Owner's manual
SX Hardware Generations (Continued)TABLE 25
First Second Third
SX-FI424C SX-FI624C SX-FI-24GPP
SX-FI424P SX-FI624HF
SX-FI424F SX-FI624P
SX-FI424HF SX-FI62XG
SX-FI42XG
Throughput is 100 percent when only SX third-generation modules are used.
Virtual cable testing
FastIron devices support Virtual Cable Test (VCT) technology. VCT technology enables the diagnosis
of a conductor (wire or cable) by sending a pulsed signal into the conductor, then examining the
reflection of that pulse. This method of cable analysis is referred to as Time Domain Reflectometry
(TDR). By examining the reflection, the Brocade device can detect and report cable statistics such as
local and remote link pair, cable length, and link status.
Virtual cable testing configuration notes
• This feature is supported on copper ports only. It is not supported on fiber ports.
• This feature is not supported on the SX-FI48GPP module running software release 07.2.02 or later.
• This feature is not supported on SX-FI2XG, SX-FI8XG, SX-FI24HF, SX-FI24GPP, and SX-F!48GPP
modules running software release 07.3.00 or later.
• The port to which the cable is connected must be enabled when you issue the command to
diagnose the cable. If the port is disabled, the command is rejected.
• If the port is operating at 100 Mbps half-duplex, the TDR test on one pair will fail.
• If the remote pair is set to forced 100 Mbps, any change in MDI/MDIX may cause the device to
interpret the Multilevel Threshold-3 (MLT-3) as a reflected pulse, in which case, the device will
report a faulty condition. In this scenario, it is recommended that you run the TDR test a few times
for accurate results.
Virtual cable testing command syntax
To diagnose a cable using TDR, enter commands such as the following at the Privileged EXEC level
of the CLI.
device#phy cable-diag tdr 1/1
The above command diagnoses the cable attached to port 1/1.
When you issue the phy-cable-diag command, the command brings the port down for a second or
two, then immediately brings the port back up.
Syntax: phy cable-diag tdr port
Virtual cable testing
208 FastIron Ethernet Switch Administration Guide
53-1003075-02