Overview
The PowerEdge MX7000 chassis includes two general-purpose I/O fabrics, Fabric A and B. The vertically aligned compute sleds in slots one through eight connect to the horizontally aligned I/O modules (IOMs) in fabric slots A1, A2, B1, and B2. This orthogonal connection method results in a midplane free design and enables the adoption of new I/O technologies without the burden of having to upgrade the midplane.
Mezzanine cards
The MX740c, MX750c, and MX760c support up to two mezzanine cards, which are installed in slots A1 and B1, and the MX840c supports up to four mezzanine cards, which are installed in slots A1, A2, B1, and B2. Each mezzanine card provides redundant connections to each fabric, A or B, as shown in the following figure. A mezzanine card connects orthogonally to the pair of IOMs installed in the corresponding fabric slot. For example, port one of mezzanine card A1 connects to fabric slot A1, a MX9116n FSE (not shown). The second port of mezzanine card A1 connects to fabric slot A2, a MX7116n FEM (not shown).
Mini-mezzanine card
The MX7000 chassis also provides Fabric C, shown in the following figure, supporting redundant MXG610s FC switches, or MX5000s SAS modules. This fabric uses a midplane connecting the C1 and C2 modules to each compute or storage sled. The MX740c supports one mini-mezzanine card, which is installed in slot C1, and the MX840c supports two mini-mezzanine cards, which are installed in slots C1 and C2.