Dell Force10 MXL Blade Getting Started Guide

Dell Networking MXL 10/
40GbE Switch IO Module

Getting Started Guide

March 2014

Regulatory Model: DF10MXL

Notes, Cautions, and Warnings

NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of

your device.

CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if

instructions are not followed.

WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal

injury, or death.

____________________

Information in this publication is subject to change without notice.

Copyright © 2014 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international
copyright and intellectual property laws. Dell and the Dell logo are trademarks of Dell Inc. in the
United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be
trademarks of their respective companies.

Regulatory Model DF10MXL

March 2014 P/N WMDP6 Rev. A02

Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 Product Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3 Hardware Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Internal Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Front Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Base Module

FlexIO

Port Numbering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

USB Ports

System and Port LEDs

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Site Preparation

Unpacking the Switch

Package Contents

Unpacking Steps

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

TM

Plug-in Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Contents 3

4 Installing and Configuring the Switch . . 17

Installing the Switch Blade in a PowerEdge M1000e. . 19

Connecting a Console Terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Invoking the X-Loader and U-Boot CLIs

Performing the Initial Configuration

Initial Configuration Procedure

. . . . . . . . . 22

. . . . . . . . . . . 22

. . . . . . . . . . . 23

5 Assembling a Switch Stack . . . . . . . . . . 25

Configuring and Bringing Up a Stack . . . . . . . . . . 26

Managing a Stack

Master and Member Switches

Stack Startup

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

. . . . . . . . . . . 28

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

6 Splitting 40GbE QSFP+ Ports into 10GbE SFP+

Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

7 Switch Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

DCB Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

FCoE Connectivity

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4 Contents

iSCSI Operation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

8 Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

9 Technical Specifications

Chassis Physical Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Environmental Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Power Requirements

IEEE Standards

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Contents 5

6 Contents

Introduction

This document provides basic information about the Dell Networking MXL
10/40GbE Switch IO Module, including how to install the switch in the Dell
PowerEdge M1000e Enclosure and perform the initial configuration.

For more detailed information about any
the

Dell PowerEdge M1000e Enclosure Owner's Manual

website at http://support.dell.com/manuals.

of the basic installation steps

on the Dell Support

, refer to

Product Description

The MXL 10/40GbE Switch is a layer 2/3 blade switch with two fixed 40GbE
ports on the base module and support for two optional plug-in modules. The
switch operates in a PowerEdge M1000e Enclosure, which can support up to
32 servers and six MXL 10/40GbE Switches.

The MXL 10/40GbE Switch runs the Dell Networking operating system (OS),
providing switching, bridging, and routing functionality for transmitting data,
storage, and server traffic as follows:

• GbE/10GbE connections through the midplane to up to 32 server ports in
the chassis

• GbE, 10GbE, or 40GbE connections through uplink ports to top-of-rack
(ToR) switches

• 40GbE stacking connections to other
switch stack

In a data center network, the MXL 10/40GbE Switch provides converged
network support and interoperates with Dell and third-party ToR devices.
The switch supports
connectivity between servers and storage devices over Fiber Channel over
Ethernet (FCoE) and internet small computer system interface (iSCSI) links.

By providing increased 40GbE bandwidth for device interconnection in a
shared network storage environment, with the possibility of splitting 40GbE
quad small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) uplinks into 10GbE small
form-factor pluggable plus (SFP+) connections, the MXL 10/40GbE Switch
is perfectly positioned to help transition a data center with multiple speed
requirements.

data center bridging (DCB) features, and optimizes

MXL 10/40GbE Switche

s in a

Introduction 7

Hardware Overview

Expansion Slot 1

40GbE QSFP+ Ports

USB Console Port

Expansion Slot 0

This section contains information about device characteristics and modular
hardware configurations for the MXL 10/40GbE Switch.

Internal Ports

The MXL 10/40GbE Switch provides thirty-two 1/10-Gigabit Ethernet
internal ports. The internal ports are connected to server blades through the
M1000e chassis midplane. Each port can operate in either 1GbE or 10GbE
mode. Internal ports are numbered 1 to 32.

The MXL 10/40GbE Switch also provides an internal Ethernet interface—the
out-of-band (OOB) interface—which is dedicated to switch management.
The OOB interface is connected to the chassis management controller
(CMC) through the chassis midplane. Traffic on this port is segregated from
operational network traffic on the switch ports and cannot be switched or
routed to the operational network.

Front Panel

Figure 1-1 shows the MXL 10/40GbE Switch front panel:

Figure 1-1. MXL 10/40GbE Switch: Front Panel l

8 Hardware Overview

Base Module

The MXL 10/40GbE Switch provides two native 40-Gigabit Ethernet fixed ports
on the base module for uplink connections. You can use these ports with 4x10G
breakout cables to operate as 10GbE uplink ports.

In addition, you can configure the native 40GbE ports as stacking ports. You
can connect up to six MXL 10/40GbE Switches (in the same or different
chassis) in a single stack. For more information, refer to Assembling a Switch
Stack.

FlexIOTM Plug-in Modules

The MXL 10/40GbE Switch (Figure 1-2) provides 10/40GbE external
connectivity by using the following FlexIO plug-in modules in the two
expansion slots:

• 4-Port 10-Gigabit Ethernet module using SFP+ optics (SR or LR) or
direct-attach cables (1m, 3m, or 5m DAC)

• 4-Port 10GBASE-T module using RJ-45 connector (copper) cables

NOTE: The 10Mb speed is not supported on the 4-Port 10GBASE-T module.

Only 100Mb, 1GbE, and 10GbE speeds are supported.

• 2-Port 40-Gigabit Ethernet QSFP+ module which you can use for 40GbE
connections or 10GbE SFP+ connections using 4x10G breakout cables.

By default, the 40GbE ports on a 2-Port 40GbE QSFP+ module come up
in 4x10GbE (quad) mode as eight 10GbE ports. To change a port from
4x10GbE to 40GbE mode of operation, enter the

portmode quad

command.

no stack-unit port

Dell(conf)# no stack-unit unit-number port port-number
portmode quad

stack-unit unit-number

be reset. The range is from 0 to 5.
enter the

port port-number

port to be split. Valid values for slot 0: 41 or 45; for slot 1: 49 or 53
(refer to Port Numbering).

portmode quad

show system brief

: Enter the port number of the 40GbE QSFP+

: Identifies the port as a split 10GbE SFP+ port.

: Enter the number of the stack unit to

To display the stack-unit number,

command.

Hardware Overview 9

Save the configuration and reload the switch.

4-Port 10GbE SFP+ Module

4-Port 10GBASE-T Module (100Mb/1GbE/10GbE)

2-Port 40GbE QSFP+ Module

Dell# write memory
Dell# reload

• Up to two FC Flex IO modules can be inserted on an I/O Aggregator,
thereby enabling up to 32G of FC throughput per module or 64G
throughput per switch. All the ports support 2/4/8G FC and SFP+ optics.
The FC Flex IO modules provide flexibility for pairing with the other
FlexIO modules. The 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 MXL 10/40GbE Switch and I/O Aggregator.

Figure 1-2. MXL 10/40GbE Switch: Plug-in Modules

10 Hardware Overview

Figure 1-3. FC FlexIO Modules

NOTE: You can only hot-swap plug-in modules of the same type without requiring a

reboot. For example, you can replace a 2-Port 40GbE QSFP+ module only with
another 2-Port 40GbE QSFP+ module.

On the MXL 10/40GbE Switch, you can configure uplink ports of the same
speed on different modules in the same link aggregation group (LAG). You
can also use individual ports for uplink connections.

NOTE: A maximum of 16 ports are supported in a LAG.

For switch stacking, you must use a 40GbE port on the base module or on a
2-Port 40GbE QSFP+ plug-in module. Stacking is not supported on 10GbE
ports.

All FlexIO plug-in modules, transceivers, and attach cables are sold separately.

Hardware Overview 11