MX8116n Fabric Expander Modular (FEM) port mapping with external Fabric Switching Engine (FSE)
Fri, 14 Jul 2023 13:16:33 -0000
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The Dell Networking MX8116n FEM acts as an Ethernet repeater, taking signals from an attached compute sled and repeating those signals to the associated lane on the external QSFP56-DD connector. The MX8116n FEM includes two QSFP56-DD interfaces, with each interface providing up to four 100 Gbps connections to the chassis and eight internal 100 GbE server facing ports.
The Dell PowerSwitch Z9432F-ON fixed switch serves as the designated FSE of the MX platform and can support MX chassis deployed with 100 GbE or 25 GbE-based compute sleds. The switch comes equipped with 32 QSFP56-DD ports that provide uplinks, Virtual Link Trunking interconnect (VLTi), and fabric expansion connections.
The goal of this blog is to help you understand port-mapping information about MX8116n FEM, where the module is connected to NIC cards in compute sleds internally on one side and Fabric Switching Engine on the other side on external ports.
Figure 1. Port mapping of dual MX8116n FEM ports to NIC ports
Sled 1 through Sled 4 use Port 2 on the MX8116n, while Sled 5 through Sled 8 use Port 1.
Figure 2. MX8116n internal port mapping
The MX7000 chassis supports up to four MX8116n FEMs in Fabric A and Fabric B. Figure 3 shows one MX8116n FEM module that has two QSFP56-DD 400 GbE ports that can be split into 4x100 GbE to FSE facing ports and 8x100 GbE to facing internal sled NIC ports.
Figure 3. MX7000 chassis front and back physical view with IOMs and sleds port mapping
The MX8116n FEM can operate at 25 GbE and 100 GbE. The 25 GbE solution can support on both dual and quad port NICs, while the 100 GbE solution is supported on dual port NIC only. For the following examples in this blog, the PowerSwitch Z9432F-ON port mapping on 100 GbE dual port NIC using QSFP56-DD cables and 25 GbE dual port and quad port NICs using QSFP56-DD and QSFP28-DD.
The interfaces used on the Z9432F-ON are arbitrary. QSFP56-DD interfaces on the Z9432F-ON can be connected in any order.
Each port group in PowerSwitch Z9432F-ON contains two physical interfaces. The following examples shows the ports of the first port group 1/1/1 that contain interfaces 1/1/1-1/1/2 and the ports of the last port group 1/1/16 that contain interfaces 1/1/31-1/1/32. The port mode for each port interface can be configured in the port group configuration.
Compute sleds with 100 GbE dual port mezzanine cards
The following port group settings are required for 100 GbE dual port mezzanine cards for the Z9432F-ON:
port-group 1/1/1
profile unrestricted
port 1/1/1 mode Eth 100g-4x
port 1/1/2 mode Eth 100g-4x
port-group 1/1/16
profile unrestricted
port 1/1/31 mode Eth 100g-4x
port 1/1/32 mode Eth 100g-4x
Once the port modes are configured and the connections are made, the MX8116n ports auto negotiate to match the port operating mode of the Z9432F-ON interfaces. The internal servers facing ports of the MX8116n auto-negotiate with the mezzanine card port speed of 100 GbE.
Figure 4 shows the interface numbering for each sled and corresponding MX8116n port when using a QSFP56DD based optic or cable:
Figure 4. Z9432F-ON port mapping for 100 GbE solution
Compute sleds with 25 GbE quad port NIC using QSFP56-DD
The following port group settings are required for 25 GbE quad port NIC using QSFP56-DD on the Z9432F-ON:
- For the required 25g-8x port mode operation, the profile must first be set to restricted. This restriction means that the second port interface in the port group can only operate in a restricted mode.
- The restriction on the second port means that it must operate in a 1x mode, making the even ports unsuitable for connections to the MX8116n. Therefore, only the odd ports can be used for connections to the MX8116n.
port-group 1/1/1
profile restricted
port 1/1/1 mode Eth 25g-8x
port 1/1/2 mode Eth 400g-1x
port-group 1/1/16
profile restricted
port 1/1/31 mode Eth 25g-8x
port 1/1/32 mode Eth 400g-1x
Figure 5 shows the interface numbering for each sled and corresponding MX8116n port when using a QSFP56DD based optic or cable:
Figure 5. Z9432F-ON Port mapping for 25 GbE quad port solution for QSFP56DD based optics and cables
Compute sleds with 25 GbE quad port NIC using QSFP28-DD
The 25 GbE quad port NIC solution can use QSF28-DD based optics and cables. The following configuration shows the final state required for 25 GbE quad port NICs:
port-group 1/1/1
profile restricted
port 1/1/1 mode Eth 25g-8x
port 1/1/2 mode Eth 400g-1x
port-group 1/1/16
profile restricted
port 1/1/31 mode Eth 25g-8x
port 1/1/32 mode Eth 400g-1x
Figure 6. Z9432F-ON Port mapping for 25 GbE quad port solution with QSFP28-DD based optics and cables
Compute sleds with 25 GbE dual port NIC using QSFP56-DD
For the required 25g-4x port mode operation, the profile should stay in the default unrestricted setting. Unlike quad port deployments, dual port deployments can use both even and odd ports on the Z9432F-ON.
port-group 1/1/1
profile unrestricted
port 1/1/1 mode Eth 25g-8x
port 1/1/2 mode Eth 400g-1x
port-group 1/1/16
profile unrestricted
port 1/1/31 mode Eth 25g-8x
port 1/1/32 mode Eth 400g-1x
Figure 7 shows the interface numbering for each sled and corresponding MX8116n port when using a QSFP56DD based optic or cable:
Figure 7. Z9432F-ON Port mapping for 25 GbE dual port solution for QSFP56DD based optic or cable
Compute sleds with 25 GbE dual port NIC using QSFP28-DD
The following configuration shows the final state required for 25 GbE dual port mezzanine cards, the profile should stay in the default unrestricted setting:
port-group 1/1/1
profile unrestricted
port 1/1/1 mode Eth 25g-4x
port 1/1/2 mode Eth 400g-1x
port-group 1/1/16
profile unrestricted
port 1/1/31 mode Eth 25g-4x
port 1/1/32 mode Eth 400g-1x
Figure 8. Z9432F-ON Port mapping for 25 GbE dual port solution with QSFP28-DD based optics and cables
References
Dell PowerEdge MX Networking Deployment Guide
Dell Technologies PowerEdge MX 100 GbE Solution with external FSE blog
Dell PowerEdge MX7000 Chassis User Guide
Related Blog Posts
PowerEdge MX7000 100 GbE Networking
Tue, 09 May 2023 14:01:03 -0000
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100 Gigabit Ethernet networking has arrived on the Dell PowerEdge Platform! The Dell Networking MX8116n Fabric Expander Module is now available to deploy with the PowerSwitch Z9432F-ON as a Fabric Switching Engine.
The MX8116n FEM can be installed in fabric A and B. Each 400GbE port connects to the Z9432F-ON FSE, supporting a single 100GbE connection for four compute sleds.
The MX Scalable Fabric Architecture allows the Z9432F-ON FSE to support up to a maximum of 14 MX7000 chassis and 112 MX compute sleds in a single fabric deployment. The Z9432F-ON FSE operates on Dell Networking SmartFabric OS10 in Full Switch mode only.
Here are some common deployment options for the 100GbE solution.
Figure 1. 100GbE single fabric deployment
Figure 2. 100GbE dual fabric deployment
Figure 3. Combination MX8116n/Z9432F-ON and MX9116n/MX7116n deployment
For additional deployment options and detailed technical documentation on the new 100GbE networking solution see the updated Dell Technologies PowerEdge MX Networking Deployment Guide.
Another great source for hardware specifications, deployment diagrams, and cables/optics is the PowerEdge MX I/O Guide.
Dell Technologies PowerEdge MX 100 GbE solution with external Fabric Switching Engine
Mon, 26 Jun 2023 20:31:38 -0000
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The Dell PowerEdge MX platform is advancing its position as the leading high-performance data center infrastructure by introducing a 100 GbE networking solution. This evolved networking architecture not only provides the benefit of 100 GbE speed but also increases the number of MX7000 chassis within a Scalable Fabric. The 100 GbE networking solution brings a new type of architecture, starting with an external Fabric Switching Engine (FSE).
PowerEdge MX 100 GbE solution design example
The diagram shows only one connection on each MX8116n for simplicity. See the port-mapping section in the networking deployment guide here.
Figure 1. 100 GbE solution example topology
Components for 100 GbE networking solution
The key hardware components for 100 GbE operation within the MX Platform are described below with a minimal description.
Dell Networking MX8116n Fabric Expander Module
The MX8116n FEM includes two QSFP56-DD interfaces, with each interface providing up to 4x 100Gbps connections to the chassis, 8x 100 GbE internal server-facing ports for 100 GbE NICs, and 16x 25 GbE for 25 GbE NICs.
The MX7000 chassis supports up to four MX8116n FEMs in Fabric A and Fabric B.
Figure 2. MX8116n FEM
The following MX8116n FEM components are labeled in the preceding figure:
- Express service tag
- Power and indicator LEDs
- Module insertion and removal latch
- Two QSFP56-DD fabric expander ports
Dell PowerEdge MX760c compute sled
- The MX760c is ideal for dense virtualization environments and can serve as a foundation for collaborative workloads.
- Businesses can install up to eight MX760c sleds in a single MX7000 chassis and combine them with compute sleds from different generations.
- Single or dual CPU (up to 56 cores per processor/socket with four x UPI @ 24 GT/s) and 32x DIMM slots DDR5 with eight memory channels.
- 8x E3.S NVMe (Gen5 x4) or 6 x 2.5" SAS/SATA SSDs or 6 x NVMe (Gen4) SSDs and iDRAC9 with lifecycle controller.
Note: The 100 GbE Dual Port Mezzanine card is also available on the MX750c.
Figure 3. Dell PowerEdge MX760c sled with eight E3.s SSD drives
Dell PowerSwitch Z9432F-ON external Fabric Switching Engine
The Z9432F-ON provides state-of-the-art, high-density 100/400 GbE ports, and a broad range of functionality to meet the growing demands of modern data center environments. Compact and offers an industry-leading density of 32 ports of 400 GbE in QSFP56-DD, 128 ports of 100, or up to 144 ports of 10/25/50 (through breakout) in a 1RU design. Up to 25.6 Tbps non-blocking (full duplex), switching fabric delivers line-rate performance under full load.L2 multipath support using Virtual Link Trunking (VLT) and Routed VLT support. Scalable L2 and L3 Ethernet switching with QoS and a full complement of standards-based IPv4 and IPv6 features, including OSPF and BGP routing support.
Figure 4. Dell PowerSwitch Z9432F-ON
Note: Mixed dual port 100 GbE and quad port 25 GbE mezzanine cards connecting to the same MX8116n are not a supported configuration.
100 GbE deployment options
There are four deployment options for the 100 GbE solution, and every option requires servers with a dual port 100 GbE mezzanine card. You can install the mezzanine card in either mezzanine slot A, B, or both. When you use the Broadcom 575 KR dual port 100 GbE mezzanine card, you should set the Z9432F-ON port-group to unrestricted mode and configure the port mode for 100g-4x.
PowerSwitch CLI example:
port-group 1/1/1
profile unrestricted
port 1/1/1 mode Eth 100g-4x
port 1/1/2 mode Eth 100g-4x
Note: The 100 GbE solution deployment, 14 maximum numbers of chassis are supported in single fabric, and 7 maximum numbers of chassis are supported in dual fabric using the same pair of FSE solution.
Single fabric
In a single fabric deployment, two MX8116n can be installed either in Fabric A or Fabric B, and the corresponding slot of the sled in slot-A or slot-B can have the 100 GbE mezzanine card installed.
Figure 5. 100 GbE Single Fabric
Dual fabric combined fabrics
In this option, four MX8116n (2x in Fabric A and 2x in Fabric B) can be installed and combined to connect Z9432F-ON external FSE.
Figure 6. 100 GbE Dual Fabric combined Fabrics
Dual fabric separate fabrics
In this option four, MX8116n (2x in Fabric A and 2x in Fabric B) can be installed and connected to two different networks. In this case, the MX760c server module has two mezzanine cards, with each card connected to a separate network.
Figure 7. 100 GbE Dual Fabric separate Fabrics
Dual fabric, single MX8116n in each fabric, separate fabrics
In this option two, MX8116n (1x in Fabric A and 1x in Fabric B) can be installed and connected to two different networks. In this case, the MX760c server module has two mezzanine cards, each connected to a separate network.
Figure 8. 100 GbE Dual Fabric single FEM in separate Fabrics
References
Dell PowerEdge Networking Deployment Guide
A chapter about 100 GbE solution with external Fabric Switching Engine