Control Plane Switch and Data Plane Switch

The control plane switch connects all management and control interfaces on a designated control subnet and virtual local area network (VLAN). The control plane switch is optional only for a single blade system chassis installation in which the chassis contains a single switch and system controller (SSC). The control plane switch is required for an installation if any chassis contains two SSCs or if there is more than one chassis.

The data plane switch provides connectivity between the control plane Server, the N1 image server, the blade system chassis SSCs and server blades, and your network.