HP StorageWorks 4000/6000/8000 - Enterprise Virtual Arrays - NPV Mode Connectivity Guidelines; NPV with Flexattach; NPV Device with Dual Redundant Fabrics

• Failover between NP_Ports (uplinks) is supported.
• Direct storage attachment is not supported, (requires at least one external Fibre Channel switch).
• F_Ports, NP_Ports, and SD_Ports are supported.
• NPIV-capable module servers (nested NPIV) are supported.
• Local switching is not supported. All traffic is switched using the NPV core switch.
• Remote SPAN is not supported.
• NPV mode is managed separately from the BladeSystem; however, if used with C-series switches,
it uses a common SAN-OS.
NPV mode connectivity guidelines
NPV solutions are best suited for C-series-only fabrics in which you want multivendor switch
interoperability through NP_Ports instead of E_Ports. Figure 52 shows an NPV device with dual
redundant fabrics.
NP_Ports (NPIV) (uplinks)
Blade
enclosure
with
16 servers
Server Bay 1 Server Bay 2
Server Bay 3
Server Bay 4
Server Bay 5
Server Bay 6
Server Bay 7 Server Bay 8 Server Bay 9
Server Bay 10 Server Bay 11
Server Bay 12
Server Bay 13 Server Bay 14 Server Bay 15 Server Bay 16
N_Port Virtualization N_Port Virtualization
Blade
enclosure/
Server
management
SAN/
Storage
management
25346b
FC Fabric (B-, C-, or M-series)
(with NPIV F_Port support)
FC Fabric (B-, C-, or M-series)
(with NPIV F_Port support)
Figure 52 NPV device with dual redundant fabrics
.
NOTE:
The NP_Ports in Figure 52 are not host N_Ports and cannot connect directly to storage.
The configuration shown in Figure 52 includes:
• Redundant SANs, with each server connecting to one fabric through one NPV device
• Connectivity to C-series, B-series, and M-series fabrics
• Support for up to six NPV devices per HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure, or three NPV devices
per HP BladeSystem c3000 enclosure
NPV with FlexAttach
The Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch for HP c-Class BladeSystem, MDS 9124 switch, and MDS 9134
switch support NPV with FlexAttach. FlexAttach provides automatic mapping of physical WWNs to
virtual WWNs using NAT. When NPV mode is enabled, FlexAttach allows SAN and server
administrators to install and replace servers without having to rezone or reconfigure the SAN.
Heterogeneous server rules194