HP XC System Software Hardware Preparation Guide Version 3.0

2 Making Node and Switch Connections
This chapter provides information about the connections between nodes and switches that are required for
an HP XC system. The following topics are addressed:
• Cabinets (page 19)
• Trunking and Switch Choices (page 19)
• Switches (page 20)
• Interconnect Connections (page 27)
Cabinets
Two types of cabinets contain the HP XC system hardware:
• Utility cabinet
• Application cabinet
Cabinets are used as a packaging medium. The application cabinets are optimized to meet power, heat
and density requirements. The utility cabinet is intended to fill a more flexible need.
Because any node can be network capable, the only distinction of nodes in the utility cabinet is more disk
I/O capability. The only strict rule is that the head node must be located in the utility cabinet and must be
connected to the Root Administration Switch; see “Root Administration Switch ” (page 23) for more information.
In all configurations, at a minimum, the utility cabinet contains the head node. Nodes with external storage
should also be contained in the utility cabinet.
All nodes in the utility cabinet are connected to the root switches (administration and console). All nodes in
an application cabinet are connected to the local branch switch.
Figure 2-1 Application and Utility Cabinets
Utility Cabinet
Application
Cabinet
Application
Cabinet
Application
Cabinet
Application
Cabinet
Root Administration Switch
Trunking and Switch Choices
The HP XC System Software supports the use of port trunking on the ProCurve switches to create a higher
bandwidth connection between the Root Administration Switches and the Branch Administration Switches
as well as the Super Root Switch and the Root Administration Switches, in the case of a large-scale HP XC
system.
For physically small platforms (such as a 1U HP ProLiant DL145 server), a large number of servers (more
than 30) can be placed in a single cabinet, and are all attached to a single branch switch. The branch
switch is a ProCurve Switch 2848, and two-port trunking is used for the connection between the Branch
Administration Switch and the Root Administration Switch.
Cabinets 19