Users Guide

Managing Input Output Fabric
The chassis can have up to six I/O modules (IOMs), where each IOM is a pass-through or switch module. The IOMs are classified into
three groups—A, B, and C. Each group has two slots—Slot 1 and Slot 2.
The slots are designated with letters, from left to right, across the back of the chassis: A1 | B1 | C1 | C2 | B2 | A2. Each server has slots for
two mezzanine cards (MCs) to connect to the IOMs. The MC and the corresponding IOM must have the same fabric.
Chassis IO is segregated into three discrete data paths: A, B and C. These paths are described as FABRICS and support Ethernet, Fibre
Channel, or InfiniBand. These discrete fabric paths are split into two IO Banks, bank one and bank two. Each server IO adapter (Mezzanine
Card or LOM) can have either two or four ports depending on the capability. These ports are divided evenly to IOM banks one and two to
allow for redundancy. When you deploy the Ethernet, iSCSI, or FibreChannel networks, span their redundant links across banks one and
two for maximum availability. The discrete IOM is identified with the fabric identifier and the bank number.
Example: A1 denotes Fabric A in bank 1. C2 denotes Fabric Cin bank 2.
The chassis supports three fabric or protocol types. The IOMs and Mezzanine Cards in a group must have the same or compatible fabric
types.
• Group A IOMS are always connected to the servers' on-board Ethernet adapters; the fabric type of Group A is always Ethernet.
• For Group B, the IOM slots are permanently connected to the first MC slot in each server module.
• For Group C, the IOM slots are permanently connected to the second MC in each server module.
NOTE:
In the CMC CLI, IOMs are referred to by the convention, switch-n: A1=switch-1, A2=switch-2, B1=switch-3,
B2=switch-4, C1=switch-5, and C2= switch-6.
Related concepts
Fabric Management Overview
Invalid Configurations
Fresh Power-up Scenario
Monitoring IOM Health
Configuring Network Settings for IOMs
Managing VLAN for IOM
Managing Power Control Operation for IOMs
Enabling or Disabling LED Blinking for IOMs
Related tasks
Resetting IOM to Factory Default Settings
Topics:
• Fabric Management Overview
• Invalid Configurations
• Fresh Power-up Scenario
• Monitoring IOM Health
• Viewing Input Output Module Uplink and Downlink Status Using Web Interface
• Viewing Input Output Module FCoE Session Information Using Web Interface
• Viewing Stacking Information for Dell PowerEdge M Input Output Aggregator
• Configuring Network Settings for IOMs
• Resetting IOM to Factory Default Settings
• Updating IOM Software Using CMC Web Interface
• IOA GUI
• Input Output Aggregator Module
• Managing VLAN for IOM
• Managing Power Control Operation for IOMs
• Enabling or Disabling LED Blinking for IOMs
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