Installation guide

Supported line cards TABLE 1
Line card Description
12x40 GbE 12 40 Gbps QSFP Ethernet ports.
48x10 GbE 48 1/10 Gbps Ethernet ports.
48x1 GbE 48 1 Gbps Ethernet ports.
6x100 GbE Two or six 100 Gbps Ethernet ports depending on licensing.
48x10G-T 48 1/10 Gbps Base-T Ethernet ports
27x40 GbE 27 40 Gbps QSFP Ethernet ports
Breakout mode
Quad SFP (QSFP) 40 Gbps ports on 12x40 GbE and 27x40 GbE line cards can be configured in
breakout mode to create four separate 10 Gbps interfaces. You can administer and operate these
interfaces as any other SFP port. Special breakout cables provide a connection to the 40 Gbps QSFP
port and to four 10 Gbps SFP ports on another device. Twinax active copper cables at 1, 3, and 5
meters and fiber-optic breakout cables are supported.
NOTE
While 40 GbE ports are in breakout mode, port status (individual or as a group) cannot be determined
from the port LED state color.
For more information on configuring breakout mode, refer to the Network OS Administrator’s Guide.
Trunking
Network OS supports Brocade trunks (hardware-based link aggregation groups, or LAGs). These
trunks are dynamically formed between two adjacent devices with connected interswitch link (ISL)
ports unless trunking is disabled on connecting ports. Traffic is evenly distributed along all links in a
trunk. For more information on Brocade Trunking and enabling and disabling trunking, refer to the
"Configuring Brocade VCS Fabrics" chapter in the Network OS Administrator’s Guide.
Trunking is supported on GbE interface ports of all line cards.
Port groups
Port groups are established for trunking on supported line cards. To successfully form a trunk from line
card ports to another device, select ports from same line card port group and configure each port to
operate at the same speed. Following are trunk and port group specifications for supported line cards:
• For the 48x10 GbE line card, up to 8 ports are allowed per trunk. Select ports from octet port groups
consisting of ports 1-8, 9-16, 17-24, 25-32, 33-40, and 41-48.
• For the 48x10G-T line card, up to 16 ports are allowed per trunk. Select ports from three port
groups consisting of ports 1-16, 17-32, and 33-48.
Breakout mode
16 Brocade VDX 8770-8 Hardware Installation Guide
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