BladeCenter networking guidelines
Make sure that the network infrastructure is configured before you connect the
BladeCenter unit to a LAN switch or similar network device.
Note: After failover, you might not be able to establish a network connection to the
Each blade server has two independent Ethernet controllers, each with its own
MAC address and a dedicated 1000-Mbps link to one of the switch modules in I/O
module bays 1 and 2. There is no internal data path between the two switches
within the BladeCenter unit; an external network device is required for data packets
to flow from one internal switch to the other.
The management module has a separate internal 100-Mbps link to each switch.
These links are for internal management and control only. No data packets are
allowed to flow from application programs on the blade servers to the management
module over this path.
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BladeCenter E Type 8677: Installation and User's Guide
management module for 5 minutes.