Configuration
Networking in the chassis
HPE EL4000 4x10G PThru System networking
This configuration has two external 40GbE QSFP+ ports, labelled A and B. The NIC A of each of the four
cartridges is connected to the external port A. The NIC B of each cartridge is connected to the external
port B through a single 10G lane within the 40GbE port. The connection is a pass-through one, as the
cartridge 10G NIC port is routed directly to the external port. If required, VLAN segmentation can be
configured at the external switch, based on the ports to which the cartridges are connected.
To connect to an external switch, you can use one of the following methods:
• Using a 40G to 4x10G breakout copper or optical transceiver solution.
Each of the 10G strands of the breakout cable is a 10GbE connection to a cartridge in the chassis. On
the HPE 40G to 4x10G DAC cable, the 10G breakout cable labeled A is connected to Cartridge 1. The
10G breakout cable marked B is connected to Cartridge 2, and so on. Each of these cables can be
connected to a 10GbE SFP+ port on an external switch.
• Using a 40G to 40G copper or optical transceiver.
This 40G connection is actually four 10GbE connections carried within a single cable. At the external
switch, the port to which this cable connects must be configured in 4x10GbE mode, rather than the
native 40GbE mode. Any per-cartridge port configuration in the external switch is applied to the
component 10G port within the 40G port.
HPE EL4000 10G 2xSFP+ Switch System networking
This configuration has two external 10GbE SFP+ ports, labelled A and B. The NIC A of each of the four
cartridges is internally switched within the system to the external 10GbE SFP+ port labelled A. Unicast
packets to a cartridge are sent only to that cartridge, while multicast or broadcast packets are sent to all
cartridges.
For VLAN segmentation, you can use one of the following methods:
• If all the NIC As are in the same VLAN, that VLAN can be configured at the port of the external switch
to which the system port A is connected. Similarly, all of the NIC Bs may be configured in another
VLAN if necessary.
• If each cartridge must be in a different VLAN, then VLAN tagging must be configured at the cartridge,
typically at the operating system level. The port of the external switch to which the EL4000 network
port is attached must be configured as a trunk port. Appropriate configuration of the tagged VLAN
used by the system must be done at the external switch. VLAN 1 is always treated as the untagged
default VLAN.
HPE EL4000 10G 2SFP+ Switch PXIe System networking (data capture and control)
This configuration has two external 10GbE SFP+ ports, labelled A and B. The NIC A of each of the four
cartridges is internally switched to the external 10GbE SFP+ port labelled A. Unicast packets to a
cartridge are sent only to that cartridge, while multicast or broadcast packets are sent to all cartridges.
For VLAN segmentation, you can use one of the following methods:
• If all the NIC As are in the same VLAN, that VLAN can be configured at the port of the external switch
to which the system port A is connected. All of the NIC Bs can be configured to be in another VLAN.
• If each cartridge must be in a different VLAN, then VLAN tagging must be configured at the cartridge,
typically at the operating system level. The port of the external switch to which the EL4000 network
port is attached must be configured as a trunk port. Appropriate configuration of the tagged VLAN
used by the system must be done at the external switch. VLAN 1 is always treated as the untagged
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Configuration
