BNT Virtual Fabric 10Gb Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter
The BNT Virtual Fabric 10Gb Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter offers the most bandwidth of any blade
switch and represents the perfect migration platform for clients who are still at 1 Gb outside the chassis by seamlessly integrating in the existing 1 Gb infrastructure. This is the first 10 Gb switch for IBM BladeCenter that is convergence ready (that is, able to transmit Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) to a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE ) capable top-of-rack switch). This new feature is available with firmware release 6.1.

In addition, this switch is a key part of the IBM Virtual Fabric offering, which allows clients to form eight virtual network interface controllers (NICs) from one physical NIC and to manage them in virtual groups. This switch can be managed via a command-line interface (CLI) or a graphical interfaces of the switch and in the future with BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager, providing all the benefits of I/O Virtualization at 10 Gb speeds.

As virtualization has become a prevalent standard in the data center, more people have been looking for ways to virtualize I/O to reduce cost and complexity while also maximizing I/O resources. Virtual Fabric for IBM BladeCenter provides fast, flexible, easy, and reliable I/O using the BNT 10G Ethernet Switch Module and the Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapter, which provides the abilities to carve up an NIC into eight virtual NICs, dynamically allocate bandwidth, manage virtual groups, and so on. The BNT switch is designed to support a number of different types of configurations from the blade: 1 Gb, 10 Gb, virtual NIC, Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE/FCoE), and iSCSI. If you have a chassis with multiple servers, some operating at 1 Gb, some at 10 Gb, and some transmitting converged packets, this single switch can handle all these workloads and can connect to a 1 Gb infrastructure or a 10 Gb infrastructure, or both.

The BNT Virtual Fabric 10Gb Switch Module offers the following benefits:
- Integration and consolidation : This module offers integration within the BladeCenter chassis, consolidating full Layer 2-3 LAN switching and routing capabilities into a single chassis. This helps flatten the data center infrastructure and reduces the number of discrete devices, management consoles, and equipment that administrators must deal with, helping lower costs and simplifying deployment;
- Cost: The BNT switch is priced extremely competitively compared with external switches, especially when you factor in that no cables are required between the blade and the switch. In addition, the ability to use direct-attach cables with the switch can help clients save even more compared with the more expensive CX4, XFP, or X2 transceivers;
- Performance: With support for ten 10 Gb uplinks, clients can exploit not only up to 200 Gbps of bi-directional uplink bandwidth, but also an extremely low oversubscription (14 to 10), which can support even the most performance-intensive environments (up to 7.2 Gbps per blade server port);
- Clients wanting extreme performance can use up to four switches and the quad port 10 Gb adapter and get up to 1.92 Tbps of data per BladeCenter H chassis;
- Lower power consumption : BNT using only 75 W per switch delivers extreme performance per watt, which is second to none with its support for up to 6.4 Gbps per watt of power;
- Layer 3 functionality: The BNT switch module includes Layer 3 functionality, which provides security and performance benefits as inter-VLAN traffic stays within the chassis. This switch also provides the full range of Layer 3 protocols from static routes for technologies such as Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) for enterprise customers;
- Interoperability: BNT switches interoperate seamlessly with other vendors' upstream switches;
- Management: These switches are designed to support multiple CLIs, allowing the IT staff to select the CLI with which they are most comfortable. Choices are BLADEOS CLI for those with a Nortel switch background, industry-based CLI (Cisco-like) for those familiar with IOS, and a full-function Web-based GUI for the latest in simplicity;
- Fault tolerance: These BNT switches learn alternate routes automatically and perform faster convergence in the unlikely case of a link, switch, or power failure. The switch uses proven technologies like L2 trunk failover, advanced VLAN-based failover, VRRP, IGMP V3 snooping, and OSPF;
- Converged fabric: The BNT switch is designed to support CEE and connectivity to FCoE modules, making the IBM solution fully FCoE capable. CEE will help enable clients to combine storage, messaging traffic, VoIP, video, and other data on a common data center Ethernet infrastructure;
- FCoE will help enable highly efficient block storage over Ethernet for consolidating server network connectivity. As a result, clients can deploy a single server interface for multiple data types, which can simplify both deployment and management of server network connectivity, while maintaining the high availability and robustness required for storage transactions.

Now with the combination of the BNT switch and the QLogic Virtual Fabric Extension Module for IBM
BladeCenter, IBM is able to deliver the only full integrated FCoE blade solution available today which
allows access to an existing FC infrastructure without costs of an external top of rack gateway. This
solution will be appealing to those clients required to have separate LAN and SAN traffic outside the
chassis due to internal politics or for those wanting to implement FCoE but are extremely cost-sensitive.