Virtual I/O introduces new terms and management techniques that may at first seem a little mysterious. This post is the first of a series that will explain a few central concepts of virtual I/O and hopefully give you feeling for how powerful they can be. In this post, I’ll discuss the “server profile,” a concept that is both very simple and exceptionally versatile.

I’ll start with a quick definition: a server profile is a “container” for virtual I/O resources such as virtual NICs and virtual HBAs. While technically accurate, that definition doesn’t begin to capture either the full function or power of this tool. To understand fully, it’s helpful to backup a few steps.

With traditional I/O, all server connectivity (the connections to networks and storage) resides within the servers themselves. Each server has its own Ethernet connections (NICs) and Fibre Channel connections (HBAs).

With external virtual I/O, the I/O is removed from the server. Instead, we extend the I/O bus from the server to another device called the “I/O Director.”  Rather than connect networks and storage to the servers themselves, those connections now reside on the I/O Director. (more…)