Installation Guide

Table Of Contents
30 Brocade MLX Series and Brocade NetIron XMR Installation Guide
53-1004195-03
Router modules
NOTE
Safety requirements are the same as MLX 24x10G.
Forward Error Correction (FEC) mode
Using Forward Error Correction (FEC) mode enabled modules on a Brocade MLXe series chassis will reduce packet drops due to CRC
errors. FEC will automatically be enabled on supported line cards and fabric links in a Brocade MLXe series chassis.
Forward Error Correction (FEC) mode is applicable for the Brocade MLXe series platforms. It will be operational on the 16Ke chassis and
32Ke chassis for the following cards:
2x100G
24x10G
4x40G
hSFMs (FE600 based SFMs)
FEC mode is applied on a per link basis. Both sides of the link (TM side and FE side) must be in the same mode. In a Brocade MLXe
series chassis, the following applies:
All fabric facing links on the 4x40G, 2x100G and 24x10G TMs will have FEC enabled
hSFM links connected to 4x40G, 2x100 and 24x10 will have FEC enabled
Forward Error Correction (FEC) on Backplane Serdes Links
The operating margin of the longer backplane traces in the Brocade MLXe series 16Ke and 32Ke chassis may be reduced due to signal
attenuation. In the normal coding scheme (8b/10b), CRC errors are detected and the corrupt packets are dropped. With FEC enabled on
the serdes links, single burst errors can be corrected on the fly so packet drops are avoided.
Line Module Shutdown
Line Module Shutdown is an RAS feature that improves reliability of the XMR/MLX chassis. The LP card is shutdown when both MPs are
down or MP's are disconnected from the chassis. L2 and L3 traffic is stopped, and the router stops forwarding all traffic. Hardware
flooding and dropping control traffic required for processing by the router is thereby avoided.
Switch fabric modules
Table 16 lists all switch fabric modules that are available for Brocade MLX and NetIron XMR routers. For a detailed compatibility matrix of
which fabric modules can be used with which router configurations, refer to the relevant Release Notes.
TABLE 16 Switch fabric modules available for Brocade MLX and NetIron XMR routers
Part number Description
NI-X-SF1 Switch fabric module for 4-slot routers
NI-X-SF3 Switch fabric module for 8- and 16-slot routers
NI-X-32-SF Switch fabric module for 32-slot routers
NI-X-4-HSF High speed switch fabric module for 4-slot routers
NI-X-16-8-HSF High speed switch fabric module for 8- and 16-slot routers
NI-X-32-HSF High speed switch fabric module for 32-slot routers