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All, we currently have an HP c3000 chassis with 8 blade servers, two GbE2c Layer2/3 Ethernet Interconnects and two 3gb SAS Switch Interconnects. The Ethernet interconnects are our uplinks/trunks to the network with 4 1gb links on each interconnect. The 3gb SAS interconnect has an MSA2324sa and MSA70 direct attached for storage/SAN.

We have just purchased an HP c7000 chassis with no blades and two Flex10/10D Interconnects.

We are looking to move the blades, Ethernet interconnects, SAS interconnects and MSA from the c3000 to c7000 to effectively just give us the same setup on the c7000 as the c3000.

Our HP Partner has informed us that as long as we move the Ethernet interconnects to Bay 3 and Bay 4 and move the SAS interconnects to Bay 5 and Bay 6, connect the MSA to the same SAS ports and the same network cables to the same ports on the Ethernet interconnect, then we should be able to just install the blades and be back up and running just as we were on the c3000.

Please note, the Flex10/10D interconnects were purchased to prep for future blade, SAN and network upgrades. All firmware is up to date on all devices. The blade servers in question are all BL280c G6's.

Has anyone ever done something similar and if so, is this as simple as it sounds?

Any questions or if you need any further info, just let me know.

Dave M
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Harold Ernst
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    Welcome to ServerFault! Please do not add direct e-mail. The point of the site is that any answers or comments are here for all to see and the benefit of future visitors – Dave M Apr 27 '15 at 20:23

2 Answers2

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As ewwhite say this can be made to work but with a few caveats.

Firstly you don't mention the specific model or generation of blade you're using but I'm imagining they'll be something a BL460 G6 or similar, presumably with a single P711m in mezz slot 1 - does that sound about right?

If so then you do have a couple of problems - mezz slot one maps to interconnect slots 3 & 4 and slot 2 maps to interconnect slots 5-to-8. So you can fix this SAS mezz to SAS inter issue by simply moving the SAS mezz to mezz slot 2 and putting the SAS inters in slots 5 & 6 - that bit's easy.

The harder bit is that if you put your existing switches into interconnect slots 3 & 4 then what's feeding them? The LOM is hardwired to interconnect slots 1 & 2 - in this scenario they're your VC 10/10D's (great adapters btw, I used them everywhere). So if you need to feed your existing switches in slots 3 & 4 you're going to have to add some form of ethernet mezz in mezz slot 1 as your LOM adapters will go to your VCs - does that make sense?

Other than this my only other recommendations would be to upgrade your OAs/switches/VCs/iLO and blade firmware to the latest SPP before your move - I'm also really no fan of those SAS switches, they're a key component in the HP X9730's we bought far too many of and they've failed us many many times (just moved off them onto new NetApp boxes) - I just don't trust them and would want to get off them onto FC/FCoE or similar ASAP.

Come back if you have further questions.

Chopper3
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  • Thanks for the quick response. To clarify a few things, all of the blade servers I am moving over are BL280c G6's. Mezz slot 1 has a NC360m Dual Port 1Gb NIC and Mezz slot 2 has a Smart Array P700m. Same set up for each blade server. All firmware is up to date as of mid April so that isn't an issue. – Harold Ernst Apr 28 '15 at 12:39
  • Reviewing the c7000 tells me that i'll have to put the Ethernet interconnects in bays 3 and 4 and the SAS interconnects in 5 and 6. If needed, I have a couple of 1gb GBIC's I can throw in the VC 10/10D. – Harold Ernst Apr 28 '15 at 12:43
  • With this info, should be a no brainer to swap the stuff around and fire up since the config's for the interconnects will come over when I swap, correct. I will have backup config's from each as well just in case. Learned that lesson the hard way. Thanks for your assistance! Harold – Harold Ernst Apr 28 '15 at 12:43
  • I agree, the presence of the NC360m's is the key here - in fact you don't even need to configure the 10/10D right now - looks like you have it all in hand anyway. I'm a massive C7000/BL-fan and use them almost exclusively, so always happy to help. – Chopper3 Apr 28 '15 at 12:59
  • Thanks for the info! I'll post up an update on how everything went after we do the swap out. – Harold Ernst Apr 28 '15 at 19:02
  • All, quick update. The swap went like clockwork and it really was as simple as I had hoped. Everything config wise came over with the blades and interconnects. We are up and running on the c7000 chassis now. – Harold Ernst May 04 '15 at 14:36
  • Now comes the fun part. Budgeting for new blade servers and a SAN to take advantage of the VC 10/10D. – Harold Ernst May 04 '15 at 14:37
  • No problem Harold - just out of interest whereabouts are you in the world? some people may have some spare parts/blades if you were close you see. – Chopper3 May 04 '15 at 14:51
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I'd work with the partner to make sure this goes smoothly, but in general, this should work.

Some of the gear here is old-school (G6 boxes, first-generation MSA2324, MSA70, etc.), so once you've moved and ensured proper functionality, you should consider firmware upgrades.

ewwhite
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