HPE 794502-B23

Virtual Connect SE 40 Gb F8 Expansion Modulefor Synergy

The HPE 794502‑B23 Virtual Connect SE 40 Gb F8 module is a high-performance, managed switch blade designed for seamless integration into HPE Synergy composable infrastructure frames. Serving as the master switching fabric, it provides scalable, low-latency east–west traffic consolidation across up to six Synergy frames using the master/satellite architecture. Supporting comprehensive FlexFabric capabilities, it converges LAN and Fibre Channel traffic from compute modules, vastly reducing cabling complexity and eliminating redundant top-of-rack switches. With twelve 10/20 Gb downlinks to server mezzanine NICs and six configurable QSFP+ uplink ports, this module is ideal for virtualized enterprise workloads, large-scale storage fabrics, and scalable cloud platforms.

Features

Plugged into a Synergy 12000 frame’s interconnect bay, the 794502‑B23 module offers a non-blocking 2.56 Tbps fabric with sub‑microsecond latency (~1 μs at 100 Mb/s) . It features twelve midplane downlinks supporting dual‑port Converged Network Adapters at 10 Gb or 20 Gb speeds—each downlink capable of flex‑NIC/flex‑HBA virtualization to split I/O lanes across multiple virtual functions via Flex‑10/20 virtualization standards The module supports optional Fibre Channel traffic via licensed FlexHBA/FC paths.

Advanced Options

Upstream, six QSFP+ external uplinks can be configured as 40 Gb links or split into four 10 Gb connections using QSFP‑to‑SFP+ breakout cables. Additionally, two QSFP+ ports can be designated for M‑LAG redundancy. Four interconnect link ports (120 Gb) enable seamless networking across satellite frames via Virtual Connect stack architecture . The module enables jumbo frames up to 9216 bytes and maintains a 288,000 MAC address table for large fabric deployments It integrates into HPE OneView for orchestration and provisioning, eliminating manual reconfiguration during server or compute node swaps. The module supports jumbo frames, LACP, VLAN segmentation, and full fabric visibility via Composer and OneView—enabling predictable operation under dynamic compute configurations. With robust optical interconnects and low failure points, the module delivers high availability and reduced hardware sprawl. Its modular, plug-and-play design simplifies upgrades and frame expansion, while maintaining uptime and minimizing reconfiguration risk.