An S11 or S31 Node has two networks for connecting to your networking infrastructure: an access network and a management network. Both the access network and the management network can be used for management functions. Only the access network can be used for data access.
Access network
For the access network, each server module comes with four bonded onboard 10Gb Ethernet SFP+ ports. These ports can be used only if the networking infrastructure supports SFP+. If the networking infrastructure does not support SFP+:
- For an SFP28 networking infrastructure, a two-port 25Gb Ethernet SFP28 PCIe card must be installed in each server module.
- For a 10GBase-T networking infrastructure, a four-port 10GBase-T Ethernet PCIe card must be installed in each server module.
If either Ethernet PCIe card is present in the server modules, the S11 or S31 Node uses the ports on those cards for the access network. If the server modules do not contain Ethernet PCIe cards, the S11 or S31 Node uses the onboard SFP+ ports for the access network.
In any case, the access network ports can be configured as active-active (802.3ad) or active-backup. To create a highly available infrastructure, the ports can be connected to different physical switches.
You can choose not to connect one or more of the access network ports to the networking infrastructure. In this case, the S11 or S31 Node uses only the connected ports, with each of those ports either an active port or a backup port, depending on the bonding mode.
Management network
For the management network, each server module has one 1Gb Ethernet 1000Base-T port. You can choose not to connect the management port. In this case, only the access network is available for management functions.
Available additional components
To meet your network connectivity requirements, Hitachi Vantara offers the additional components listed below.
- 25Gb SFP28 optical transceiver
- If you have a 25Gb Ethernet network and are using fiber optic cables for the access network connections, a 25Gb SFP28 optical transceiver is required on both ends of each fiber optic cable. The 25Gb SFP28 optical transceiver has an LC type connector. Hitachi Vantara offers a 25Gb SFP28 optical transceiver from Intel.
- The Intel 25Gb SFP28 optical transceiver is the only SFP28 optical transceiver supported for use with an S11 or S31 Node.
- 10Gb SFP+ optical transceiver
- If you have a 10Gb Ethernet network and are using fiber optic cables for the access network connections, a 10Gb SFP+ optical transceiver is required on both ends of each fiber optic cable. The 10Gb SFP+ optical transceiver has an LC type connector. Hitachi Vantara offers a 10Gb SFP+ optical transceiver from Intel.
- The Intel 10Gb SFP+ optical transceiver is the only SFP+ optical transceiver supported for use with an S11 or S31 Node.
- Multimode fiber optic cable
- If you have a 10Gb Ethernet network and the distance between the server modules and the Ethernet switches is greater than 10 meters, fiber optic cables must be used for the access network connections. If you have a 25Gb Ethernet network and the distance between the server modules and the Ethernet switches is greater than 5 meters, fiber optic cables must be used for the access network connections.
- Hitachi Vantara offers multimode fiber optic cables in various lengths in both plenum and LSZH jacketing.
- 25Gb or 10Gb Twinax cable
- If you have a 25Gb or 10Gb Ethernet network and the distance between the server modules and the Ethernet switches is less than 10 meters, Twinax cables can be used instead of fiber optic cables for the access network connections. If you have a 25Gb Ethernet network and the distance between the server modules and the Ethernet switches is less than 5 meters, Twinax cables can be used instead of fiber optic cables for the access network connections.
- Hitachi Vantara offers 25Gb Twinax cables in various lengths up to five meters and 10Gb Twinax cables in various lengths. The Twinax cables come from both Brocade and Cisco.