Data center bridging network configuration and management

1. A management information handling system (IHS), comprising

a processor;

a non-transitory memory including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

detect a plurality of flow-based switch IHSs and a non-flow-based switch IHS that are connected together to provide an IHS network;

identify a first data traffic flow;

determine a first flow path through the IHS network for the first data traffic flow, wherein the first flow path includes at least some of the plurality of flow-based switch IHSs and the non-flow-based switch IHS; and

provide first configuration information to each of the flow-based switch IHSs included in the first flow path such that;

a first quality of service (QoS) is provided for the first data traffic flow along the first flow path through the IHS network according to the first configuration information;

a first flow-based switch IHS in the first flow path tags packets in the first data traffic flow that are sent directly to the non-flow-based switch to indicate the QoS to be provided for the first data traffic flow; and

a second flow-based switch IHS in the first flow path untags packets in the first data traffic flow that are received directly from the non-flow-based switch.

2. The management IHS of claim 1 , wherein the non-transitory memory includes instruction that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

identify a second data traffic flow;

determine a second flow path through the IHS network for the second data traffic flow, wherein the second flow path includes at least some of the plurality of switch IHSs; and

provide second configuration information to each of the switch IHSs included in the second flow path such that a second QoS is provided for the second data traffic flow along the second flow path through the IHS network according to the second configuration information.

3. The management IHS of claim 1 , wherein the non-transitory memory includes instruction that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

provide third configuration information to each of the switch IHSs included in the first flow path to change the QoS provided for the first data traffic flow along the first flow path through the IHS network from the first QoS according to the first configuration information to a third QoS according to the third configuration information, wherein the third QoS is different from the first QoS.

4. The management IHS of claim 1 , wherein the non-transitory memory includes instruction that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

determine at least one port that is a Data Center Bridging (DCB) capable port in each switch IHS included in the first flow path, wherein first configuration information is provided for the DCB capable ports on the switch IHSs included in the first flow path.

5. The management IHS of claim 1 , wherein the first configuration information is hardware queue configuration information that is provided for hardware queues in the switch IHSs included in the first flow path.

6. The management IHS of claim 1 , wherein the first configuration information includes first data traffic flow bandwidth information specifying a bandwidth to be provided by the switch IHSs in the first flow path to the first data traffic flow, and first data flow traffic priority information specifying a priority to be provided by the switch IHSs in the first flow path to the first data traffic flow relative to other data traffic flows.

7. An information handling system (IHS) network, comprising:

a plurality of flow-based switch IHSs and a non-flow-based switch IHS that are connected together to provide a IHS network; and

a management IHS coupled to each of the plurality of flow-based switch IHSs through a management network, wherein the management IHS is configured to identify a plurality of data traffic flows and, for each identified data traffic flow, to:

determine a flow path through the IHS network, wherein the flow path includes at least some of the plurality of flow-based switch IHSs and the non-flow-based switch IHS; and

provide configuration information to each of the flow-based switch IHSs included in the flow path such that a quality of service (QoS) is provided for the identified data traffic flow along the flow path through the IHS network according to the configuration information;

wherein a first flow-based switch IHS in the flow path is configured to tag packets in the identified data traffic flow that are sent directly to the non-flow-based switch to indicate the QoS to be provided for the identified data traffic flow; and

wherein a second flow-based switch IHS in the first flow path is configured to untag packets in the identified data traffic flow that are received directly from the non-flow-based switch.

8. The IHS network of claim 7 , wherein the management IHS is configured to:

provide updated configuration information to each of the switch IHSs included in at least one flow path to change the QoS provided for the data traffic flow along that flow path through the IHS network from a first QoS according to first configuration information to a second QoS according to second configuration information, wherein the second QoS is different from the first QoS.

9. The IHS network of claim 7 , wherein the management IHS is configured, for each identified data traffic flow, to:

determine at least one port that is a Data Center Bridging (DCB) capable port in each switch IHS included in the flow path, wherein the configuration information is provided for the DCB capable ports on the switch IHSs included in the flow path.

10. The IHS network of claim 7 , wherein the configuration information, for each data traffic flow, is hardware queue configuration information that is provided for hardware queues in the switch IHSs included in the flow path for that data traffic flow.

11. The IHS network of claim 7 , wherein the configuration information, for each data traffic flow, includes data traffic flow bandwidth information specifying a bandwidth to be provided by the switch IHSs in the flow path for that data traffic flow, and data traffic flow priority information specifying a priority to be provided by the switch IHSs in the flow path to that data traffic flow relative to other data traffic flows.

12. The IHS network of claim 7 , wherein the configuration information, for each data traffic flow, includes loss/lossless behavior information specifying a loss/lossless behavior to be provided by the switch IHSs in the flow path for that data traffic flow, and congestion notification information specifying congestion notifications to be provided by the switch IHSs in the flow path to that data traffic flow.

13. The IHS network of claim 7 , wherein the non-flow-based switch IHS is configured by a network administrator to utilize the tags provided in packets in the identified data traffic flow to provide the QoS for the identified data traffic flow.

14. A method for providing a Data Center Bridging (DCB) Information Handling System (IHS) network, comprising:

detecting, by a management IHS, a plurality of flow-based switch IHSs and a non-flow-based switch IHS that are connected together to provide an IHS network;

identifying, by the management IHS, a plurality of data traffic flows, and for each identified data traffic flow:

determining, by the management IHS, a flow path through the IHS network for the identified data traffic flow, wherein the flow path includes at least some of the plurality of flow-based switch IHSs; and

providing, by the management IHS, a configuration information to each of the flow-based switch IHSs included in the flow path such that a quality of service (QoS) is provided for the identified data traffic flow along the flow path through the IHS network according to the configuration information;

tagging, by a first flow-based switch IHS in the flow path, packets in the identified data traffic flow that are sent directly to the non-flow-based switch to indicate the QoS to be provided for the identified data traffic flow; and

untagging, by a second flow-based switch IHS in the flow path, packets in the identified data traffic flow that are received directly from the non-flow-based switch.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

providing, by the management IHS, updated configuration information to each of the switch IHSs included in at least one flow path to change the QoS provided for the data traffic flow along that flow path through the IHS network from a first QoS according to first configuration information to a second QoS according to second configuration information, wherein the second QoS is different from the first QoS.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising, for each identified data traffic flow:

determining, by the management IHS, at least one port that is a Data Center Bridging (DCB) capable port in each switch IHS included in the flow path, wherein the configuration information is provided for the DCB capable ports on the switch IHSs included in the flow path.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the configuration information, for each data traffic flow, is hardware queue configuration information that is provided for hardware queues in the switch IHSs included in the flow path for that data traffic flow.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the configuration information, for each data traffic flow, includes data traffic flow bandwidth information specifying a bandwidth to be provided by the switch IHSs in the flow path for that data traffic flow, and data traffic flow priority information specifying a priority to be provided by the switch IHSs in the flow path to that data traffic flow relative to other data traffic flows.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

configuring, by a network administrator, the non-flow-based switch IHS to utilize the tags provided in packets in the identified data traffic flow to provide the QoS for the identified data traffic flow.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the tags provided in packets in the identified data traffic flow indicate a priority of the packets.