Overview
A multichassis group enables multiple chassis to be managed as if they were a single chassis. A PowerEdge MX Scalable Fabric enables multiple chassis to behave like a single chassis from a networking perspective.
A Scalable Fabric consists of two main components - the MX9116n FSE and the MX7116n FEM. A typical configuration includes one MX9116n FSE and one MX7116n FEM in each of the first two chassis, and additional pairs of MX7116n FEMs in the remaining chassis. Each MX7116n FEM connects to the MX9116n FSE corresponding to its fabric and slot. This hardware-enabled architecture applies regardless of whether the switch is running in Full Switch or SmartFabric mode.
The following figure shows up to ten MX7000 chassis in a single Scalable Fabric. The first two chassis house MX9116n FSEs, while chassis 3 through 10 only house MX7116n FEMs. All connections in the following figure use QSFP28-DD connections.
The following table shows the recommended IOM slot placement when creating a Scalable Fabric Architecture.
MX7000 chassis | Fabric slot | IOM module |
Chassis 1 | A1 | MX9116n FSE |
A2 | MX7116n FEM | |
Chassis 2 | A1 | MX7116n FEM |
A2 | MX9116n FSE | |
Chassis 3–10 | A1 | MX7116n FEM |
A2 | MX7116n FEM |
To provide further redundancy and throughput to each compute sled, Fabric B can be used to create an additional Scalable Fabric Architecture. Utilizing Fabric A and B can provide up to eight 25-Gbps connections to each MX740c or sixteen 25-Gbps connections to each MX840c.
Restrictions and guidelines
The following restrictions and guidelines are in place when building a Scalable Fabric:
- All MX7000 chassis in the same Scalable Fabric must be in the same multichassis group.
- Mixing IOM types in the same Scalable Fabric (for example, MX9116n FSE in fabric slot A1 and MX5108n in fabric slot A2) is not supported. See PowerEdge MX IOM slot support matrix for more information about IOM placement.
- All participating MX9116n FSEs and MX7116n FEMs must be in MX7000 chassis that are part of the same MCM group. For more information, find the relevant version of the User Guide in the OME-M and OS10 compatibility and documentation table.
- When using both Fabric A and B for a Scalable Fabric, the following restrictions apply:
- IOM placement for each fabric must be the same in each chassis. For instance, if an MX9116n FSE is in chassis 1 fabric slot A1, then the second MX9116n FSE should be in chassis 1 fabric slot B1.
- For chassis 3 through 10, which only contain MX7116n FEMs, they must connect to the MX9116n FSE that is in the same group.