Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb Product Manual

Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect
Module

Product Guide

The Lenovo® Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module enables simplified, low-cost integration
of Flex System™ into your networking infrastructure.

The SI4091 requires no management for most data center environments, which eliminates the need to
configure each networking device or individual ports, thus reducing the number of management points. It
provides a low latency, loop-free interface that does not rely upon spanning tree protocols, which removes one
of the greatest deployment and management complexities of a traditional switch. The SI4091 offers
administrators a simplified deployment experience while maintaining the performance of intra-chassis
connectivity.

The Flex System Fabric SI4091 System Interconnect Module is shown in the following figure.

Figure 1. Lenovo Flex System Fabric SI4091 System Interconnect Module

Did you know?

The SI4091 provides transparent Flex System connectivity to your Cisco, Juniper, or other vendor network. The
SI4091 aggregates compute node ports by appearing as a simple pass-thru device. The upstream network
sees a “large pipe” of server traffic coming to and from the chassis, with the main difference being that intra­chassis switching is supported. With the SI4091, a network administration team continues to use the same
network management tools that are deployed in the network to manage the connectivity from the physical
servers in the chassis to the upstream network.

With support for Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE), the SI4091 can be used as an FCoE transit device. It
also is ideal for network-attached storage (NAS) and iSCSI environments.

Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module 1

Key features

The SI4091 interconnect module is considered particularly suited for the following customers:

Customers who want simple 10 GbE network connectivity from the chassis to the upstream network,
without the complexity of spanning tree and other advanced Layer 2 and Layer 3 features.

Customers who want to manage physical compute node connectivity in the chassis by using the existing
network management tools.

Customers who want to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and improve performance, while
maintaining high levels of availability and security.

Customers who want to minimize oversubscription, which can result in congestion and loss of
performance.

Customers who want to implement a converged infrastructure with NAS, iSCSI, or FCoE. For FCoE
implementations, the SI4091 passes through FCoE traffic upstream to other devices (such as the
Lenovo RackSwitch™ G8264CS) where the FC traffic is broken out.

The SI4091 offers the following key features and benefits:

Increased performance
With the growth of virtualization and the evolution of cloud computing, many of today’s applications
require low latency and high-bandwidth performance. The SI4091 supports sub-microsecond latency
and up to 480 Gbps throughput, while delivering full line rate performance.

The SI4091 also offers increased security and performance advantage when configured in VLAN-aware
mode; it does not force communications upstream into the network, which reduces latency and
generates less network traffic.

Simplified network infrastructure
The SI4091 simplifies the deployment of a converged LAN and SAN with support for the newest
protocols, including Data Center Bridging/Converged Enhanced Ethernet (DCB/CEE), which can be used
in a converged iSCSI, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) or NAS environment.

The default configuration of the SI4091 requires little or no management for most data center
environments, which eliminates the need to configure each device or individual ports and reduces the
number of management points.

Transparent networking The SI4091 is a transparent network device that is invisible to the upstream
network and eliminates network administration concerns of Spanning Tree Protocol configuration and
interoperability, VLAN assignments, and avoidance of possible loops.

By emulating a host NIC to the data center core, it accelerates the provisioning of virtual machines (VMs)
by eliminating the need to configure the typical access switch parameters.

Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module 2

Components and connectors

The front panel of the Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module is shown in the following figure.

Figure 2. Front panel of the Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module

The front panel includes the following components:

10x SFP/SFP+ ports to attach SFP/SFP+ transceivers for 1 GbE or 10 GbE connections or SFP+ DAC
cables for 10 GbE connections.

One mini-USB RS-232 console port that provides another means to configure the interconnect module.

1x RJ-45 1 GbE port for out-of-band management.

System LEDs that display the status of the interconnect module and the network.

System specifications

The following table lists the SI4091 system specifications.

Table 1. System specifications

Component Specification

Form factor Flex System embedded I/O module

Ports Internal ports: 14x 10 Gb Ethernet ports

External ports: 10x SFP/SFP+ ports

Media types
(external ports)

10 Gb Ethernet SFP+:

10 GbE short-range (SR) SFP+ transceivers
10 GbE long-range (LR) SFP+ transceivers
10 GbE extended-range (ER) SFP+ transceivers
10 GbE RJ-45 SFP+ transceivers
10 GbE SFP+ active optical cables (AOCs)
10 GbE SFP+ DAC cables

1/10 Gb Ethernet SFP+:

1/10 GbE SX/SR SFP+ transceivers

1 Gb Ethernet SFP:

1 GbE short-wavelength (SX) SFP transceivers
1 GbE long-wavelength (LX) SFP transceivers
1 GbE RJ-45 SFP transceivers

Port speeds Internal 10 GbE ports: 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps

10 GbE SFP+ transceivers, DAC cables and AOCs: 10 Gbps
1/10 GbE SFP+ transceivers: 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps
1 GbE SFP transceivers: 1 Gbps

Switching method Cut-through.

Data traffic types Unicast, multicast, broadcast.

Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module 3

Software features Lenovo Networking OS:

Layer 2 switching, virtual local area networks (VLANs), VLAN tagging, link aggregation (trunk)
groups (LAGs), Hot Links, Layer 2 failover, Quality of Service (QoS), IPv4/IPv6 management,
Converged Enhanced Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) transit switch operations.

Performance Non-blocking architecture with wire-speed forwarding of traffic:

Up to 480 Gbps aggregated throughput
100% line rate performance with sub-microsecond switching latency
Up to 360 Million packets per second (Mpps)
Up to 9,216-byte jumbo frames

Scalability MAC address forwarding database entries: 16,000

VLANs: 4,095
Link aggregation groups: 24
Ports in a link aggregation group: 16

Hot-swap parts SFP/SFP+ transceivers, SFP+ DAC cables.

Management ports 2x GbE internal ports connected to the chassis management module; 1x 10/100/1000 Mb

Ethernet external port (RJ-45); 1x RS-232 external port (Mini-USB).

Management
interfaces

Industry standard command line interface (isCLI); SNMP v1 and v3. Optional Lenovo Switch
Center. Optional Lenovo XClarity.

Security features Secure Shell (SSH); Secure FTP (sFTP); user level security; LDAP, RADIUS, and TACACS+

authentication; access control lists (ACLs).

Warranty One-year customer-replaceable unit limited warranty. When installed in a supported chassis, the

module assumes the chassis’ base warranty and any warranty service upgrade; warranty
includes Networking OS software upgrades.

Mean Time
Between Failures

261,636 hours with ambient operating temperature of 40° C.

Dimensions Height: 30 mm (1.2 in.); width: 401 mm (15.8 in.); depth: 317 mm (12.5 in.)

Weight 3.7 kg (8.1 lb).

Component Specification

Models

The part number and feature code for ordering the SI4091 module are listed in the following table.

Table 2. Part number and feature code for ordering

Description Part number Feature code

Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module 00FE327 ARZM

The part number for the interconnect module includes the following items:

One Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module
Documentation package

Note: SFP/SFP+ transceivers and DAC cables are not included and should be ordered together with the
interconnect module (see Transceivers and cables for details).

The interconnect module does not include a serial management cable; the optional Flex System Management
Serial Access Cable (part number 90Y9338) is supported and includes two cables: a mini-USB-to-RJ45 serial
cable and a mini-USB-to-DB9 serial cable, either of which can be used to connect to the interconnect module
locally for configuration tasks and firmware updates.

Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module 4

Transceivers and cables

With the flexibility of the SI4091 module, customers can choose the following connectivity technologies:

For 1 GbE links, customers can use RJ-45 SFP transceivers with UTP cables up to 100 meters.
Customers that need longer distances can use a 1000BASE-SX transceiver, which can drive distances
up to 220 meters with 62.5 µ multimode fiber (OM1) and up to 550 meters with 50 µ multimode fiber
(OM2), or the 1000BASE-LX transceivers that support distances up to 10 kilometers with single-mode
fiber (1310 nm).

For 10 GbE links, customers can use SFP+ direct-attached copper (DAC) cables for in-rack cabling for
distances up to 7 meters or SFP+ active optical cables (AOCs) for distances up to 20 meters. These
cables have SFP+ connectors on each end, and they do not need separate transceivers. For distances
up to 30 meters, the 10GBASE-T SFP+ transceiver can be used with Category 6a or 7 RJ-45 UTP
cables.

For longer distances, the 10GBASE-SR transceiver supports distances up to 300 meters over OM3
multimode fiber or up to 400 meters over OM4 multimode fiber. The 10GBASE-LR transceivers can
support distances up to 10 kilometers on single mode fiber. For extended distances, the 10GBASE-ER
transceivers can support distances up to 40 kilometers on single mode fiber.

The supported transceivers and cables are listed in the following table.

Table 3. Supported transceivers and DAC cables

Description Part

number

Feature
code

Maximum
quantity
supported

Serial console cables

Flex System Management Serial Access Cable Kit 90Y9338 A2RR 1

SFP transceivers - 1 GbE

Lenovo 1000BASE-T (RJ-45) SFP Transceiver (no 10/100 Mbps support) 00FE333 A5DL 10

Lenovo 1000BASE-SX SFP Transceiver 81Y1622 3269 10

Lenovo 1000BASE-LX SFP Transceiver 90Y9424 A1PN 10

SFP+ transceivers - 10 GbE

Lenovo Dual Rate 1/10Gb SX/SR SFP+ Transceiver 00MY034 ATTJ 10

Lenovo 10GBASE-SR SFP+ Transceiver 46C3447 5053 10

Lenovo 10GBASE-LR SFP+ Transceiver 90Y9412 A1PM 10

Lenovo 10GBASE-ER SFP+ Transceiver 90Y9415 A1PP 10

Lenovo 10GBASE-T SFP+ Transceiver 7G17A03130 AVV1 10

Optical cables for 1 GbE SX SFP and 10 GbE SR SFP+ transceivers

Lenovo 1m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable 00MN502 ASR6 10

Lenovo 3m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable 00MN505 ASR7 10

Lenovo 5m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable 00MN508 ASR8 10

Lenovo 10m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable 00MN511 ASR9 10

Lenovo 15m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable 00MN514 ASRA 10

Lenovo 25m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable 00MN517 ASRB 10

Lenovo 30m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable 00MN520 ASRC 10

SFP+ active optical cables - 10 GbE

Lenovo 1m SFP+ to SFP+ Active Optical Cable 00YL634 ATYX 10

Lenovo 3m SFP+ to SFP+ Active Optical Cable 00YL637 ATYY 10

Lenovo 5m SFP+ to SFP+ Active Optical Cable 00YL640 ATYZ 10

Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module 5

Lenovo 7m SFP+ to SFP+ Active Optical Cable 00YL643 ATZ0 10

Lenovo 15m SFP+ to SFP+ Active Optical Cable 00YL646 ATZ1 10

Lenovo 20m SFP+ to SFP+ Active Optical Cable 00YL649 ATZ2 10

SFP+ direct-attach cables - 10 GbE

Lenovo 1m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable 90Y9427 A1PH 10

Lenovo 1.5m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable 00AY764 A51N 10

Lenovo 2m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable 00AY765 A51P 10

Lenovo 3m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable 90Y9430 A1PJ 10

Lenovo 5m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable 90Y9433 A1PK 10

Lenovo 7m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable 00D6151 A3RH 10

Description Part

number

Feature
code

Maximum
quantity
supported

The network cables that can be used with the SI4091 are listed in the following table.

Table 4. SI4091 network cabling requirements

Transceiver Standard Cable Connector

10 Gb Ethernet

10Gb SR SFP+ (46C3447)
1/10Gb SFP+ (00MY034)

10GBASE-SR Up to 30 m with fiber optic cables supplied by Lenovo

(see Table 3); up to 300 m with OM3 multimode fiber or up
to 400 m with OM4 multimode fiber.

LC

10Gb LR SFP+ (90Y9412) 10GBASE-LR 1310 nm single-mode fiber cable up to 10 km. LC

10Gb ER SFP+ (90Y9415) 10GBASE-ER 1310 nm single-mode fiber cable up to 40 km. LC

10Gb RJ-45 SFP+
(7G17A03130)

10GBASE-T UTP Category 6a or 7 up to 30 meters. RJ-45

Active optical cable 10GBASE-SR SFP+ active optical cables up to 20 m (see Table 3) SFP+

Direct attach copper cable 10GSFP+Cu SFP+ DAC cables up to 7 m (see Table 3). SFP+

1 Gb Ethernet

1Gb RJ-45 SFP (00FE333) 1000BASE-T UTP Category 5, 5E, or 6 up to 100 meters. RJ-45

1Gb SX SFP (81Y1622)
1/10Gb SFP+ (00MY034)

1000BASE-SX Up to 30 m with fiber optic cables supplied by Lenovo

(see Table 3); 850 nm multimode fiber cable 50 µ (OM2) up
to 550 m or 62.5 µ (OM1) up to 220 m.

LC

1Gb LX SFP (90Y9424) 1000BASE-LX 1310 nm single-mode fiber cable up to 10 km. LC

Management ports

1 GbE management port 1000BASE-T UTP Category 5, 5E, or 6 up to 100 meters. RJ-45

RS-232 management port RS-232 DB-9-to-mini-USB or RJ-45-to-mini-USB console cable

(comes with optional Management Serial Access Cable,
90Y9338).

Mini-USB

Lenovo Flex System SI4091 10Gb System Interconnect Module 6