Technologies for the ProLiant ML570 G4 and ProLiant DL580 G4 servers

Receive Side Scaling (RSS)

The Network Driver Interface Specifications (NDIS) define a common Application Programming

Interface for network interface cards on Microsoft operating systems. Early versions of NDIS did not

differentiate between computers with single or multiple CPUs. The result was that one CPU was forced

to handle the entire network processing load. NDIS v6.0 includes support for multiple processors.

With NDIS v6.0, RSS can dynamically balance the processing of received network packets across

multiple processors. The Scalable Networking Pack for Windows Server 2003 is required for RSS

support.

By installing the Scalable Networking Pack for Windows Server 2003, administrators can balance

the processing load between multiple CPUs on the ML570 G4 and DL580 G4 servers

iSCSI

iSCSI is a standard that implements the SCSI protocol for interacting with storage devices over a

TCP/IP network. While iSCSI can be implemented over any TCP/IP network, the most common

implementation is over gigabit Ethernet. iSCSI serves the same purpose as Fibre Channel in building

storage area networks (SANs), but avoids the cost, complexity, and compatibility issues associated

with Fibre Channel SANs.

In iSCSi terminology, initiators are devices that access storage resources through the iSCSI protocol.

A target is the device that the initiator accesses. While the target is usually a hard drive enclosure or

another computer, it can also be any other storage device that supports the iSCSI protocol, such as a

tape drive.

Initiators can be divided into two categories: software initiators and Host Bus Adapters (HBAs).

Software initiators implement the iSCSI protocol in software, and CPU resources are used to manage

the protocol stack. A more efficient approach is to offload the management of the protocol to the

network adapter. Adapters that implement the iSCSI protocol are known as iSCSI HBAs. These

devices appear to the operating system to be a SCSI HBA. The NC371i is an iSCSI HBA and

appears to the operating system as a SCSI HBA. The ML570 G4 and DL580 G4 servers both offer

the ability to use either network interface as an iSCSI HBA.

For more information about iSCSI, refer to the HP technology brief titled “

iSCSI technology: A

convergence of networking and storage

”.

Improved manageability through iLO 2

Integrated Lights-Out 2 (iLO 2) is the fourth generation of Lights-Out remote management for HP

servers. iLO 2 is hardware and firmware integrated into most ProLiant servers that provides remote

management capabilities over Ethernet. iLO 2 is most useful in situations that require remote

management of servers, and it is active even when the OS not operating. The iLO2 management

processor obtains its power from the auxiliary power plane of the server, so it is always available

when the server is plugged into a power source. There are three levels of licensing for iLO 2: iLO 2

Standard, iLO 2 Select Packs, and iLO 2 Advanced Packs. Each offers different levels of remote

access capabilities.

The ML570 G4 and DL580 G4 servers both offer the ability to connect to iLO 2 through a dedicated

Ethernet port. This port can connect to a dedicated management network that is out of the data path

for the server and that can be highly secured. In addition, iLO 2 on these platforms can assign an

additional MAC and IP address to one of the standard embedded network interfaces and share that

Available at this URL: www.hp.com/servers/technology