PowerEdge MX I/O Guide

I/O Connectivity Options for the PowerEdge MX Platform

The content in this guide applies to all versions of PowerEdge MX up to and including 1.40.00

December 2021; v1.11

Table of Contents

Quick Reference Guides

PowerEdge MX7000 Overview

MX Network I/O Modules

MX Scalable Fabric Architecture

Example Topologies

Cable & Optic Information

Corning Edge8 Structured Cabling

Additional Resources

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Quick Reference

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PowerEdge MX Ethernet I/O Modules
MX9116n MX5108n MX7116n 25Gb Pass-Through 10GBT Pass-Through
Fabric Switching Engine Basic Ethernet Switch Fabric Expander Module Direct connection Direct connection
High-performance, scalable L2/L3 Entry level, high-performance 25G Low latency 25GbE fabric expander Transparently connect 8 MX compute Transparently connect 8 MX compute
25GbE fabric switch with multi- Ethernet blade switch for single that helps scale fabric bandwidth sleds to the LAN of your choice at sleds to the LAN of your choice using
chassis fabric scaling capabilities chassis configurations across multiple chassis 25G or 10Gb speeds. 10G-BaseT
Performance
Uplink Speeds 10/25/40/50/100GbE 10/25/40/50/100GbE 25GbE 10/25GbE 10G-BaseT
Switch fabric capacity 6.4Tbps 960Gbps - - -
Forwarding capacity (Mpps) 2380Mpps 363Mpps - - -
Latency (Microseconds) <450ns <800ns <75ns <100ns <100ns
Ports
Internal server ports (Speed) 16 (25GbE) 8 (25GbE) 16 (10/25GbE) 16 (10/25GbE) 16 (10GbE)
External QSFP28-DD Ports 12 0 2 0 0
External QSFP28 Ports 4 2 0 0 0
External QSFP+ Ports 0 1 0 0 0
External SFP28 Ports 0 0 0 16 0
External 10G-BaseT Ports 0 4 0 0 16
Features
Native Fibre Channel support Yes No Yes (via MX9116n) - -
FCoE/FC FCoE transit, 8/16/32G Native FC FCoE Transit Yes (via MX9116n) - -
FC fabric services Zoning, F_Port, NPIV No Yes (via MX9116n) - -
Converged iSCSI (LAN and SAN) Yes Yes Yes (via MX9116n) - -
QSFP28–DD (DAC, AOC, SR)
QSFP28 (DAC, AOC, SR, LR) SFP28 (SR)
Optical transceivers supported QSFP28 (DAC, AOC, SR, LR) QSFP28 –DD (DAC, AOC, SR) -
QSFP+ (DAC, AOC, SR, LR) SFP+ (SR)
QSFP+ (DAC, AOC, SR, LR)
Max VLANs (L2/L3) Full Switch Mode 180K/30K P*V 45K/10K P*V - - -
Link Aggregation (Groups/Members) 128/16 128/16 - - -
Jumbo frames (Bytes) 9216 9216 - - -
Max Routes (IPv4/IPv6) 16K/8K 16K/8K - - -
MAC Table 136K 272K - - -
PVST Total Instances 128 128 - - -
Fresh Air Compliant No Yes Yes Yes Yes

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PowerEdge MX Fibre Channel I/O Module
MXG610s
32Gb FC Switch
Designed for mission-critical applications and optimized for flash storage and
highly virtualized server environments
Performance
Speeds 32Gbps (multi-speed 8, 16, or 32Gbps)
Switch capacity (Gbps) 1024 Gbps (32 * 32 Gbps) in Full Fabric Switch mode
Credit Buffers 2K, providing >50 credits/port average
Latency (Microseconds) < 0.9 µs
Maximum frame size 2112-byte payload
Ports
16 internal ports (16, or 32Gbps)
Total ports 8 external SFP+ ports (8, 16, or 32Gbps)
2 external QSFP ports - 4 ports each (16, or 32Gbps)
8 ports included w/2 SFP+ transceivers
16 ports included w/4 SFP+ transceivers
Port model options
16 ports included w/8 SFP+ transceivers, Enterprise Software License
(port count can be increased with on-demand license)
D_Port (Diagnostic Port), E_Port, F_Port, M_Port (Mirror Port); optional port
Port types
type control in Brocade Access Gateway mode: NPIV-enabled N_Port
Features
DH-CHAP (between switches and end devices), FCAP switch authentication;
HTTPS, IPsec, IP filtering, LDAP with IPv6, OpenLDAP, Port Binding,
Security RADIUS, TACACS+, User-defined Role-Based Access Control (RBAC),
Secure Copy (SCP), Secure RPC, Secure Syslog, SFTP, SSH v2, SSL,
Switch Binding, Trusted Switch
HTTP, SNMP v1/v2/v3 (FE MIB, FC Management MIB), SSH; Auditing,
Syslog; Brocade Advanced Web Tools; Command Line Interface (CLI); SMI-S
Management
compliant; Administrative Domains; trial licenses for add-on capabilities;
Integrated management through Dell EMC OpenManage Enterprise-Modular
Enterprise Bundle (Optional) ISL Trunking, Fabric Vision, and Extended Fabric
Classes of service Class 2, Class 3, and Class F (inter-switch frames)
16 and 32Gbps: SWL, LWL SFP+
Brocade optical transceivers
16 and 32Gbps: SWL, QSFP+ (supports 4x1 Breakout)

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PowerEdge MX Ethernet Mezzanine Cards
QL41262 QL41232 XXV710 ConnectX-4 LX 57504 All NICs support the following:
Vendor Marvell/Qlogic Marvell/Qlogic Intel Mellanox Broadcom • iDRAC Connection View
Max Speed 10/25GbE 10/25GbE 10/25GbE 10/25GbE 10/25GbE • Wake On LAN
Ports 2 2
L 2
L2 4 • SR-IOV

EO EO
NIC Type CNA NIC NIC NIC NIC • UEFI iSCSI iBFT Boot
Dell PN 51G0W HJ3FX H9NTY WCHFY DCWFP • UEFI PXE Boot
SKU 543-BBDI 543-BBDJ 543-BBDH 543-BBDK 555-BGGB • Legacy PXE Boot
General • NVGRE
NPAR (# Partitions) Yes (8/port - 16 total) Yes (8/port – 16 total) No No Yes (4/port – 16 total) • VxLAN
Secure Firmware Updates Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes • IP, TCP, UDP checksum offloads
PTP: IEEE 1588 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes • Large Send Offload (LSO)
DPDK Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes • Receive-Side Scaling (RSS)
Network Boot • Giant Send Offload (GSO)
UEFI iSCSI Offload Boot Yes No No Yes (boot, no offload) No
UEFI FCoE Boot Yes No No No No
Legacy iSCSI iBFT Boot No No Yes Yes Yes (UEFI & PXE only)
RDMA
RoCE v1 Yes Yes No Yes Yes
RoCE v2 Yes Yes No Yes Yes
iWarp Yes Yes No No No
Offloads
iSCSI HW Offload Yes No No No No
FCoE HW Offload Yes (1 FCoE partition/port) No No No No
Large Receive Offload (LRO) Yes Yes No Yes Yes
TCP Segmentation Offload (TSO) Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Transmit-Side Scaling (TSS) Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Network Virtualization Overlay
GENEVE Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
VxLAN-GPE No No Yes Yes Yes
MPLS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
NVMe-oF
NVMe-oF: TCP Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
NVMe-oF: RDMA (RoCE v2) Yes Yes No Yes Yes

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PowerEdge MX Fibre Channel Mezzanine Cards
LPm31002-D LPm32002-D QME2692 QME2742
Vendor Broadcom (Emulex) Broadcom (Emulex) Marvell (QLogic) Marvell (QLogic)
Max Speed 16GFC 32GFC 16GFC 32GFC
Ports
L
2 2
L2 2

EO EO
NIC Type HBA HBA HBA HBA
Dell PN 17N63 31KFT G620Y PD8ND
SKU 544-BBCM 544-BBCN 544-BBCO 544-BBCP
General
Configuration through F10 and F2 consoles Yes Yes Yes Yes
Out-of-band Firmware Updates Yes Yes Yes Yes
Inventory and Configuration through iDRAC Yes Yes Yes Yes
Secure Firmware Updates Yes Yes No No
NVMe-oF: FC Yes Yes Yes Yes

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MX7000 Overview

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PowerEdge MX7000 chassis

Modular foundation to scale across multiple

racks to suit a range of demanding use cases

Hosts flexible blocks of server and storage resources

while providing outstanding efficiencies through shared
power, cooling, networking, I/O and management within
HIGHLIGHTS
the chassis itself
• Support for at least three server processor
microarchitecture generations and ready for
Key Capabilities 400Gb Ethernet and beyond
• 7U modular enclosure has 8 front-accessible, single-width • Non-disruptive upgrades; unique no mid-plane
bays that accommodates variety of compute and storage sleds design makes for easier future technology
• Support for 3 I/O fabrics, each with redundant modules upgrades
• QuickSync2 (wireless), Touchscreen LCD and traditional crash
cart at-the-box management options

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PowerEdge MX7000 chassis (front view)
7U chassis designed to support at least three future generations of server technologies

A B
A B

Compute Sleds Storage Sleds

• No compromise • Flexible, granular
design with up to drive-level
eight 2-socket or four assignment; drives
4-socket options can be mapped to a
• Up to eight drives server or shared
plus M.2 boot option • Up to 16 SAS
for greater storage HDDs/SSDs
options than ever • 12 Gb/s direct
before in large attached SAS
chassis C

Power and Cooling

• High efficiency 3 KW power supplies
C • Grid and N+N redundancy
• Evenly distribute chassis-wide cooling
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PowerEdge MX7000 chassis (rear view)

E Fabric Slot A1
E F
Fabric Slot A2
Scalable Networking Storage Networking
• Two redundant • Redundant, highly
general-purpose available
fabrics • 32G Fibre Channel or
12G SAS storage
• MX Scalable Fabric fabric
Architecture for multi- E Fabric Slot B1
chassis networking
Fabric Slot B2
• Future forward design
F Fabric Slot C1 Fabric Slot C2

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PowerEdge MX7000 generational comparison
Feature MX7000 M1000e
RTS September 2018 Shipping since PowerEdge 10G (~ CY2008)
Rack Height 7U 10U
Sled Orientation Vertical Vertical
Sled Support MX740c 2S standard-height, single-wide M600/M605/M805/M905
MX750c 2S standard-height, single-wide M610/M610X/M710/M710HD/M910/M915
MX840c 4S standard-height, double-wide M420/M520/M620/M820
MX5016s SAS storage sled (16 drives) M630/M830
M640
No. of Blades Up to 8 standard height (2S or storage sleds) Up to 32 quarter-height (M420)
Up to 4 double-wide (4S) Up to 16 half-height
Up to 8 full-height
I/O Module Bays 6 6
Fabric Types Supported 2 general purpose (Ethernet, future technologies) 3 general purpose (Ethernet, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand)
1 storage specific (Fibre Channel, SAS)
Power Supplies Up to 6 3000W PSUs Up to 6 2360W, 2700W, or 3000W PSUs
System Management OpenManage Enterprise - Modular (Redfish API) CMC (CLI-RACADM)
Quick Sync Supported Not supported
KVM Integrated with Management Module Discrete design

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Network I/O Modules

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PowerEdge MX9116n Fabric Switching Engine

High-performance, scalable 25G fabric switch 16 x 25GbE internal ports 2 x 100GbE/32Gb FC QSFP28 Uplink Ports

A comprehensive high-end L2/L3 switch with multi-

chassis fabric scaling capabilities 12 x QSFP28-DD Fabric Expander/Uplink Ports 2 x QSFP28 Uplink Ports

Key Capabilities HIGHLIGHTS

• 16 x 25GbE server-facing ports, 2 x 100GbE Uplink ports, 2 x • Optimum performance fabric switch providing
100GbE/8 x 32G FC uplink ports, and 12 x Fabric high scalability at a low TCO
Expansion/Uplink ports • Highly efficient embedded ToR functionality that
• Each Fabric Expansion port can operate as 2 x 100GbE, 2 x reduces cost and improves performance &
40GbE, 8 x 25GbE, 8 x 10GbE latency
• Supported in Fabrics A & B • Industry’s first Open Networking fabric switch with
• Supports all PowerEdge MX Ethernet Cards ONIE and a choice of OS10 Enterprise Edition or
select 3rd party OS
• Supports Open Networking, Full Switch and SmartFabric
operating modes
• < 450ns latency, 6.4 Tbps switching fabric
• NVMe over Fabric Ready

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PowerEdge MX9116n Fabric Switching Engine QSFP28-DD ports are backwards
compatible and support QSFP28 and
Typical Cable & Optic Options • When implementing a SmartFabric, two QSFP28-DD cables are
QSFP+ Optics and cables

REQUIRED for the VLTi connection QSFP28 ports are backwards

• A QSFP28-DD cable between the MX9116n and MX7116n is compatible and support QSFP+
REQUIRED. Using a QSFP28 cable is not supported Optics and cables

DAC-Q28DD-8S28-25G-xM DAC-Q28DD-200G-xM DAC-Q28DD-2Q28-100G-xM DAC-QSFP-4SFP-10G-xM DAC-Q28-100G-xM

OR OR OR OR OR
AOC-QDD-8SFP-10G-xM AOC-Q28DD-200G-xM AOC-Q28DD-2Q28-100G-xM AOC-QSFP-4SFP-10G-xM AOC-Q28-100G-xM
OR OR OR OR OR
Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 (Optic) Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 (Optic) Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 (Optic) QSFP-40G-SR4 (Optic) Q28-100G-SR4-NOF (Optic)
AND AND AND AND AND
Corning Edge8 Cabling CBL-MPO12DD-OM4-xM CBL-MPO12DD-2MPO12-OM4-xM CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM CBL-MPO12-OM4-xM

Breakout 8x10GbE MX7116n/VLTi** Breakout 2x100GbE Breakout 4x 10GbE 100GbE Uplink

Breakout 2x40GbE Breakout 8x25GbE Breakout 4x25GbE Breakout 4x8/16/32 GFC

1GbE and 10G-BaseT are DAC-Q28DD-2Q28-100G-xM DAC-Q28DD-8S28-25G-xM DAC-Q28-4S28-25G-xM Q28-128GFC-SW4 (4x32GFC Optic)*
supported via the QSA28 OR OR OR AND
adapter AOC-Q28DD-2Q-40G-7M AOC-Q28DD-8S28-25G-xM AOC-Q28-4S28-25G-xM CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM
OR OR OR
Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 (Optic) Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 (Optic) Q28-100G-SR4-NOF (Optic)
AND AND AND
CBL-MPO12DD-2MPO12-OM4-xM Corning Edge8 Cabling CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM

NOTE: Not every option is presented on this page. Please contact your account team for additional options
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Connecting to Non-Dell EMC 10GbE or 25GbE uplink ports
For example: Cisco, Arista, Juniper

The same optics & cables work on the

QSFP+/QSFP28 ports on the MX5108n Non-Dell EMC Switch

Non-Dell EMC Switch Non-Dell EMC 25G Optic CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM

4x10 GbE Uplink

4x25 GbE Uplink

Non-Dell EMC 10G Optic CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM QSFP-40G-SR4 QSFP28-100G-SR4

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Connecting MX9116n to Fibre Channel Switch
Fibre Channel Switch

Use this when connecting to SFP FC ports

8/16/32G FC Optic CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM

(Vendor Specific)

Fibre Channel Switch

QSFP-64GFC-SW4 (8/16G)
Or
Use this when Q28-128GFC-SW4 (8/16/32G)
connecting to QSFP
FC ports
CBL-MPO12-OM4-xM
16/32G QSFP FC Optic
(Vendor Specific)

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 Physical Port Port Group Mapping
Each QSFP28-DD & QSFP28 socket is logically addressed as a port group

A port group is a logical descriptor given to one or more physical ports that
supports one or more logical configurations.

For example, port group 12 represents physical ports 39 and 40

Port
Group 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39
Physical Ports 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
41 42 43 44

Each QSFP28-DD socket is comprised of

two separately addressed physical ports

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PowerEdge MX5108n Ethernet switch

8 x 25GbE internal ports 2 x 100Gb QSFP28 4 x 10GBASE-T

Entry level, high performance, 25G Ethernet switch
Economical solution for single chassis configurations 40Gb QSFP+

Key Capabilities HIGHLIGHTS

• 8 x 25GbE server-facing ports, 2 x 100GbE uplink ports, 1 x 40GbE
port and 4 x 10GBase-T ports • High-performance, low-latency Ethernet switch for
• Supported in Fabrics A & B single chassis deployments
• Supports all PowerEdge MX Ethernet Cards except Broadcom 57504 • Option of Dell EMC Networking Linux-based
OS10 Enterprise Edition OS
• Supports Open Networking, Full Switch and SmartFabric operating
modes • Industry’s first Open Networking blade switch with
ONIE and a choice of select 3rd party OS
• < 800ns latency, 960Gbps switching fabric
• NVMe over Fabric Ready

NOTE: The MX5108n does not support the Broadcom 57504 Quad Port Ethernet adapter

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 PowerEdge MX5108n Ethernet switch
Typical Cable & Optic Options DAC-QSFP-40G-xM DAC-Q28-100G-xM
OR OR
When implementing a SmartFabric, a VLTi AOC-QSFP-40G-xM AOC-Q28-100G-xM
connection using ports 9 & 10 is required with OR OR
both ports running at 40GE. QSFP-40G-SR4 (Optic) Q28-100G-SR4-NOF (Optic)
AND AND
Because port 10 defaults to 100GE, use a CBL-MPO12-OM4-xM CBL-MPO12-OM4-xM RJ45/Cat 6a Copper
40GE QSFP+ optic/cable, not a 100GE
QSFP28 optic/cable 40GbE Uplink 100GbE Uplink 1/10GbE Uplink

QSFP28 ports are backwards Breakout 4x10GbE Breakout 4x25GbE

compatible and support QSFP+
Optics and cables DAC-QSFP-4SFP-10G-xM DAC-Q28-4S28-25G-xM
OR OR
AOC-QSFP-4SFP-10G-xM AOC-Q28-4S28-25G-xM
OR OR
NOTE: Not every option is presented on this page. QSFP-40G-SR4 Q28-100G-SR4-NOF (Optic)
Contact your account team for additional options AND AND
CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM

NOTE: The MX5108n does not support the Broadcom 57504 Quad Port Ethernet adapter

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PowerEdge MX7116n Fabric Expander Module

16 x 25GbE internal ports

Low latency 25G fabric expander
Scales fabric bandwidth across multiple chassis 2 x QSFP28-DD Fabric Expander Ports

Key Capabilities HIGHLIGHTS

• 16 x 25GbE server-facing ports, 2x Fabric Expansion ports
back to FSE • Low latency fabric expander module for efficiently
• Supported in Fabrics A & B scaling fabric bandwidth across a multi-chassis
environment
• Supports all PowerEdge MX Ethernet Cards
• One cable supports 8 x 25GbE connections back
• No switching ASIC and no OS to the FSE
• Sub ~75ns latency
• Nothing to manage, no firmware to update
• All switching done at FSE
• No port-to-port oversubscription
• Serves as a Pass-Through Module to select Dell EMC
Networking Ethernet switches (10GbE & 25GbE*)

*Requires OpenManage Enterprise – Modular v1.20.00 or later

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 PowerEdge MX7116n Fabric Expander Module
Cable & Optic Options
To 2x QSFP28 To 8x SFP28 To 2x QSFP+ To 8x SFP+

DAC-Q28DD-2Q28-100G-xM DAC-Q28DD-8S28-25G-xM DAC-Q28DD-2Q28-100G-xM DAC-Q28DD-8S28-25G-xM

OR OR OR OR
AOC-Q28DD-2Q28-100G-xM AOC-Q28DD-8S28-25G-xM AOC-Q28DD-2Q-40G-xM AOC-Q28DD-8SFP-10G-xM
OR OR OR OR
Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 (Optic) Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 (Optic) Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 (Optic) Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 (Optic)
AND AND AND AND
CBL-MPO12DD-2MPO12-OM4-xM Corning Edge8 Cabling CBL-MPO12DD-2MPO12-OM4-xM Corning Edge8 Cabling

Breakout 8x25GbE Breakout 8x25GbE Breakout 8x10GbE Breakout 8x10GbE

Only used with Quad Port NIC

NOTE: To MX9116n
• A QSFP28-DD cable between the MX7116n and NOTE:
MX9116n is REQUIRED. Using a QSFP28 cable is not • When using quad port NICs, both FEM ports must be
DAC-Q28DD-200G-xM
supported connected to the same MX9116n FSE
• Breakout is supported only to Dell EMC Switches OR
• If using the FEM as a Pass Through Module, the FEM
• 10GbE Breakout requires OpenManage Enterprise AOC-Q28DD-200G-xM
ports can be connected to different ToR switches
Modular version 1.20.00 or higher OR
Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 (Optic)
AND
CBL-MPO12DD-OM4-xM
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Popular Ethernet SKUs
Ethernet I/O Modules
Factory SKU After Sale SKU Description
210-AODD 210-AODC Dell EMC MX9116n 25GbE Fabric Switching Engine, 12x QSFP28-DD, 2x QSFP28 100GbE, 2 x QSFP28 100GbE/32GFC

210-ANZJ 210-ANZI Dell EMC MX5108n 25GbE Ethernet Switch, 4x10G-BaseT, 1x40GbE QSFP+, 2x100GbE QSFP28

210-ANUK 210-ANUJ Dell EMC MX7116n 25GbE Fabric Expander Module

Fibre Channel Optics for MX9116n*

Factory SKU After Sale SKU Description
407-BBZE 407-BBZG Dell Networking Transceiver, 32G QSFP28 SWL Fibre Channel QSFP (4x32GFC Supports 8/16/32 GFC)

*NOTE: These optics are NOT supported in the MXG610s FC switch

4x Breakout Cables for Ethernet & FC QSFP to 4x LC connectors

Factory SKU After Sale SKU Description
470-ABOF 470-ABPH Dell Networking Cable, MPO to 4xLC, Fiber Breakout Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 1M

470-ABOG 470-ABPE Dell Networking Cable, MPO to 4xLC, Fiber Breakout Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 3M

470-ABOH 470-ABPG Dell Networking Cable, MPO to 4xLC, Fiber Breakout Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 5M

470-ABOI 470-ABPK Dell Networking Cable, MPO to 4xLC, Fiber Breakout Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 7M

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QSFP28-DD Cables for FSE/FEM and FSE/FSE VLT Connections
DAC & AOC Cables
Factory SKU After Sale SKU Description
470-ACTP 470-ACUI Dell Networking 2x100GbE QSFP28-DD Passive Direct Attach Cable, No FEC, 0.5 Meter
470-ACTR 470-ACUL Dell Networking 2x100GbE QSFP28-DD Passive Direct Attach Cable, No FEC, 1 Meter
470-ACTS 470-ACUN Dell Networking 2x100GbE QSFP28-DD Passive Direct Attach Cable, No FEC, 2 Meter
470-ACYY 470-ACYV Dell Networking 2x100GbE QSFP28-DD Passive Direct Attach Cable, No FEC, 3 Meter
470-ACTI 470-ACUB Dell Networking 2x100GbE QSFP28-DD Active Optical Cable, No FEC, 5 Meter
470-ACTF 470-ACTX Dell Networking 2x100GbE QSFP28-DD Active Optical Cable, No FEC, 10 Meter
470-ACTG 470-ACTY Dell Networking 2x100GbE QSFP28-DD Active Optical Cable, No FEC, 20 Meter

Optical Transceiver + MMF Fiber*

Factory SKU After Sale SKU Description
407-BCKE 407-BCKF Dell Networking Transceiver, 2x100GbE/2x40GbE Dual Rate, QSFP28-DD, 2SR4, No FEC Capable, MPO, MMF
470-ADBF 470-ADCE Dell Networking Cable, MPO12-DD to MPO12-DD, Fiber Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 1M
470-ADBK 470-ADBH Dell Networking Cable, MPO12-DD to MPO12-DD, Fiber Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 3M
470-ADBI 470-ADCH Dell Networking Cable, MPO12-DD to MPO12-DD, Fiber Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 5M
470-ADCI 470-ADBJ Dell Networking Cable, MPO12-DD to MPO12-DD, Fiber Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 7M
N/A N/A Corning Edge8 Structured Cabling

NOTE: These optics & cables are NOT supported in QSFP28 or QSFP+ ports
*OS10.5.0.1 or higher is required to use optics & passive fiber for FSE/FEM connections
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Speed Compatibility for Cables/Optics
• When configuring a port for a specific speed or breakout, a compatible cable/optic must be used
• DAC cables are generally multi-speed
– For example, a QSFP28 DAC cable can run at 100G, 4x25G, 40G, 4x10G

• AOC cables and optical transceivers are generally single speed

– For example, a QSFP28 optic can run at 100G or 4x25G. It cannot run at 40G or 4x10G

• Use the table below to ensure that the correct cable/optic is being used
Description Type Primary Speed Port Type 2x100G 100G 2x40G 40G 8x25G 4x25G 8x10G 4X10G
40G DAC DAC 40G QSFP+ X X
100G DAC DAC 100G QSFP28 X X X X
4x25G breakout DAC DAC 100G QSFP28 X X
8x25G breakout DAC DAC 100G QSFP28-DD X X
2x100G QSFP28-DD DAC DAC 100G QSFP28-DD X X X X X X X X
40G AOC or Transceiver Optical 40G QSFP+ X X
100G AOC or Transceiver Optical 100G QSFP28 X X
2x100G/2x40G QSFP28-DD Transceiver Optical 100G QSFP28-DD X X X X X X X X
2x100G QSFP28-DD AOC or Transceiver Optical 100G QSFP28-DD X X X X
2x40G QSFP-DD AOC or Transceiver Optical 40G QSFP28-DD X X X X

The QSA28 Adapter is a QSFP form factor carrier that allows a SFP, SFP+,
or SFP28 optic/cable to be inserted into a QSFP+, QSFP28, or QSFP28-DD
port. This provides the ability to support a single 1G, 10G, or 25G
cable/optic 25 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
PowerEdge MX Ethernet Pass-through Modules
25GbE Pass-through Module 10G-BaseT Pass-though Module
16 x 25GbE internal ports 16 x 25GbE internal ports

16 x SFP28 Ports 16 x 10G-BaseT Ports

Key Capabilities HIGHLIGHTS

• 16 x 25GbE server-facing ports
• Simple Ethernet pass through from compute sled
• 16 x SFP28 or 10G-BaseT external ports to external switch
• Supported in Fabrics A & B
• One cable per compute sled
• Supports all PowerEdge MX Ethernet Cards
• Nothing to manage, no firmware to update

26 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

PowerEdge 25GbE Pass-Through Module
Cable & Optic Options

25G Uplink 10G Uplink

DAC-SFP28-25G-xM DAC-SFP-10G-xM
OR OR
AOC-SFP28-25G-xM DAC-SFP28-25G-xM*
OR OR
SFP28-25G-SR-NOF AOC-SFP-10G-xM
AND OR
CBL-LC-OM4-xM SFP-10G-SR
AND
CBL-LC-OM4-xM

*DAC-SFP28-25G-xM supports 10GbE and

25GbE

27 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Pass-Through Module Port Mapping – Dual Port NIC

28 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

PowerEdge MXG610s Fibre Channel Switch
16 x 32G FC internal ports
High-performance, Brocade Gen 6 32G FC switch
The latest Fibre Channel technology for large scale
Storage Area Networks 8 x 32Gb FC SFP+ ports Two 4 x 32Gb FC QSFP ports

Key Capabilities HIGHLIGHTS

• 16 x 32G FC server-facing ports, 8 x 32G SFP FC ports, and 2
QSFP FC uplink ports (4 x 32G per QSFP) • High performance, non-blocking FC switch in a
• Supported in Fabric C Only modular chassis platform for demanding all flash
• Supports all MX Fibre Channel HBAs storage environments
• Designed for maximum flexibility and value with “pay-as-you- • Ports on Demand licensing to “pay-as-you-grow”
grow” scalability and Ports on Demand (PoD) licensing • Simplified cable management using QSFP ports
• Compatible with Brocade and Cisco fabric/director class
switches
• NVMe over Fabric Ready

29 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

PowerEdge MXG610s Fibre Channel Switch
Typical Cable & Optic Options

SFP+, LWL, 16Gb, BR (Optic)

OR
SFP+, LWL, 32Gb, BR (Optic)

16/32GFC (LWL)

16/32GFC (SWL) Breakout 4x 16/32 GFC

SFP+, SWL, 16Gb, BR (Optic)

OR
SFP+, SWL, 32Gb, BR (Optic) QSFP+, SWL, 32Gb, BR (4x 32GFC Optic)
AND AND
CBL-LC-OM4-xM CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM

NOTE: Not every option is presented on this page.

Contact your account team for additional options

30 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

MXG610s Additional Information
• Must be ordered in pairs The Enterprise bundle includes ISL Trunking, Fabric Vision, and Extended
Fabric licenses:
• Supports all PowerEdge MX Fibre Channel HBAs
• ISL Trunking: Provides the ability to aggregate multiple physical links into
• 3 base models available: one logical link for enhanced network performance and fault tolerance. Also
– 8 activated ports & 2x FC32 SFP+ optics enables Brocade Access Gateway ISL Trunking (N_port Trunking)
• Fabric Vision: Enables MAPS (Monitoring and Alerting Policy Suite), Flow
– 16x activated ports & 4x FC32 SFP+ optics
Vision, IO Insight, VM Insight, and ClearLink (a.k.a. D_Port) to non-Brocade
– 16x activated ports & 8x FC32 SFP+ optics, Enterprise devices
Bundle – MAPS enables rules based monitoring and alerting capabilities, provides
comprehensive dashboards to quickly troubleshoot problems in Brocade SAN
• Additional port licenses can be added environments

• Additional 16G FC and 32G FC optics can be purchased for – Flow Vision enables host to LUN flow monitoring, application flow mirroring for
offline capture and deeper analysis, and test traffic flow generation function for
activated ports SAN infrastructure validation
– IO Insight automatically detects degraded storage IO performance with integrated
device latency and IOPS monitoring embedded in the hardware
• NOTE: A port license is consumed when that port is – ClearLink (D_Port) to non-Brocade devices allows extensive diagnostic testing of
activated, regardless if port is internal or external (QSFP links to devices other than Brocade switches and adapters. (Functionality requires
support by attached device, availability to be checked by the user)
ports count as 4 licenses)
• Extended Fabric: Provides greater than 10km of switched fabric
connectivity at full bandwidth over long distances
• NOTE: While 32 licensed ports is technically possible, 24
ports is the maximum number of ports that are usable. Don’t • NOTE: These features are only available in the Enterprise Bundle -
individual feature licenses are not available
purchase more than 24 port licenses

31 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

MXG610s: Popular SKUs
Factory SKU After Sale SKU Description
210-AOCI 210-AOCH Dell EMC MXG610S switch, includes 8 activated ports & 2x FC32 SFP+ SWL optics
210-AOCK 210-AOCJ Dell EMC MXG610S switch, includes 16 activated ports & 4x FC32 SFP+ SWL optics
210-AOCM 210-AOCL Dell EMC MXG610S switch, includes 16 activated ports & 8x FC32 SFP+ SWL optics, Enterprise Bundle
528-BCOY 528-BFOH Dell EMC MXG610S 8 Ports-On-Demand activation, no additional optics
528-BFOE 528-BFOS Dell EMC MXG610S ENT Feature License Bundle (Trunking, Extended Fabric, and Fabric Vision)

8 ports licensed = 6 servers & 2 external uplinks, 7 servers & 1 external uplink, or any combination that = 8
16 ports licensed = 8 servers & up to 8 external uplinks (any combination of SFP+ & QSFP ports)*
24 ports licensed = 8 servers & all 16 external uplinks

NOTE: If you need the enterprise bundle, purchase the SKU with the license included (210-AOCM). Do not
purchase a different SKU and then add the stand-alone ENT license bundle

NOTE: QSFP ports use 4 activation licenses

NOTE: As of Dec 6th, 2021, Brocade software licenses are delivered digitally/electronically
32 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Fibre Channel Optics & Cables for MXG610s
Factory SKU After Sale SKU Description
407-BBCF 407-BBBB Brocade 16G SFP SWL Fibre Channel, 1 pack, requires port license (Supports 8G/16G)
407-BBXJ 407-BBXM Brocade 32G SFP SWL Fibre Channel, 1 pack, requires port license (Supports 8G/16G/32G)
407-BBXK 407-BBXL Brocade 32G SFP SWL Fibre Channel, 8 pack, requires port license (Supports 8G/16G/32G)
407-BBXH 407-BBXO Brocade 32G SFP LWL, 10Km SMF, 1 pack, requires port license
407-BBXI 407-BBXN Brocade 32G SFP LWL, 10Km SMF, 8 pack, requires port license
Brocade 32G QSFP SWL Fibre Channel QSFP (4 x 32G),1 pack, requires 4 port licenses
407-BCBB 407-BCBC
(Supports 16G/32G)

NOTE: These optics are NOT supported in the MX9116n Fabric Switching Engine
MMF LC/LC cables for SFP+ SWL optics
Factory SKU After Sale SKU Description
470-ACMB 470-ACLV OM4 LC/LC Fiber Patch Cable 1 Meter
470-ACLS 470-ACLT OM4 LC/LC Fiber Patch Cable 2 Meter
470-ACMF 470-ACMO OM4 LC/LC Fiber Patch Cable 3 Meter
470-ACLK 470-ACLY OM4 LC/LC Fiber Patch Cable 5 Meter
470-ACMH 470-ACMN OM4 LC/LC Fiber Patch Cable 10 Meter

Breakout cables for 4x32GFC QSFP optic

Factory SKU After Sale SKU Description
470-ABOF 470-ABPH Dell Networking Cable, MPO to 4xLC, Fiber Breakout Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 1M
470-ABOG 470-ABPE Dell Networking Cable, MPO to 4xLC, Fiber Breakout Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 3M
470-ABOH 470-ABPG Dell Networking Cable, MPO to 4xLC, Fiber Breakout Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 5M
470-ABOI 470-ABPK Dell Networking Cable, MPO to 4xLC, Fiber Breakout Cable, MMF, OM4, Optics Required, 7M

33 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

IOM Placement Rules for Fabrics A & B
A1 A2 B1 B2
Any Ethernet IOM Empty Empty Empty
Any Ethernet IOM Same IOM as A1 Empty Empty
Any Ethernet IOM Empty Same IOM as A1 Empty
Any Ethernet IOM Same IOM as A1 Same IOM as A1 Empty
Any Ethernet IOM Same IOM as A1 Same IOM as A1 Same IOM as A1
Any Ethernet IOM Same IOM as A1 Any Ethernet IOM Same IOM as B1
Any Ethernet IOM Same IOM as A1 MX9116n or MX7116n MX9116n or MX7116n
MX9116n or MX7116n MX9116n or MX7116n MX9116n or MX7116n MX9116n or MX7116n
MX9116n or MX7116n MX9116n or MX7116n Any PTM or MX5108n Same IOM as B1
Any PTM or MX5108n Same IOM as A1 MX9116n or MX7116n MX9116n or MX7116n

• Mixing MX9116n and MX7116n within the same fabric *IS* allowed
• No mixing of Ethernet switch and Pass-Through Modules within the same fabric on
MX7000
– For example, MX9116n in A1 and 25G PTM in A2 is not allowed

• No mixing of Pass-Through Module speeds within the same fabric on MX7000

– For example, 10G-BaseT PTM in A1 and 25G PTM in A2 is not allowed

34 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Scalable Fabric
Architecture

35 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

PowerEdge MX Scalable Fabric Architecture
How can multiple chassis behave like a single network?

Best-in-class Multi Chassis Ethernet

Aggregate 50GbE to 400GbE*
Legacy Modular Solutions
bandwidth in each server
Ethernet switches in each chassis = Latency
<600ns “any-any” latency

Multiple hops for east-west traffic = Latency

No server-to-server oversubscription

Excessive cabling = Cost

Scales up to 10 chassis, 80 compute sleds

Multiple switches to manage = Cost

8x25Gbps over a single cable

Cost effective, low TCO

*Requires Broadcom 57504 Quad Port Ethernet adapter

36 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
 Scalable Fabric Architecture Topology – One Fabric
Chassis 1: Chassis 2:
Slot A1: MX9116n Slot A1: MX7116n
Slot A2: MX7116n Slot A2: MX9116n

Chassis 3:
Slot A1: MX7116n
Slot A2: MX7116n

…
Chassis 10:
Slot A1: MX7116n
NOTE: If a Scalable Fabric has some chassis with
Slot A2: MX7116n Quad Port NICs and some with only Dual Port
NICs, only the chassis with Quad Port NICs
require the second FEM port to be connected

37 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

 Scalable Fabric Architecture Topology – Two Fabrics
Chassis 1: Chassis 2:
Slot A1: MX9116n Slot A1: MX7116n
Slot A2: MX7116n Slot A2: MX9116n
Slot B1: MX9116n Slot B1: MX7116n
Slot B2: MX7116n Slot B2: MX9116n

NOTE: Fabric B is not

Chassis 3: required to be
populated in every
Slot A1: MX7116n
chassis
Slot A2: MX7116n
NOTE: If a Scalable
Slot B1: MX7116n
Fabric has some chassis
Slot B2: MX7116n with Quad Port NICs and
some with only Dual Port
NICs, only the chassis

…
with Quad Port NICs
require the second FEM
port to be connected
Chassis 10:
Slot A1: MX7116n
Slot A2: MX7116n
Slot B1: MX7116n
Slot B2: MX7116n
38 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
 Supported Scalable Fabric Topologies*
Dual Port NICs
These topologies are for scenarios where two physical NICs per server are required but only one pair of
MX9116n FSEs are desired

Single Chassis Dual Chassis

Care must be taken to ensure
proper cable placement

*These topologies are supported as of OME-M 1.20.00 and OS10.5.0.7

Full Switch and SmartFabric modes
39 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Supported Scalable Fabric Topologies*
Dual Port NICs
These topologies are for scenarios where two physical NICs per server are required but only one pair of
MX9116n FSEs are desired

3-5 Chassis

Care must be taken to ensure

proper cable placement

*These topologies are supported as of

OME-M 1.20.00 and OS10.5.0.7
Full Switch and SmartFabric modes
40 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Supported Scalable Fabric Topologies*
Quad Port NICs
These topologies are for scenarios where two physical NICs per server are required but only one pair of
MX9116n FSEs are desired

Single Chassis Dual Chassis

Care must be taken to ensure

proper cable placement

*These topologies are supported as of OME-M 1.20.00 and OS10.5.0.7

Full Switch and SmartFabric modes
41 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Supported Scalable Fabric Topologies*
Quad Port NICs
These topologies are for scenarios where two physical NICs per server are required but only one pair of
MX9116n FSEs are desired

3 Chassis

Care must be taken to ensure

proper cable placement

*These topologies are supported as of

OME-M 1.20.00 and OS10.5.0.7
Full Switch and SmartFabric modes
42 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Examples of Unsupported Scalable Fabric Topologies
These topologies are not supported

43 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

 QSFP28-DD ports are backwards compatible and

Chassis Connection Order support QSFP28 and QSFP+ Optics and cables

QSFP28 ports are backwards compatible and

support QSFP+ Optics and cables

In order to provide optimal performance through the MX9116n FSE, it is recommended to connect
the FEMs to the FSE in the following order:

Port
Group 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1&2 4 6 8 10 3 5 7 9

Connect FEMs from Connect FEM Connect FEM Connect FEM

first two chassis to from Chassis 8 to from Chassis 3 to from Chassis 7 to
Port-Group 1 Port-Group 4 Port-Group 7 Port-Group 9

Connect FEM Connect FEM Connect FEM Connect FEM

from Chassis 4 to from Chassis 10 from Chassis 5 to from Chassis 9 to
Port-Group 2 to Port-Group 5 Port-Group 8 Port-Group 10

Connect FEM
from Chassis 6 to QSFP28-DD ports not used for FEM connections can be
Port-Group 3 utilized for additional uplinks, connections to rack servers, or
VLT connections (VLT is required for SmartFabric Services)
in both Full Switch and SmartFabric mode.
44 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
PowerEdge MX networking with Embedded Top of Rack switching

Rack servers and other Ethernet devices can be connected

directly to the MX9116n FSE via the appropriate breakout
cable
• Rack servers do not need to be connected to separate Top
of Rack switches
• Communication between all devices is kept within the FSE
• Provides a single point of management and network security
• Reduces cost and improves performance and latency
• Supported in Full Switch and SmartFabric modes

45 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Example Topologies

46 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Cable & Optic Option Key
The sample topologies in the following slides will use different cable types depending on the use-case.

Additionally, the cable/optic type used will vary depending on the length required
Cable DAC AOC Optic2 Fiber
Description Connector
Option (very short) (short-medium) (medium-long) (Requires Optic)
CBL-MPO12DD-OM4-xM or
1 FSE/FEM Connection QSFP28-DD DAC-Q28DD-200G-xM AOC-Q28DD-200G-xM Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4
Corning Edge8 Structured Cabling

2 100GbE Uplink QSFP28 DAC-Q28-100G-xM AOC-Q28-100G-xM Q28-100G-SR4-NOF CBL-MPO12-OM4-xM

3 40GbE Uplink QSFP28/QSFP+ DAC-QSFP-40G-xM AOC-QSFP-40G-xM QSFP-40G-SR4 CBL-MPO12-OM4-xM

4 Breakout 2x100GbE QSFP28-DD DAC-Q28DD-2Q28-100G-xM AOC-Q28DD-2Q28-100G-xM Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 CBL-MPO12DD-2MPO12-OM4-xM

5 Breakout 8x25GbE QSFP28-DD DAC-Q28DD-8S28-25G-xM AOC-Q28DD-8S28-25G-xM Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 Corning Edge8 Structured Cabling

6 Breakout 8x10GbE QSFP28-DD DAC-Q28DD-8S28-25G-xM AOC-QDD-8SFP-10G-xM Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 Corning Edge8 Structured Cabling

7 Breakout 4x25GbE QSFP28 DAC-Q28-4S28-25G-xM AOC-Q28-4S28-25G-xM Q28-100G-SR4-NOF CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM

8 Breakout 4x10GbE QSFP28/QSFP+ DAC-QSFP-4SFP-10G-xM AOC-QSFP-4SFP-10G-xM QSFP-40G-SR4 CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM

91 Breakout 4x16G FC QSFP28/QSFP+ Not Supported Not Supported QSFP-64GFC-SW4 CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM

10 Breakout 4x8/16/32G FC QSFP28 Not Supported Not Supported Q28-128GFC-SW4 CBL-MPO12-4LC-OM4-xM

11 Breakout 2x40GbE QSFP28-DD DAC-Q28DD-2Q28-100G-xM AOC-Q28DD-2Q-40G-7M Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 CBL-MPO12DD-2MPO12-OM4-xM

1 – The QSFP-64GFC-SW4 (4x16GFC Optic) is EoL as of 15 October 2020. Use Q28-128GFC-SW4 (4x32GFC Optic) instead.
2 – SR4 transceivers support distances up to 150M over OM4 fiber. The MX7000 management modules use 1G BASE-T cables with a distance limit of 100M, therefore the effective useable length for a SR4 optic is
100M over OM4 fiber

47 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

 Example Topologies
Scalable Fabric Wiring Diagram – 2 Chassis

Cable Option 1

Fabric A Populated

Cable Option 1
Fabric A & B Populated

48 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Example Topologies
Scalable Fabric Wiring Diagram – 3+ Chassis

Chassis 1 & 2
Cable Option 1

Cable Option 1

Chassis 3-10

49 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Example Topologies
Scalable Fabric Wiring Diagram – Rack Server Connectivity*

Cable Option 5 (25GbE)

or
Cable Option 6 (10GbE)

*VLTi and FSE/FEM cables not shown

50 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Example Topologies
MX9116n Standard Ethernet w/VLT – 2xMX9116n in same Chassis*

Upstream Switches

Cable Option 2 (100G)

Cable Option 3 (40G)

Two MX9116n or Two MX5108n in Fabric B is

supported. Connections to same or different
Upstream switches are also supported in both
Full switch mode and SmartFabric mode.

*VLTi cables not shown

51 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Example Topologies
MX9116n Standard Ethernet w/VLT* Upstream Switches

Cable Option 2 (100G)

Cable Option 3 (40G)

*VLTi and FSE/FEM cables not shown

52 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Example Topologies
MX9116n Fibre Channel NPG*
Cable Option 2 (100G)
Upstream Switches Cable Option 3 (40G)

FC Switches

*VLTi and FSE/FEM cables not shown Cable Option 10 (8/16/32G)

53 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Example Topologies
MX9116n Direct Attached Fibre Channel

FC Array

Cable Option 10 (8/16/32G)

*VLTi and FSE/FEM cables not shown

54 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Example Topologies
MX5108n Standard Ethernet w/VLT: SFP28 Uplinks

ToR Switches

Cable Option 7 (25GbE)

Cable Option 3 or
Cable Option 8 (10GbE)

55 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Example Topologies
MX5108n Standard Ethernet w/VLT: 10G-BaseT Uplinks

ToR Switches

Cat 6A Copper

Cable Option 3

56 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Example Topologies
MX7116n Fabric Expander Module as Pass-Through*
Set 100G ports to 4x25G
Set 40G ports to 4x10

ToR Switches

Cable Option 4 (25GbE)

Cable Option 11 (10GbE)

Cable Option 5 (25GbE)

Cable Option 6 (10GbE)

*Pass-Through to Dell EMC networking switches only. Non-Dell switches are not supported
57 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
 Example Topologies
Scalable Fabric Wiring Diagram – 2 Chassis with Quad Port NICs

Cable Option 1
Fabric A Populated

Cable Option 1
Fabric A & B Populated

58 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Example Topologies
Scalable Fabric Wiring Diagram – 3+ Chassis with Quad Port NICs

Chassis 1 & 2
Cable Option 1

Cable Option 1

Chassis 3-5

59 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Unsupported Topologies in SmartFabric mode

While these topologies are supported

in Full Switch Mode, SmartFabric
Services currently requires both
Ethernet switches to reside in slots
A1/A2 or B1/B2.

It is not supported having one switch MX9116n A1/B1 MX5108n A1/B1

in Fabric A and the second in Fabric B

MX9116n Chassis 1:A1/Chassis2:B1

60 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Cable & Optic Information

61 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

 Cables & Connectors
There are four primary cable types used with
There are three optical connectors used in PowerEdge MX Ethernet
optical connectors in PowerEdge MX Ethernet
networking: SFP, QSFP, QSFP-DD
networking: DAC, AOC, MMF, SMF
Cable Type Description Connector Description
DAC (Copper) Direct Attach Copper “SFP” Small FormFactor Pluggable
“TwinAx” • SFP = 1G 1 Channel
Copper wires & shielding • SFP+ = 10G 2 Fibers or wires
2-wires/Channel • SFP28 = 25G 1-1.5W
ACC (Copper) Active Copper Cable
• SFP56 = 50G Duplex LC optical connector
• SFP112 = 100G MMF or SMF
AOC (Optical) Active Optical Cable
MMF (Optical) Multi-Mode Fiber “QSFP” Quad Small FormFactor Pluggable
50-um Large core fiber 100m (300m) reach • QSFP+ = 40G 4 Channels
Easy to attach components • QSFP28 = 100G 8 Fibers or wires
Transceiver are low cost • QSFP56 = 200G 3.5W-5W
Fiber 3x cost of SMF MPO12 8 fiber parallel optical connector

SMF (Optical) Single-Mode fiber “QSFP-DD” Quad Small FormFactor Pluggable – Double Density
9-um Tiny core fiber • QSFP28-DD = 2x100G 8 Channels
2/10Km reach • QSFP56-DD = 2x200G 16 Fibers or wires
Hard to attach components • QSFP112-DD = 2x400G 10W
Transceivers are expensive
MPO12DD 16 fiber parallel optical connector
SMF cost less than dental floss!

For more information, see the Optic and Cable FAQ: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/000134129/faq-optics-and-cables

62 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Cables & Connectors

Consideration Copper Fiber

Already installed in many locations and its use is less Less bulky than copper solutions and easy to utilize
expensive to connect devices to a network. breakout units (structured cabling) to deconstruct
Deployment
Copper solutions can get bulky when bunched multi-lane runs into lower capacity end points (i.e.
together as they are thicker than fiber 100G -> 4x25G)
Copper cables can only transmit information over Fiber optic cables experience less signal loss than
Signal Loss
relatively short distances copper cabling and can support long distances
Electro-Magnetic
Susceptible Impervious
Interference (EMI)
Fiber is more difficult to tap. Some Federal and large
Security Copper solutions are easier to tap
enterprises mandate Fiber as a result
Cost RJ45 ($)  DAC ($$) AOC ($$$)  Transceiver + Fiber ($$$$)

63 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Introduction to QSFP28-DD
Quad Small Form Factor Pluggable Double Density
• Current QSFP28 optical modules support 40 and 100
Gigabit Ethernet applications. They feature four electrical
lane pairs that can operate at 10 or 25 Gbps.
• QSFP28-DD is designed with eight lanes that operate at up
to 25 Gbps via NRZ modulation (up to 200 Gbps aggregate)
• QSFP56-DD is designed with eight lanes that operate at up
to 50 Gbps via PAM4 modulation (up to 400Gbps aggregate)
• QSFP-DD is backward compatible with QSFP+ and QSFP28
connectors
• Slightly deeper than QSFP28 with a second row of contacts
• Breakouts
– QSFP-DD ↔ 2 × QSFP28 (100G)
– QSFP-DD ↔ 4 × QSFP28 (50G as 2 × 25G, half-populated)
– QSFP-DD ↔ 8 × SFP28 (25G)

64 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

 Note the difference in the MPO-12/MPO-24 diagram
QSFP28-DD in Depth below, and also the photo captured showing two
rows of 4 strands of transmit on a Q28DD-200G-
• Q28DD-200G-2SR4 optics require the use 2SR4 optic (each row of 12 strands operates as its
of 24-strand MPO cables. They will not own QSFP28-100G-SR4 link).

function with MPO-12 cables used with MPO-12 Cables

Q28-100G-SR4 optics.
– These cables can be described “MPO-12 Two
Row” or “MPO-12DD

• Dell stocks MPO-12DD cables in lengths of MPO-12DD Cables

1,3,5, and 7 Meters.
• Implementations where Q28DD-200G-
MPO-12DD with signal
2SR4 optics are to be used with cable
lengths expected to exceed 7 meters,
please ensure MPO24 cables are sourced
with the "MPO-12 Two row" or "MPO-24"
form factor.
65 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
QSFP28-DD Breakout Cables

DAC-Q28DD-8S28-25G DAC-Q28DD-2Q28-100G CBL-MPO12DD-2MPO12-OM4

66 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Corning Edge8 ®

Structured Cabling

67 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

EDGE8® Fiber Solutions from Corning
• Dell EMC Networking has a wide variety of Ethernet switches with ports that can be broken out into multiple
lower speed ports. For example:
– QSFP+ 40GbE can be decomposed to 4x10GbE or 4x1GbE
– QSFP28 100GbE can be decomposed to 4x25GbE
– QSFP28-DD 2x100GbE ports can be decomposed to 2x100GbE, 2x40GbE, 4x50GbE, 8x25GbE or 8x10GbE

• Why Structured Cabling?

– Control cable sprawl
– Organize, label and orchestrate a clean footprint so IT staff can quickly and predictably discern the purpose of each fiber run

• Dell EMC has partnered with Corning Structured Cabling Solutions to provide an easy to customize
structured cabling solution
– Standard Dell ProDeploy and ProDeploy+ services do not include installation for Corning Structured Cabling Solutions.
Contact your account team for options for a custom installation contract if needed

• This solution provides rack housings from 1U to 4U allowing for multiple cassette types in each enclosure.
The system has cassettes to do the following:
– QSFP breakout to 4xLC (MPO12 to 4xLC)
– QSFP to QSFP extension (MPO12 to MPO12)
– QSFP-DD to 2xQSFP28 (MPO12-DD to 2xMPO12)
– QSFP-DD to 8xLC (MPO12-DD to two 4xLC cartridges)
– QSFP-DD to QSFP-DD extension (MPO12-DD to MPO12-DD)
68 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
EDGE8® HD Housings
• EDGE8® HD housings include
– Mountings for standard 19” racks and cabinets
– Sliding drawers, enabling module or panel installation from the
front or rear of the housing.
– Integrated cable routing elements to make real structured
patch cord management possible while providing finger
access without the need for tools or any other accessories.
– Side-routing guides for patch cord integration to the cabinet
which provide flexible installation options for back-to-back or
flush-mounting requirements
– Quick-mount capability making it quick and easy for one
person to install the housing with little effort.
– Easy labeling with a full-size mounting area on the inside of the
front door
– An easily installable trunk mounting plate providing flexibility
depending on your design (e.g., back-to-back) or application
(e.g., reduced depth) concept.
– 1U, 2U, and 4U housing options
69 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
EDGE8® Modules & Adapter Panels
• EDGE8® Modules
– The EDGE8® modules have an MPO interface on one side and four LC interfaces
on the other
– All EDGE8® modules can be installed without tools from the front or the rear of
any EDGE8® housing.
– LC duplex adapters feature hinged shutters that move up and out of the way
when the connector is inserted. Specially designed indents in the shutters ensure
that the end faces of the connectors are never touched.
– In addition, the shutters are visual fault locator (VFL) compatible to allow easy
port identification while diffusing the VFL light to ensure adequate eye safety.

• EDGE8® MPO Adapter Panels

– EDGE8® MPO adapter panels are pass-through panels that provide a simple
interface to mate MPO connectors.
– EDGE8® MPO adapter panels are available with one, two, and four 8-fiber
adapters for multimode and single-mode applications. All panels feature unique
shuttered reversible adapters at the front of the panel for on-site changes to
manage field polarity, and visual port identification while defusing the VFL light to
ensure adequate eye safety.
70 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
EDGE8® Patch, Trunk, and Jumper Cables
• EDGE8® Trunks
– EDGE8® MPO trunks are used between patch panel housings and are pre-terminated
cables with 8-fiber MPO connectors on both ends. All trunks have strain-relief clips
and allow for tool-less installation in EDGE8 ® housings. These trunks conform to TIA-
568 Type-B or Type-A polarity, depending on product selection. In addition, the
trunks are standard with a pulling grip for easy handling during installation in cable
tray or through fire wall pass throughs.

• EDGE8® MPO Patch Cords

– EDGE8® 8-fiber MPO patch cords are typically used within racks between the device
and an EDGE8® Module or Adapter panel. The EDGE8 ® MPO patch cord uses MTP ®
PRO connectors, which allows for a simple one-step, color-coded polarity change
feature without removing the connector housing. The connector also provides the
capability for field-friendly pinning configuration changes with safe handling of pins
and easy color identification while maintaining product integrity.

• Reverse Polarity Uniboot Duplex Jumpers

– EDGE™ reverse polarity uniboot duplex jumpers allow for the quick and easy
conversion from a TIA-568 A-B polarity to a TIA-568 A-A polarity without exposing
the fibers or needing any tools. The jumper comes with A-B polarity that can be
leveraged for all described applications. This uniboot design allows one cable to carry
both fibers, reducing jumper bulk when routing.
71 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
 Example 1: MX7116n FEM to MX9116n FSE
MPO12-DD to MPO12-DD across DC

Q28DD-200G-2SR4
3 3 Q28DD-200G-2SR4

1 2 1

Rack 1 Rack 2

OM4 Part Number OM4 Part Number

Item Description
(NAFTA) (EMEA and APJ)
EDGE 16 F Y-Jumper, MPO-12DD (unpinned) to two MPO-12 (unpinned) MTPs, 36-in breakout leg
1 HA6E616QPH-L4xxxM HA6E616QLZ-L4xxxM
length, Type-B polarity, 3.1 mm cable, xxxM
EDGE8® MTP Trunk, 16 F, MPO-12 (pinned) to MPO-12 (pinned), TIA-568 standard Type-B
2 GE5E516QPNDDUxxxM GE5E516QLZDDUxxxM
polarity, pulling grip on first end only, 7.0 mm cable, xxxM
3 EDGE8-CP32-V3 EDGE8-CP32-V3 EDGE8 4-Port MPO Connector Panel

Note: NAFTA uses plenum cable and EMEA/APJ uses LSZH

72 ©cable.
Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
 Example 2: QSFP28-DD Uplink to 2x40GbE/100GbE
MPO12-DD to MPO12 across DC
Q28DD-200G-2SR4 (100G) 3 3
Q28DD-80G-2SR4 (40G) Q28-100G-SR4 (100G)
QSFP-40G-SR4 (40G)

1 2
4

Rack 1 Rack 2

OM4 Part Number OM4 Part Number

Item Description
(NAFTA) (EMEA and APJ)
EDGE 16 F Y-Jumper, MPO-12DD (unpinned) to two MPO-12 (unpinned) MTPs, 36-in breakout leg
1 HA6E616QPH-L4xxxM HA6E616QLZ-L4xxxM
length, Type-B polarity, 3.1 mm cable, xxxM
EDGE8® MTP Trunk, 16 F, MPO-12 (pinned) to MPO-12 (pinned), TIA-568 standard Type-B
2 GE5E516QPNDDUxxxM GE5E516QLZDDUxxxM
polarity, pulling grip on first end only, 7.0 mm cable, xxxM
3 EDGE8-CP32-V3 EDGE8-CP32-V3 EDGE8 4-Port MPO Connector Panel
8-Fiber MTP Jumper, MPO-12 (unpinned) to MPO-12 (unpinned), Type-B polarity, 2.0 mm
4 JE6E608QE8-NBxxxM JE6E608QEZ-NBxxxM
cable, xxxM

Note: NAFTA uses plenum cable and EMEA/APJ uses LSZH

73 ©cable.
Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
 Example 3: QSFP28-DD to 8x Rack Servers
MPO12-DD to 8xLC Duplex Across DC SFP28-25G-SR (25G)
SFP-10G-SR (10G)
Q28DD-200G-2SR4 (100G) 2
Q28DD-80G-2SR4 (40G) 3

Rack 1 Rack 2
4 5

OM4 Part Number OM4 Part Number

Item Description
(NAFTA) (EMEA and APJ)
EDGE 16 F Y-Jumper, MPO-12DD (unpinned) to two MPO-12 (unpinned) MTPs, 36-in breakout leg
1 HA6E616QPH-L4xxxM HA6E616QLZ-L4xxxM
length, Type-B polarity, 3.1 mm cable, xxxM
2 EDGE8-CP32-V3 EDGE8-CP32-V3 EDGE8 4-Port MPO Connector Panel
EDGE8 MPO Trunk, 16 F, MPO-12 (pinned) to MPO-12 (unpinned), TIA-568 Standard Type-A
3 GE5E616QPNDDPxxxM GE5E616QLZDDPxxxM
polarity, pulling grip on first end only, 7.0 mm cable , xxxM
4 ECM8-UM08-05-E5Q-ULL ECM8-UM08-05-E5Q-ULL EDGE8 Module, LC duplex to MPO-12 (pinned), 8 F, universal polarity
5 797902QD120xxxM E797902QNZ20xxxM EDGE Uniboot Duplex LC Jumper, LC UPC uniboot to LC UPC uniboot, 2.0 mm cable, xxxM

Note: NAFTA uses plenum cable and EMEA/APJ uses LSZH

74 ©cable.
Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.
Corning EDGE8® Resources

• Corning EDGE8® General Information: www.corning.com/dellemc

• Corning EDGE8 Solutions brief (LAN-2480-AEN): Link
• Corning Choosing the correct Bill-of-Material (LAN-2495 AEN): Link
• Corning: EDGE8-01U-SP Housing Quick Guide
• Corning: EDGE8-02U- Housing Quick Guide
• Corning: EDGE8-04U Housing Quick Guide
• Corning: EDGE8 Standard Recommended Procedure
• Corning: Solutions Intro video

75 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Additional Resources

76 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

 Reference Papers
Name Description URL
Dell EMC PowerEdge MX Networking All in one documentation for PowerEdge MX
https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/t/dell-emc-poweredge-mx-networking-deployment-guide/
Deployment Guide Networking
PowerEdge MX7000 Chassis How to cable the MX9002m management
https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_ser_stor_net/esuprt_poweredge/poweredge-m
Management Cabling modules together x7000_white-papers5_en-us.pdf
Dell EMC PowerEdge MX SmartFabric and Reference on integrating PowerEdge MX
https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/t/dell-emc-poweredge-mx-smartfabric-and-cisco-aci-integration-gu
Cisco ACI Integration Guide SmartFabric and Cisco ACI ide/
Dell EMC PowerEdge MX SmartFabric Reference on configuring VMware NSX-T
https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/t/dell-emc-poweredge-mx-smartfabric-services-and-vmware-nsx-t-
Services and VMware NSX-T Data Center Data Center with the Dell EMC PowerEdge data-center-integration-guide/
Integration Guide MX platform running SmartFabric Services.
Dell EMC PowerEdge MX VMware ESXi Reference on integrating VMware ESXi on
https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/t/dell-emc-poweredge-mx-vmware-esxi-with-smartfabric-services-
with SmartFabric Services Deployment the Dell EMC PowerEdge MX platform deployment-guide/
Guide running SmartFabric Services.
Dell EMC PowerEdge MX7000 vSAN Ready Reference on PowerEdge MX networking
https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/section-assets/poweredge-mx7000-deployment-guide-en-us-12
Node Networking Deployment Guide for vSAN Ready Nodes
Dell EMC Networking and Cisco Spanning Reference on Dell EMC Networking and
https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/t/dell-emc-networking-smartfabric-os10-and-cisco-spanning-tree-i
Tree Interoperability Cisco Spanning Tree Interoperability nteroperability-reference-guide/
Virtual Link Trunking (VLT) in Dell EMC
Reference on VLT Best Practices and
OS10 Enterprise Edition Best Practices and https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/t/dell-emc-smartfabric-os10-virtual-link-trunking-reference-architec
Deployment ture/
Deployment Guide
Dell EMC Networking OS10 Enterprise Reference on Storage features in OS10
https://www.dell.com/support/article/sln317096/dell-emc-networking-os10-enterprise-edition-storage-ov
Edition Storage Overview Enterprise Edition erview

77 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

 Other Resources
Name Description URL
Provides information on all supported versions of
SmartFabic OS10 Solutions Support Matrix https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/l/networking-support-matrix-1/networking-solutions
platform components in each PowerEdge MX Release -support-matrix-1

Dell EMC Networking MX9116n Spec Sheet Dell EMC Networking MX9116n Spec Sheet https://www.dell.com/learn/product_docs/dellemcnetworkingmx9116nspecsheet.pdf

Dell EMC Networking MX7116n Spec Sheet Dell EMC Networking MX7116n Spec Sheet https://www.dell.com/learn/product_docs/dellemcnetworkingmx7116nspecsheet.pdf

Dell EMC Networking MX5108n Spec Sheet Dell EMC Networking MX5108n Spec Sheet https://www.dell.com/learn/product_docs/dellemcnetworkingmx5108nspecsheet.pdf

Dell EMC Networking MXG610s Spec Sheet Dell EMC Networking MXG610s Spec Sheet https://www.dell.com/learn/product_docs/dellemcnetworkingmxg610sspecsheet.pdf

Dell Networking Optics Spec Sheet Dell Networking Optics Spec Sheet https://www.dell.com/learn/shared-content~data-sheets~en/documents~dell-networking
-optics-spec-sheet.pdf
Dell EMC eLabs Networking Switch Support Current support matrix of Dell EMC Networking
https://elabnavigator.emc.com/vault/pdf/Dell_EMC_Networking_Switch.pdf?key=15234
Matrix for Storage Ethernet switches and Dell EMC Storage platforms 28507371
MX9116n Support Page https://www.dell.com/support/home/product-support/product/networking-mx9116n

MX5108n Support Page https://www.dell.com/support/home/product-support/product/networking-mx5108n

MX7116n Support Page https://www.dell.com/support/home/product-support/product/networking-mx7116n

MXG610s Support Page https://www.dell.com/support/home/product-support/product/networking-mxg610s

Cable & Optic FAQ https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/000134129/faq-optics-and-cables

PowerEdge MX Visio Template http://www.visiocafe.com/downloads/dell/Dell-ModularInfrastructure.zip

78 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Revision History
Date Version Changes
Sept 25, 2018 1.1 Initial Public Release

Sept 26, 2018 1.1.2 Corrected FC Gateway Topology, Fixed headers, updated cable images, corrected NPAR support for Intel NICs

Updated PTM image, Added additional cables & optics to 25G PTM, Scalable Fabric design for Dual Fabrics, Clarified supported 40G optics, updated
October 25, 2018 1.2 Mellanox NIC information, added Additional Resources section, information on connecting to Cisco switches, unsupported topologies for Scalable Fabric
and SmartFabric services

Clarified items on the switch Quick Reference page, added IOM slot matrix, corrected SKU numbers, updated Dell EMC 4x32G FC optic to reflect support
January, 2019 1.3
for 4x 8G FC, corrected description of MXG610s on QRG page, updated list of white papers

Clarified cables/optics for VLTi on MX5108, updated NPAR support on NIC QRG, corrected SKU numbers, updated resources and whitepaper links,
May, 2019 1.4
updated MX7116n QRG, Updated Layout/Template

Updated multiple slides to add new cables/optics supported with OS10.5.0, Added Slide for MX7116n FEM as Pass-Through Module, Updated & Added
September, 2019 1.5
whitepaper links, Added information about Corning Edge8 Structured Cabling

March, 2020 1.6 Updated Brocade SKUs, Minor other corrections, updated broken links

Clarified MXG610s QRG, Updated Edge8 ProDeploy policy, clarified number of NPAR partitions for Marvell NICs, updated max supported VLANs for
June 2020 1.7
switches, updated MX7116n breakout options for 10G Support

Added content for Broadcom 57504 quad port NICs, Added content for new Scalable Fabric topologies, Added example topology for direct attached FC,
August 2020 1.8
corrected broken links, additional information on QSFP28-DD cables, minor updates and corrections

October 2020 1.9 Updated FC Mezz QRG, Adjusted to account for EOL of QSFP-64GFC-SW4

Added cable configuration for QSFP to QSFP FC optic connection, updated multiple Scalable Fabric and example topology slides, added cable/speed
April 2021 1.10 compatibility slide, added C&O FAQ and C&O spec sheet link to resources section, Updated DD optic references to Q28DD-80G/200G-2SR4 Dual-Rate
optic

December 2021 1.11 Added new MSA types, updated brocade license SKUs, updated switch P*V limits, Updated Topologies, minor updates and corrections

80 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.