Legacy multitier fibre-channel network architectures struggle to scale with increased network traffic and require a web of network cards, interconnect cables, and switches. The new HP Virtual Connect Direct-Attach FC for 3PAR with Flat SAN technology offers reduced complexity and reduced latency between servers and storage by eliminating the need for multi-tier storage area networks (SANs).
Legacy multitier fibre-channel network architectures struggle to scale with increased network traffic and require a web of network cards, interconnect cables, and switches. The new HP Virtual Connect Direct-Attach FC for 3PAR with Flat SAN technology offers reduced complexity and reduced latency between servers and storage by eliminating the need for multi-tier storage area networks (SANs).
Up to 80 percent of network traffic in virtual and cloud data centers travels server-to-server and server-to-storage, according to the Gartner Report “Your Data Center Network is Heading for Traffic Chaos,” (April 27, 2011). HP Virtual Connect Direct-Attach FC for 3PAR builds on Virtual Connect for HP BladeSystem to simplify the fibre-channel SAN fabric layer and eliminate complexity by removing fiber-channel switches and associated cabling between compute and storage.
Anticipated Performance
According to HP, a new BladeSystem ILP solution with Virtual Connect could lower infrastructure costs by up to 50 percent compared to a Cisco UCS configuration. Manufacturer benchmarks indicate a 2.5x decrease in fibre-channel storage provisioning for a single-enclosure VC domain. HP also projects reduced network latency by up to 55 percent based on preliminary E5-4600 4S SPECint processor stack values versus the best published 
E5-2600 2S SPECint processor stack values.
Availability
HP Virtual Connect Direct-Attach FC for HP 3PAR with Flat SAN is available in limited quantities to early-adopter clients and will be available worldwide later this year at no additional charge as part of a BladeSystem Virtual Connect FlexFabric Module.
