Overview - Nortel 10 Gigabit Uplink Ethernet Switch Module

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The Nortel 10 Gigabit Uplink Ethernet Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter is a new switch option that enables administrators to consolidate full Layer 2-3 LAN switching and routing capabilities into a BladeCenter chassis. Such consolidation flattens the topology of the data center infrastructure and reduces the number of discrete devices, management consoles and different management systems. The 10 Gigabit Uplink Ethernet Switch Module provides port flexibility, efficient traffic management, increased uplink bandwidth, and strong Ethernet switching price/performance.

The 10 Gigabit Uplink Ethernet Switch Module leverages award-winning switching technology in an integrated (Layer 2/3) switch module design. Nortel (now Blade Network Technologies), an industry-leading developer of network products and an existing BladeCenter Ecosystem partner, developed the 10 Gigabit Uplink Ethernet Switch Module specifically for the BladeCenter platform as a follow on to the Layer 2/3 GbE Switch Module that began shipping in 2005.

A maximum of four 10 Gigabit Uplink Ethernet modules can reside in the I/O module bays of the BladeCenter chassis. The modules can be hot-plugged into BladeCenter without disrupting normal operations. The switch connects to the server blades via the 14 internal GbE interfaces (server ports) over the BladeCenter mid-plane. It supplies four external interfaces for outside communication. This includes two 10 Gb CX4 ports, an optional 10 Gb XFP port (SR or LR), and one 1 Gb RJ-45 port. The GbE switch is managed via two internal 100 Mbps ports for communication to the BladeCenter management module. A console management interface is also made available.

The switch supports up to 16,384 MAC addresses, 4,096 address resolution protocol (ARP) entries, and up to 2,048 dynamic route entries to ensure a high level of support for a number of users. The IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) support can be enabled or disabled on a per port basis. Multiple instances of STP are supported; i.e. 16 STP groups. Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) support includes 802.1Q tagged VLANs and support for 128 VLANs. Link aggregation is provided with IEEE 802.3 support on four external ports for up to three static trunk groups. Several routing standards are supported:

• Routing Information Protocol version 1 (RIPv1), and version 2 (RIPv2)
• Border Gateway Protocol version 4 (BGPv4)
• Open Shortest Path First version 2 (OSPFv2)

The Nortel 10 Gigabit Uplink Ethernet Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter provides BladeCenter customers with:

• Full Layer 2 Switching and Layer 3 Routing provide flexible inchassis traffic management and sophisticated security
• Increased bandwidth and network flexibility with uplink support for two 10 Gb CX4 ports, one optional 10 Gb XFP port and one 1 Gb port
• High Availability features for simplified deployment and lower TCO
  

18 Network and 2 management ports, 64 Mbytes Flash, 128 Mbyte management processor memory Full Line rate performance L2/L3 switch: 20 Gbps or 29.76 Million packets/sec @ 64 bytes with 128 VLANs (L2) or 128 IP interfaces (L3)

The Nortel 10 Gigabit Uplink Ethernet Switch Module, is supported on the following IBM platforms.

• BladeCenter, Type 8677, model all
• BladeCenter, Type 7967, model all
• BladeCenter T, Type 8720, model all
• BladeCenter T, Type 8730, model all
• BladeCenter H, Type 8852, model all

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