Cisco Systems UCSFI6248E1628P User Manual

Data Sheet

Cisco UCS 6200 Series Fabric Interconnects

Cisco Unified Computing System Overview

The Cisco Unified Computing System™ (Cisco UCS™) is a next-generation data center platform that unites
computing, networking, storage access, and virtualization resources into a cohesive system designed to reduce
total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase business agility. The system integrates a low-latency, lossless
10 Gigabit Ethernet unified network fabric with enterprise-class, x86-architecture servers. The system is an
integrated, scalable, multichassis platform in which all resources participate in a unified management domain
(Figure 1).

Figure 1. The Cisco Unified Computing System Is a Highly Available Cohesive Architecture

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Product Overview

The Cisco UCS 6200 Series Fabric Interconnects are a core part of the Cisco Unified Computing System,
providing both network connectivity and management capabilities for the system (Figure 2). The Cisco UCS 6200
Series offers line-rate, low-latency, lossless 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and Fibre
Channel functions.

The Cisco UCS 6200 Series provides the management and communication backbone for the Cisco UCS B-Series
Blade Servers and 5100 Series Blade Server Chassis. All chassis, and therefore all blades, attached to the Cisco
UCS 6200 Series Fabric Interconnects become part of a single, highly available management domain. In addition,
by supporting unified fabric, the Cisco UCS 6200 Series provides both the LAN and SAN connectivity for all blades
within its domain.

From a networking perspective, the Cisco UCS 6200 Series uses a cut-through architecture, supporting
deterministic, low-latency, line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet on all ports, switching capacity of 2 terabits (Tb), and
320-Gbps bandwidth per chassis, independent of packet size and enabled services. The product family supports
Cisco® low-latency, lossless 10 Gigabit Ethernet1 unified network fabric capabilities, which increase the reliability,
efficiency, and scalability of Ethernet networks. The fabric interconnect supports multiple traffic classes over a
lossless Ethernet fabric from the blade through the interconnect. Significant TCO savings come from an
FCoE-optimized server design in which network interface cards (NICs), host bus adapters (HBAs), cables, and
switches can be consolidated.

Figure 2. Cisco UCS 6200 Series Fabric Interconnects

Unified Fabric with FCoE: I/O Consolidation

The Cisco UCS 6200 Series is built to consolidate LAN and SAN traffic onto a single unified fabric, saving the
capital expenditures (CapEx) and operating expenses (OpEx) associated with multiple parallel networks, different
types of adapter cards, switching infrastructure, and cabling within racks. The unified ports support allows either
base or expansion module ports in the interconnect to support direct connections from Cisco UCS to existing
native Fibre Channel SANs. The capability to connect FCoE to native Fibre Channel protects existing storage
system investments while dramatically simplifying in-rack cabling.

1

All Cisco UCS 6200 Series ports can alternatively be configured for 1 Gigabit Ethernet (see Table 2).

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Cisco UCS Manager

The Cisco UCS 6200 Series hosts and runs Cisco UCS Manager in a highly available configuration, enabling the
fabric interconnects to fully manage all Cisco UCS elements. Connectivity to the Cisco UCS 5100 Series blade
chassis is maintained through the Cisco UCS 2100 or 2200 Series Fabric Extenders in each blade chassis. The
Cisco UCS 6200 Series interconnects support out-of-band management through a dedicated 10/100/1000-Mbps
Ethernet management port as well as in-band management. Cisco UCS Manager typically is deployed in a
clustered active-passive configuration on redundant fabric interconnects connected through dual 10/100/1000
Ethernet clustering ports.

Optimization for Virtualization

For virtualized environments, the Cisco UCS 6200 Series supports Cisco virtualization-aware networking and
Cisco Data Center Virtual Machine Fabric Extender (VM-FEX) architecture. Cisco Data Center VM-FEX allows the
interconnects to provide policy-based virtual machine connectivity, with network properties moving with the virtual
machine, and a consistent operational model for both physical and virtual environments.

Cisco UCS 6248UP 48-Port Fabric Interconnect

The Cisco UCS 6248UP 48-Port Fabric Interconnect (Figure 3) is a one-rack-unit (1RU) 10 Gigabit Ethernet, FCoE
and Fiber Channel switch offering up to 960-Gbps throughput and up to 48 ports. The switch has 32 1/10-Gbps
fixed Ethernet, FCoE and FC ports and one expansion slot.

Figure 3. Cisco UCS 6248UP 48-Port Fabric Interconnect

Cisco UCS 6296UP 96-Port Fabric Interconnect

The Cisco UCS 6296UP 96-Port Fabric Interconnect (Figure 4) is a 2RU 10 Gigabit Ethernet, FCoE and native
Fibre Channel switch offering up to 1920-Gbps throughput and up to 96 ports. The switch has 48 1/10-Gbps fixed
Ethernet, FCoE and Fiber Channel ports and three expansion slots.

Figure 4. Cisco UCS 6296UP 96-Port Fabric Interconnect

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