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Deployment Guide—Dell EMC PowerFlex with Dell EMC PowerEdge MX7000 Chassis
Introduction MX7000 Build Overview
MX7000 network configuration
PowerFlex two-layer configuration with an MX7000 logical network
Hardware overview
Logical configuration overview
Physical Deployment Configuring the switches Configuring the PowerEdge MX7000 Chassis Configuring the PowerFlex R640 Management Node Deploying a Jump Server Configuring the MX740c ESXi Compute Sleds Deploying PowerFlex Two-Layer Deploy SDC on ESXi Servers Validated Components Technical Resources

MX7000 network configuration

Home > Storage > PowerFlex > Guides > Deployment Guide—Dell EMC PowerFlex with Dell EMC PowerEdge MX7000 Chassis > MX7000 network configuration

MX7000 network configuration

  • Note: The MX7000 network configuration differs greatly from a traditional PowerFlex two-layer deployment.

    Each MX7000 chassis contains two pairs of intelligent, programmable MX9116n FSE modules: one pair for management and production, and one pair for storage traffic. These modules replace the aggregation switches found in a PowerFlex two-layer design. The modules provide connectivity to all components, including external management, attached storage-only nodes, and the MX7116n FEM modules. They also function as the ToR switches for customer connectivity. Each MX7000 chassis also contains a pair of MX7116n FEM modules, which are used to extend the switching fabric from one chassis to another.

    The following figure provides a side-by-side comparison of the traditional PowerFlex two-layer configuration with the MX7000 two-layer configuration:

    Diagram Description automatically generated

    Figure 1.              Comparison of traditional two-layer and MX7000 configurations

    The key points include:

    • The traditional two-layer configuration has dedicated ToR switch pairs while the MX7000 chassis has embedded networking modules.
    • All network connectivity enters and exists the Proof of Concept (POC) lab using the MX9116n FSE modules including the PowerFlex management node, the PowerFlex storage-only nodes, and the MX740c compute-only nodes.