We are not booting from iSCSI, but I was wondering if the iSCSI vnic provides more features similar to a hardware iSCSI card with some offloading, otherwise I'll stick with the software layout. - The Scsi HBAs are only used during the boot process. I took a look at the validated systems, but the only VMware one I could find had to do with ESX 3, which is very outdated. - You may not find one on the HP SAN but the following link is about implementing a flexpod deployment with ESXi5 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/UCS_CVDs/flexpod_50_M3.html http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/ns340/ns414/ns742/ns743/ns1050/landing_flexpod.html In the past I have split the vnic's as above to make sure certain functions did not starve out others causing errors or poor performance. I don't know if that is as much of the case today. Would it make as much sense to just put all traffic into one big vSwitch with port groups for each function, or should I break out vmkernel specific traffic to separate vswitches on dedicated vnic's? - You will want to look at using Nexus 1000v. Nexus 1000v 2.1(1)SV2.1(1.1a) changed licensing model with the Essential Edition free of charge with community support or TAC support. With N1K, you will want to put all your links in a port channel and use QOS queueing to ensure bandwidth is available for various applications. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps9441/ps9902/white_paper_c11-704041.html With the b200, I would only get a max of 20g to the server with the single CNA, right? - Depends on the hardware. B200 M3 with 1240 or 1280 can get additional bandwidth. B200 M1/M2 with 1280 can get additional bandwidth. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps10265/ps10280/B200M3_SpecSheet.pdf http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps10265/ps10280/spec_sheet_c17-644236.pdf With HP blades I would set limits on the vNIC's but I don't believe I have that ability with UCS. - UCS itself has limited QOS to classify COS on a per vNIC. One can also limit the bandwidth on the vNIC. N1K is much more capable. http://bradhedlund.com/2011/03/08/cisco-ucs-networking-videos-in-hd-updated-improved/ part 11. Hope this helps. Thank You, Dan Laden Cisco PDI Data Center Want to know more about how PDI can assist you? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BebSCuxcQU&list=PL88EB353557455BD7 http://www.cisco.com/go/pdihelpdesk
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