User's Guide

Planning the Fabric

Preliminary Considerations

Chapter 2

Preliminary Considerations

Before beginning to physically assemble a fabric, follow the steps below to be sure all

appropriate issues have been considered:

Step 1. Read Chapter 1, “Overview,” on page 13 to get a basic understanding of HyperFabric and

its components.

Step 2. Read this chapter, Planning the Fabric, to gain an understanding of protocol speciﬁc

conﬁguration guidelines for TCP/UDP/IP and HMP applications.

Step 3. Read “Conﬁguration Overview” on page 63, “Information You Need” on page 64, and

“Conﬁguration Information Example” on page 66, to gain an understanding of the

information that must be speciﬁed when the fabric is conﬁgured.

Step 4. Decide the number of nodes that will be interconnected in the fabric.

Step 5. Decide the type of HP 9000 system that each node will be (for a list of supported HP 9000

systems, see the HP HyperFabric Release Note).

Step 6. Determine the network bandwidth requirements for each node.

Step 7. Determine the number of adapters needed for each node.

Step 8. Determine if a High Availability (ServiceGuard) conﬁguration will be needed.

Remember, If MC/ServiceGuard is used there must be at least two adapters in each

node.

Step 9. Decide what the topology of the fabric will be.

Step 10. Determine how many switches will be used based on the number of nodes in the fabric.

Remember, the only conﬁguration that can be supported without a switch is the

node-to-node conﬁguration (HA or non-HA). HyperFabric supports meshed switches up

to a depth of four switches.

Step 11. Draw the cable connections from each node to the switches (if the fabric will contain

switches). If you use an HA conﬁguration with switches, note that for full redundancy

and to avoid a single point of failure, your conﬁguration will require more than one

switch. For example, each adapter can be connected to its own switch, or two switches

can be connected to four adapters.