| Q1. |
What is the difference between the HP 8/8 SAN Switch Base and the HP 8/8 SAN Switch? |
| A1. |
The HP 8/8 SAN Switch Base comes with zero e-port functionality and connects to storage and servers only. An optional Full Fabric SAN scaling license may be purchased for the 8/8 SAN Switch Base to provide connectivity to other switches.
The HP 8/8 SAN Switch comes with a full fabric license and may be connected to multiple switches and scale to full fabric limits as defined in the SAN Design Guide.
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| Q2. |
What are Ports on Demand? |
| A2. |
The Ports on Demand feature is designed to enable a HP 8/8 SAN Switch Base and the HP 8/8 SAN Switch to grow to twenty-four ports to support more servers and more storage devices without taking the switch offline. |
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| Q3. |
Will the HP 8/8 SAN Switch work with the existing Fabric OS versions in my current fabrics? |
| A3. |
The new switch is compatible with all 1 Gb, 2 Gb, 4 Gb, and 8 Gb installed B-Series switches and directors. Most customers will not need to upgrade the Fabric OS version on the installed switches. Customers who have not upgraded Fabric OS on their installed switches for over two years might need to upgrade to a more modern version. Consult the interoperability matrix for more details. |
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| Q4. |
How will customers use 8 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel performance? |
| A4. |
One of the initial use cases for the new 8 Gbit/sec FC switches will be to support server consolidation and virtual server environments. These virtual server environments need the non-blocking performance and scalability, along with the Adaptive Networking services, to ensure optimized performance and meet service levels for virtual applications.
Customers will also use 8 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel for Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) to increase fabric bandwidth or to increase the number of usable ports by reducing the number of ports needed for ISLs. 8 Gbit/sec devices (HBAs, tape devices, RAID systems) are coming to market, and organizations are looking to use 8 Gbit/sec to eliminate I/O bottlenecks in high density, blade server or virtual server environments as well as to provide a high-performance, reliable infrastructure for next generation data centers.
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| Q5. |
What is the difference between Power Pack and Power Pack+ software? |
| A5. |
Power Pack+ software includes Adaptive Networking, a family of technologies previously not available in the Power Pack bundle. Adaptive Networking allows flexible control of traffic movement within the fabric and is ideal for virtualized environments. |
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| Q6. |
Does the HP 8/8 SAN Switch support N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV)? |
| A6. |
Yes, a HP 8/8 SAN Switch with 24 enabled ports supports N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV). Access Gateway mode provides seamless connectivity to a greater number of servers—and to any vendor SAN fabric. By doing so, Access Gateway significantly improves fabric scalability, simplifies server deployment and management, improves investment protection, and provides the lowest total cost solution for SAN-attached server connectivity. |
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| Q7. |
What SFPs are supported with the HP 8/8 SAN Switch? |
| A7. |
Customers must purchase B-series branded SFPs for the HP 8/8 SAN Switch. |
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