Each of the variants in Dell EMC HCI Solutions for Microsoft Windows Server supports a specific type of network connectivity. The type of network connectivity determines the solution integration requirements.
- For information about all possible topologies within both fully converged and nonconverged solution integration, including with switchless storage networking, and host operating system network configuration, see Network Integration and Host Network Configuration Options.
- For switchless storage networking, carry out the server cabling according to the instructions detailed in Cabling Instructions.
- For sample switch configurations for these network connectivity options, see Sample Network Switch Configuration Files.
Fully converged network connectivity
In the fully converged network configuration, both storage and management/VM traffic use the same set of network adapters. The adapters are configured with Switch Embedded Teaming (SET). In this network configuration, when using RoCE, you must configure data center bridging (DCB).
The following table shows when to configure DCB based on the chosen network card and switch topology:
| Network card on node | Switch topology | |
| Fully converged* | Nonconverged | |
| Mellanox (RoCE) | DCB (required) | No DCB |
| QLogic (iWARP) | DCB (not required) | No DCB |
Nonconverged network connectivity
In the nonconverged network configuration, storage traffic uses a dedicated set of network adapters either in a SET configuration or as physical adapters. A separate set of network adapters is used for management, VM, and other traffic classes. In this connectivity method, DCB configuration is optional because storage traffic has its own dedicated fabric.
The switchless storage networking deployment model also implements nonconverged network connectivity without the need for network switches for storage traffic.