The HP GbE2c Layer 2/3 Ethernet Blade Switch provides a full set of Layer 2 switching and Layer 3 routing features, sixteen internal downlinks, five uplinks and two internal cross-connects in a single low cost blade switch. Four of the five uplinks can be either copper or fiber using optional SFP fiber modules. This switch dramatically reduces cabling, power and cooling requirements compared to external stand-alone switches, allowing you to realize the full benefits of the HP c-Class BladeSystem. The HP GbE2c Layer 2/3 Ethernet Blade Switch builds on the heritage of the GbE2 switch family by delivering on-going enhancements such as a new "industry standard" CLI, Layer 3 routing, high availability features and SFP Fiber uplink ports. Along with simplified management, wire-speed performance, redundant path capabilities and HP's world class service and support, the HP GbE2c Layer2/3 Ethernet Blade Switch remains the price/performance leader of all blade switches. High Performance. The HP GbE2c Layer 2/3 Ethernet Blade Switch provides a full set of Layer 2/3 features along with seamless integration into any copper or fiber network makes this switch a perfect fit for deployment in the HP BladeSystem enclosure. HP GbE2c Layer 2/3 Ethernet Blade Switch provides wire speed switching for incoming or outgoing traffic, providing up to 20Gb of switching capacity or 7.8 Million packets per second switching performance. HP GbE2c Layer 2/3 Ethernet Blade Switch provides all advanced Layer 2 features including extensive support for VLANs, Spanning Tree, Rapid Spanning, Multiple Spanning Tree and Uplink Failure Detection. IGMP Snooping improves overall bandwidth, conserves CPU server cycles avoiding server upgrades. Layer 3 routing gives administrators more power, flexibility and security. Network traffic is more efficient; traffic between servers stays in the enclosure. Security features add protection for switch configuration data and packet filtering secures and segments sensitive traffic or network access. VLANs configured to provide data segregation, improve bandwidth, performance and limit traffic to designated domains. The L2/3 Switch provides secured access through SSH v2, protects against IP and DNS spoofing and helps users meet security requirements through support for HTTPS, RADIUS and TACACS. Comprehensive Layer 2 features. The HP GbE2c Layer 2/3 Ethernet Blade Switch provides a full set of advanced Layer 2 features including extensive support for VLANs, Spanning Tree, Rapid Spanning, Multiple Spanning Tree and Uplink Failure Detection. High availability in Layer 2 ensures that mission critical traffic is not impacted in the unlikely case of a switch or power failure. Full support for Layer 3 routing. Layer 3 routing can reduce the number of broadcast domains, increasing network performance and efficiency. Using layer 3, inter-VLAN routing becomes much more scalable and efficient than equivalent layer 2 networks that rely on spanning tree alone. Easier management and troubleshooting by creating smaller "troubleshooting domains". Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) allows Multiple Switches to process traffic in an active-active configuration, allowing all switches in a VRRP group to process traffic simultaneously, ensuring maximum performance and fast, seamless failover. High availability and resiliency. Uplink Failure Detection (UFD) supports network adapter teaming, and allows the switch to monitor specific uplink ports to detect link failures. Compatibility with Cisco® EtherChannel for trunking to non-HP devices. 802.1d Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) ensures that only one path to a destination is available at any one time by detecting loops and blocking switch ports as required. 802.1s Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP) provides seamless integration, resiliency and availability for network topologies utilizing Virtual LANs (VLANs) into networks running 802.1s. Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Snooping allows the GbE2c to intercept IGMP packets to build multicast tables for hosts that want to receive or stop receiving multicast streams.