Most environments with blade servers also have rack servers. The following figure shows a typical design having rack servers connecting to their respective top-of-rack (ToR) switches and blade chassis connecting to a different set of ToR switches. If the storage array is Ethernet-based, it is typically connected to the core/spine. This design is inefficient and expensive.
Communication between rack and blade servers must traverse the core, increasing latency, and the storage array consumes expensive core switch ports. All of this results in increased operations cost from the increased number of managed switches.
Embedded ToR functionality is built into the MX9116n FSE. Configure any QSFP28-DD port to break out into 8x 10 GbE or 8x 25 GbE and connect the appropriate cables and optics. This enables all servers and storage to connect directly to the MX9116n FSE, and communication between all devices that are kept within the switch. This provides a single point of management and network security while reducing cost and improving performance and latency.
The preceding figure shows eight switches in total. In the following figure, using embedded ToR, switch count is reduced to the two MX9116n FSE in the two chassis: