The following figure shows the required cabling for the Ready Stack components.

Figure 2.         Dell EMC Ready Stack cabling

100 GbE requires QSFP28 cables, and 25 GbE requires SFP28 cables. We recommend using Dell EMC Networking passive copper direct attach cables, which are available in various lengths to meet your rack layout requirements. Dell EMC Networking active optical cables are also available for longer distances and dense rack configurations.

Connectrix DS-6500 switches are prepopulated with the required Fibre Channel optics. PowerMax storage and PowerEdge servers require additional 16 GB small form-factor pluggable (SFP) Fibre Channel adapters. Dell EMC Multimode LC/LC fiber optic cables are required between the PowerEdge server and PowerMax storage array and the Connectrix Fibre Channel switches. Cat 5e or Cat 6 Ethernet cabling is required for Dell EMC iDRAC, Connectrix, and PowerMax management. For small configurations, it is possible to connect 1 GbE devices to top-of-rack (ToR) switches by using a 1000Base-T SFP transceiver, which can eliminate the need for the Dell S3048-ON switch in some cases.