Users Guide

The FC Flex IO module uses the same baseboard hardware of the IOA and the M1000e chassis. You can insert the FC Flex IO module into
any of the optional module slots of the IOA and it provides four FC ports per module. If you insert only one FC Flex IO module, four ports
are supported; if you insert two FC Flex IO modules, eight ports are supported.
By installing an FC Flex IO module, you can enable the IOA to directly connect to an existing FC SAN network. The FC Flex IO module uses
the existing slots on the IOA and provides four or eight FC ports up to speed of 8 GbE per second. You can connect all of the FC ports to
the same FC SAN fabric to yield FC bandwidth of up to 64GB. It is possible to connect some of the ports to a different FC SAN fabric to
provide access to multiple fabric devices.
In a typical Fibre Channel storage network topology, separate network interface cards (NICs) and host bus adapters (HBAs) on each
server (two each for redundancy purposes) are connected to LAN and SAN networks respectively. These deployments typically include a
ToR SAN switch in addition to a ToR LAN switch. By employing converged network adapters (CNAs) that the FC Flex IO module supports,
CNAs are used to transmit FCoE traffic from the server instead of separate NIC and HBA devices. In such a scenario, you can determine
whether the FC or SAN packets and the Ethernet or LAN packets must be split within the chassis or by using a ToR switch to perform this
splitting.
If you want to segregate the LAN and SAN traffic within the chassis, you can employ switches such as the Dell M8428-k Converged
10GbE Switch or FC-only switches such as the Dell M5424 switch module. You can also use the S5000 Switch as a ToR switch to
separate the LAN and SAN traffic at the ToR. By using the FC Flex IO module, you can optimally and effectively split the LAN and SAN
traffic at the edge of the blade chassis itself. You can deploy the FC Flex IO module can be deployed in the enterprise and data center
switching networks to leverage and derive the advantages of a converged Ethernet network.
The FC Flex IO module is not an FCF switch, but it offers FCoE capabilities from the server to the IOA, and native FC capability in the
uplink direction to the SAN switches. Although the FC Flex IO module does not support all of the FCF characteristics, such as full-blown
name services or zone parameters, it presents the most flexible solution in interoperating with third-party switches that enable the splitting
of LAN and SAN traffic. With the IOA being well-established systems in the switch domain, you can install the FC Flex IO module to
enhance and increase the converged Ethernet network performance and behavior. With the FC Flex IO module, the IOA provide thirty-two
1GbE or 10 GbE server-facing ports and the option to add two FC Flex IO modules that offer up to 8 8Gb Fibre Channel ports for uplink
traffic in addition to the fixed two 40GbE ports on the IOA.
NOTE
: When an FC Flex IO module is inserted into an I/O Aggregator and the FC ports are in the operationally up state, you can
configure the port speed of these FC ports as 2 Gbps, 4 Gbps, or 8 Gbps. In the chassis management controller (CMC) GUI, the
FC port link speed is always shown as 10 Gbps, regardless of whether the port speed configured is 2 Gbps, 4 Gbps, or 8 Gbps.
You can configure one of the following upstream (fabric-facing) FC ports:
• Two 40GbE and eight 8GB FC ports
• Four 40GbE and four 8GB FC ports
• Two 40GbE, four 10GbE, and four 8GB FC ports
• Two 40GbE, four 10GBASE-T, and four 8GB FC ports
FC Flex IO Module Capabilities and Operations
The FC Flex IO module has the following characteristics:
• You can install one or two FC Flex IO modules on the I/O Aggregator. Each module supports four FC ports.
• Each port can operate in 2Gbps, 4Gbps, or 8Gbps of Fibre Channel speed.
• All ports on an FC Flex IO module can function in the NPIV mode that enables connectivity to FC switches or directors, and also to
multiple SAN topologies.
• It automatically senses the current speed when the port link is up. Valid link speeds are 2 Gbps, 4 Gbps, and 8 Gbps.
• By default, the FC ports are configured to operate in N-port mode to connect to an F port on an FC switch in a fabric. You can apply
only one FCoE map on an FC port. An N-Port is a port on the node of an FC device and is called a node port.
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FC Flex IO Modules