The HPE Virtual Connect SE 40Gb F8 Module, master module, based on composable fabric is designed for Composable Infrastructure. Its disaggregated, rack-scale design uses a master'satellite architecture to consolidate data center network connections, reduce hardware and scales network bandwidth across multiple HPE Synergy Frames.

The master module contains intelligent networking capabilities that extend connectivity to satellite frames through Interconnect Link Modules. This eliminates top of rack switch need and substantially reduces cost. The reduction in components also simplifies fabric management at scale while consuming fewer ports at the data center aggregation layer.

The HPE VC SE 40Gb F8 modules eliminate up to 95% of network sprawl at the compute module edge with one device that converges traffic inside frames and directly connects to external LANs. Each redundant pair of Virtual Connect modules provide eight adjustable downlink connections (six Ethernet and two Fibre Channel, or eight Ethernet ) to dual-port 10Gb and in case of 20Gb Converged Network Adapters 16 adjustable downlinks connections (14 Ethernet and two Fibre Channel) on each compute module. A Fibre Channel Upgrade license needs to be purchased separately to enable the Fibre channel functionality. Up to six uplinks using QSFP+ interfaces are available for connection to upstream Ethernet switches. Up to 24 uplinks are available for connection to upstream Ethernet and Fibre Channel are available with splitter cables. The HPE VC SE 40Gb F8 Modules reduce the number of components required compared to traditional and other converged network solutions by eliminating the need for separate Ethernet and Fibre Channel switches and cables. Also, Virtual Connect wire-once connection management is built-in enabling compute modules adds, moves and replacement in minutes instead of days or weeks. The Master/Satellite disaggregated architecture removes fixed of ratios of interconnects in every frame and allows extending networking resources pool for Virtual Connect to satellite frames.