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HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 and Broadcom NetXtreme Synergy

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Industry leadershipHP and Broadcom were the first to bring the Virtual Connect Flex-10 technology to market. The technology was introduced in 2008 in the HP BladeSystem Generation 5 (G5) family of servers. Broadcom was the only Ethernet solution partner with support for this technology, developing high-performance NetXtreme 10Gb Ethernet controllers for the HP NC532i LOM and NC532m mezzanine card.

Broadcom has leveraged its extensive integration experience (hardware, software, testing) from the HP G5 server platform to develop and deliver its next-generation 10GbE solutions for the HP Generation 8 server (Gen8) platforms. These 10GbE network connectivity solutions are available in a variety of form factors including the HP Flex-10 10Gb two-port 530FLB Adapter (FlexibleLOM) for blade servers, and the HP Flex-10 10Gb two-port 530M Adapter (mezzanine card).

HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 TechnologyHP Virtual Connect Flex-10 technology is designed to provide greater deployment and management granularity of the server network connectivity ports. This is accomplished through the Flex-10 ability to segment a 10GbE server connection into four independent ports. These ports, called FlexNICs, function like a NIC port. The combined aggregate bandwidth for each of these FlexNIC ports is equal to 10 Gbps. The operating system treats each FlexNIC as a discrete NIC, each with its own driver. Since each FlexNIC has its

own MAC address and establishes virtual local area network (VLAN) tags between itself and the Virtual Connect FlexFabric or Flex-10 interconnect module, data traffic flow for each FlexNIC remains isolated even though the FlexNICs share a common physical 10GbE port. The actual value of the outer VLAN tag for each FlexNIC is set by Virtual Connect. Packets that have been tagged and isolated by Virtual Connect and the FlexNICs then move from the Flex-10 device (FlexibleLOM or mezzanine card) to the Virtual Connect FlexFabric or Flex-10 module on a single pathway. This pathway is enabled by implementing the 10GBASE-KR (IEEE 802.3ap) one lane, serial backplane connection standard. Each FlexNIC can also be mapped to a different Virtual Connect network (vNET).

For more efficient bandwidth utilization and greater server uptime, network administrators can dynamically allocate bandwidth when and where needed in 100 Mb increments without a server reboot. The bandwidth for each FlexNIC can be set based on the application’s expected data traffic load. The bandwidth for each FlexNIC is managed using the Virtual Connect graphical user interface (GUI) or command line interface (CLI) options. Once set, Virtual Connect will manage the bandwidth using PAUSE-based flow control (IEEE 802.3x) on the transmit side of each FlexNIC.

With Virtual Connect Flex-10 technology, users can replace multiple lower bandwidth physical NIC ports with a single 10 Gb port. The result is a more efficient and flexible network operation with lower deployment, management, and power costs. Virtual Connect Flex-10 provides network optimization by allowing administrators to fine-tune network bandwidth at the server edge.

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HP Flex-10 10Gb 2-port 530M mezzanine card HP P/N: 631884-B21

HP Flex-10 10Gb 2-port 530FLB FlexibleLOM for blade servers HP P/N: 656590-B21

Chart 1. BCM57810S Throughput (Mbps) vs. I/O size (bytes) (Source: Demartek)

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Broadcom-based Flex-10 solutions for HP BladeSystem Gen8 Server familySpecifically designed for HP BladeSystem Gen8 server family, HP FlexibleNetworking Adapters powered by Broadcom’s NetXtreme II 10GbE solutions include the HP Flex-10 10Gb two-port 530FLB FlexibleLOM and the HP Flex-10 10Gb two-port 530M mezzanine card. Both of these solutions are based on Broadcom’s high-performance NetXtreme II BCM57810S Ethernet controller.

These solutions are offered across a wide array of HP BladeSystem Generation 8 servers, and supported across enterprise-class operating system platforms (Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008, RHEL and SLES, vSphere).

Boosting Virtual Connect Flex-10 technology with superior networking performance Higher large block I/O performance (throughput)

Applications that require maximum throughput for cloud computing include: streaming video and audio, high-resolution graphics, database, large file transfers, and backup.

The growth of server-to-server data flow within the data center is outpacing the growth of data flow into and out of the data center. It is projected that the typical intra-data center (server-to-server) traffic demands will exceed the internal/external traffic flow by a factor of four by the year 2015. To facilitate this projected growth of internal data flow, data centers will move toward simpler, flatter network architectures that require maximum network availability, bandwidth, and throughput performance.

To address these emerging demands, the HP ProLiant Gen8 server 10GbE FlexibleNetworking Adapters with the Broadcom BCM57810S controller have demonstrated exceptional large block I/O throughput with line-rate performance, supporting up to 37,000 Mb/s.1 (See Chart 1.)

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Chart 2. Broadcom BCM57810S CPU utilization (%) vs. I/O size (bytes) (Source: Demartek)

Lower CPU utilization for processing networking load

Data center operational costs have a significant impact on businesses and IT administrators are consistently tasked to reduce costs and increase asset utilization. Traditionally, data center servers were dedicated systems, which meant they were over-provisioned and under-utilized.

HP 10Gb Ethernet NIC, FlexibleLOM and mezzanine adapters powered by Broadcom BCM57810S 10Gb Ethernet controllers improve CPU utilization through a combination of hardware and stateless offloads features. In fact, with the BCM57810S, CPU utilization remains below 15 percent across varying traffic loads. (See Chart 2.)

However, the benefits of Broadcom’s offload features go beyond just improving performance and workload processing. These features also help reduce energy consumption and total cost of ownership.

ConclusionThe shift toward the cloud computing model and hyperscale data center architectures is driving the need for high-performance, cost-effective, and flexible, 10GbE network connectivity solutions at the server edge. This is where the performance and efficiency of Broadcom 10GbE solutions further enhance and elevate the benefits of HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 technology, making HP BladeSystem Gen8 server platforms the best in the industry.

References• Demartek Labs

demartek.com

• HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 Technology Brief h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01608922/c01608922.pdf

• HP Virtual Connect for c-Class BladeSystem Setup and Installation Guide bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01732252/c01732252.pdf

• HP Virtual Connect technology for the HP BladeSystem c-Class h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00814156/c00814156.pdf

• HP Virtual Connect Ethernet Cookbook bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01990371/c01990371.pdf

• HP Virtual Connect: Common Myths, Misperceptions, and Objections, Second Edition bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02058339/c02058339.hires.pdf

• HP Virtual Connect for DUMMIES® h18004.www1.hp.com/products/blades/virtualconnect/connectfordummies/regForm.html

• HP Flex-10 10Gb 2-port 530FLB QuickSpecs h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/networking/530FLB/index.html

• HP Flex-10 10Gb 2-port 530M QuickSpecs h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/networking/530M/index.html

• HP FlexibleNetwork Adapters Powered by Broadcom NetXtreme Controllers bit.ly/BroadcomHPGen8

• Broadcom BCM57810S Controller Product Brief broadcom.com/collateral/pb/57810S-PB00-R.pdf

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© Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

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4AA4-1710ENW, Created July 2012