandwidth of the profile connections is adjusted if the original speed is greater than 25Gb.

For Virtual Connect Fibre Channel connections, the available discrete values are based on the adapter and the Fibre Channel interconnect module. With Fibre Channel connections on HPE FlexFabric adapters, you can select from a full range of speeds. However, if you change the HBA adapter speed through the BIOS setting, and then set the requested bandwidth setting for a server profile connection to a noncompatible value, the link will not be established.

Managed connection

This option is available only for non-Virtual Connect modules with Fibre Channel Fabric Attached networks.

This option allows you to pass traffic through a module that is not managed by the appliance.

Deselecting managed connection enables you to create connections to unmanaged modules through mezzanine ports using Fibre Channel Fabric Attached networks.