IBM Flex System CN4054 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter 90Y3554 User Manual
Product codes
90Y3554
IBM Flex System CN4054 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter and EN4054 4-port 10Gb Ethernet Adapter
4
CN4054 modes of operation
The CN4054 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter supports two vNIC modes of operation in addition to pNIC
mode:
mode:
IBM Virtual Fabric Mode. This mode only works in conjunction with IBM Flex System Fabric EN4093
10Gb Scalable Switch installed in the chassis. In this mode, the adapter communicates with the
switch module to obtain vNIC parameters (using DCBX). Also, a special tag within each data packet
is added and later removed by the NIC and switch for each vNIC group to maintain separation of the
virtual channels.
switch module to obtain vNIC parameters (using DCBX). Also, a special tag within each data packet
is added and later removed by the NIC and switch for each vNIC group to maintain separation of the
virtual channels.
In vNIC mode, each physical port is divided into four virtual ports, providing a total of 16 virtual NICs
per adapter. The default bandwidth for each vNIC is 2.5 Gbps. Bandwidth for each vNIC can be
configured at the EN4093 switch from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps, up to a total of 10 Gb per physical port.
The vNICs can also be configured to have 0 bandwidth if you must allocate the available bandwidth to
fewer than eight vNICs. In IBM Virtual Fabric Mode, you can change the bandwidth allocations
through the EN4093 switch user interfaces without requiring a reboot of the server.
per adapter. The default bandwidth for each vNIC is 2.5 Gbps. Bandwidth for each vNIC can be
configured at the EN4093 switch from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps, up to a total of 10 Gb per physical port.
The vNICs can also be configured to have 0 bandwidth if you must allocate the available bandwidth to
fewer than eight vNICs. In IBM Virtual Fabric Mode, you can change the bandwidth allocations
through the EN4093 switch user interfaces without requiring a reboot of the server.
When storage protocols are enabled on the adapter (using CN4054 Virtual Fabric Adapter Upgrade,
90Y3558), six ports are Ethernet, and two ports are either iSCSI or FCoE
90Y3558), six ports are Ethernet, and two ports are either iSCSI or FCoE
Switch Independent Mode, where the adapter works with the following switches:
IBM Flex System Fabric EN4093 10Gb Scalable Switch
IBM Flex System EN4091 10Gb Ethernet Pass-thru and a top-of-rack (TOR) switch
Switch Independent Mode offers the same capabilities as IBM Virtual Fabric Mode in terms of the
number of vNICs and the bandwidth that each can be configured to have. However, Switch
Independent Mode extends the existing customer VLANs to the virtual NIC interfaces. The IEEE
802.1Q VLAN tag is essential to the separation of the vNIC groups by the NIC adapter or driver and
the switch. The VLAN tags are added to the packet by the applications or drivers at each end station
rather than by the switch.
number of vNICs and the bandwidth that each can be configured to have. However, Switch
Independent Mode extends the existing customer VLANs to the virtual NIC interfaces. The IEEE
802.1Q VLAN tag is essential to the separation of the vNIC groups by the NIC adapter or driver and
the switch. The VLAN tags are added to the packet by the applications or drivers at each end station
rather than by the switch.
In pNIC mode, the expansion card can operate as a standard 10 Gbps or 1 Gbps 4-port Ethernet
expansion card. When in pNIC mode, the expansion card functions with any of the following I/O
modules:
modules:
IBM Flex System Fabric EN4093 10Gb Scalable Switch
IBM Flex System EN4091 10Gb Ethernet Pass-thru and a top-of-rack (TOR) switch
IBM Flex System EN2092 1Gb Ethernet Scalable Switch
In pNIC mode, the adapter with the CN4054 Virtual Fabric Adapter Upgrade, 90Y3558, applied
operates in traditional Converged Network Adapter (CNA) mode with four ports of Ethernet and four
ports of storage (iSCSI or FCoE) available to the operating system.
operates in traditional Converged Network Adapter (CNA) mode with four ports of Ethernet and four
ports of storage (iSCSI or FCoE) available to the operating system.