How to Take Full Advantages of Switches in Data Center

During data center upgrading or migration to higher data rate like 40G/100G, the network designer is always pursuing for flexibility. This is because devices or cabling components with great flexibility can not only decrease the cost for upgrading, but also provide more possibilities for the data center in the future. Switch has always been the most important device data center. Thus, a flexible switch should support a variety of transmission media and data rates, which could have significant positive influence during data center upgrading on cabling and costs. IBM G8264 switch is such a switch that is specially designed for data center, which is suggested to be used at layer 2 or layer 3, providing non-blocking line-rate, high-bandwidth switching, filtering, and traffic queuing without delaying data. However, to make full use of these switches, you should select proper connection components and cabling plans. This post will take IBM G8264 switch as an example to illustrate how to take full advantages of the switches in data center.

Understand Your Switch—IBM G8264 Switch

The first step to make full use of a switch is to have a full understanding of the switch you are using. There are many ways to understand your switch. While the most direct method is to understand the ports on the switches. This method also works for IBM G8264 switches. As shown in the following picture, which is the front panel of IBM G8264 switch, the most outstanding part of the switch is the 48 SFP/SFP+ ports. It occupied most space on IBM G8264 switch front panel. These ports can support data rate of 1G/10G. Four QSFP+ ports for 40G are beside these SFP/SFP+ ports. There are three another ports for other use on the from panel: one 10/100/1000 Ethernet RJ45 port for out of band management, one USB port for mass storage device connection and one mini-USE console port for serial access.

IBM G8264 Connection in Data Center

It is clear that IBM G8264 switch can support data rate of 1G, 10G and 40G. The following parts illustrate how to connect IBM G8264 with the target devices in 1G, 10G, and 40G network separately in details. During the cabling in data center, distance is always a factor that cannot be ignored. The transmission distance required, can largely decide the cabling components selection.

1G Connection of IBM G8264 Switch

To accomplish the 1G connection of IBM G8264 switch and target devices, there are several methods according to transmission distance and transmission media (fiber optic or copper). For distance up to 100 meters, RJ-45 1000BASE-T SFP transceivers with UTP Cat5 cables are suggested, cause they are based on copper and is cheaper than fiber optic components. However, if you want reach a longer distance with good transmission quality, it would be better to use fiber optic cable and optical transceiver. By using 1000BASE-SX SFP optical transceivers with multimode fiber, the transmission distance is up to 220 (62.5 μ multimode fiber) meters and 550 meters (50 μ multimode fiber). For long distance transmission, single-mode fiber optic cables are suggested to be used with 1000BASE-LX SFP optical transceivers, which can connect IBM G8264 switch with the target devices that are 10 kilometers far away. The following chart is the detailed product solutions for IBM G8264 1G connection.

Transmission Media	Module	Cable & Connector	Distance
Copper Cable	BN-CKM-S-T: SFP 1000BASE-T copper transceiver	RJ45, Cat5 cable	100 m
Fiber Optic Cable	BN-CKM-S-SX: SFP 1000BASE-SX optical transceiver	LC duplex, MMF	220 m(50μ multimode fiber)
			550 m(62.5μ multimode fiber)
	BN-CKM-S-LX: SFP 1000BASE-LX optical transceiver	LC duplex, SMF	10 km

10G Connection of IBM G8264 Switch

As mentioned, IBM G8264 switch supports 10G configuration. For 10G, there are mainly two methods: using DACs (direct attach cables) or using transceivers and patch cords. The beauty of using DAC is the eliminating of transceivers and reduction of cost. However, the transmission distance is limited to 7 meters by using DACs. If longer distances are required, 10GBASE-SR transceiver used with OM3 multimode fiber can support transmission distance up to 300 meters. If 10GBASE-SR transceiver is used with OM4 fiber optic cable, distance up to 400 meters could be reached. Using 10GBASE-LR transceiver with single-mode fiber optic cable, IBM G8264 switch can be connected with target devices that are 40 kilometers away.

If the 10G ports number cannot satisfy the requirements, the one QSFP+ port on IBM G8264 can be split into four 10G ports, by using QSFP+ DAC breakout cables for distances up to 5 meters. For distances up to 100 meters, optical MTP-to-LC break-out cables can be used with the 40GBASE-SR4 transceiver. Kindly check the following table for IBM G8264 switch 10G cabling components solutions.

Data Rate	Modules	Cable & Connector	Distance
10G-10G Connection	BN-SP-CBL-1M: SFP+ Copper Direct Attach Cable (1 meter)		0.5-7 m
	BN-SP-CBL-3M: SFP+ Copper Direct Attach Cable (3 meter)
	BN-SP-CBL-5M: SFP+ Copper Direct Attach Cable (5 meter)
	BN-CKM-SP-SR: SFP+ 10GBASE-SR Short Range Transceiver	LC duplex, MMF	300 m(OM3)
			400 m(OM4)
	BN-CKM-SP-LR: SFP+ 10GBASE-LR Long Range Transceiver	LC duplex, SMF	40 km
40G-10G Connection	BN-QS-SP-CBL-1M: QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable (1 meter)		5 m
	BN-QS-SP-CBL-3M: QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable (3 meter)
	BN-QS-SP-CBL-5M: QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable (5 meter)
	BN-CKM-QS-SR: QSFP+ 40GBASE-SR Transceiver	MTP-to-LC break-out cables	100 m

40G Connection of IBM G8264 Switch

For 40G connection, both fiber optic connection and copper connection can be built by using different components. A 40GBASE QSFP+ to QSFP+ DAC can provide connection between IBM G8264 and target devices up to 7 meters. With multimode fiber optic cables, distance up to 100 meters (OM3) and 150 meters (OM4) can be reached, when using with 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceivers. For long distance 40G transmission, 40GBSE-LR QSFP+ transceiver and single-mode fiber optic cable with LC connectors are suggested. Related components for IBM G8264 switch are concluded in the following chart.

Modules	Cable & Connector	Distance
49Y7884: QSFP+ 40GBASE-SR Transceiver	MTP connector, MMF	100 m(OM3)
		100 m(OM4)
00D6222: 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ Transceiver	LC connector, SMF	10 km
BN-QS-QS-CBL-1M: QSFP-to-QSFP cable (1 meter)		1-7 m
BN-QS-QS-CBL-3M: QSFP-to-QSFP cable (3 meter)

Conclusion

To make full used of the switches in data center with great flexibility, both the selection of switch and cabling solutions is very important. IBM G8264 as a switch with great flexibility is an ideal solution for data center upgrading to 40G. The above mentioned modules and cables are all provided by FS.COM, which are IBM G8264 compatible and are fully tested on the IBM G8264 switches. Kindly contact sales@fs.com for more details, if you are interested.

This post is originally published in my blog: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/how-to-take-full-advantages-of-switches-in-data-center.html 

How to Connect Cisco Nexus 9396PX to 40G Network

Both devices and network architecture should be consider during data center upgrade. With the driven of applications like Cloud, Internet of Things, and virtual data center, it is clear that 10G can no longer satisfy the application needs. Migrating to 40/100G is an urgent problem. Cisco Nexus 9396PX switch, as one of the first member of Cisco Nexus 9000 series platform, can support 40G transmission with flexibility and high density. However, the problem is that many customers do not know how to get there to make full use of these devices. This post will give a detailed description about how to connecting Cisco Nexus 9396PX switch to optimized network architecture.

Optimized Network Architecture—Spine-Leaf Architecture

The traditional network usually used a three tier network architecture. However, with the migration of 40/100G, a new architecture is taking place of the traditional one with great advantages. This is known as spine-leaf architecture. Compare with the traditional three tier network architecture, spine-leaf uses a two-tier mode as shown in the above picture. Several most obvious advantages of spine-leaf architecture are list as following:

• spine-leaf network is more adaptable to the continuous change of data center. This is because an additional Spine switch may be added and uplinks may be extended to every Leaf switch, resulting in the addition of interlayer bandwidth and reduction of the oversubscription.
• Spine-leaf network can create high density cabling environments depending on the scale of the network.
• Using a two-tier mode, spine-leaf network can reduce the overall signal latency through the elimination of a switching layer.

Connecting Cisco Nexus 9396PX to 40G Spine-Leaf Network

To make full use of the given source, spine-leaf architecture is suggested. As shown in the above picture, the Cisco Nexus 9396PX is a 2RU non-blocking Layer 2 and 3 fixed switch offering 48 ports of 1G SFP/10G SFP+ and 12 ports of 40G QSFP+. Cisco Nexus 9396PX switch is suggested to be used as the leaf switch in 40G spine-leaf network. Cisco Nexus 9396PX is suggested to be used as leaf switch in 40G spine-leaf network. In spine-leaf network architecture for 40G application, the connections between the spine switches and leaf switches are 40G, while connections between the leaf switches and servers are usually 1/10G. Thus these 40G QSFP+ ports can be used to connect the spine switch and the 1G SFP/10G SFP+ are suggested to connect servers and routers. To accomplish the whole spine-leaf connection, optics and cables or DAC (direct attach cable) should be used. The following picture shows a 40G spine-leaf architecture with Cisco Nexus 9396PX being used in the leaf layer and the fiber cabling choice for Cisco Nexus 9396PX switch in this architecture.

Cisco Nexus 9396PX Cabling Solution

Using the fixed switch Cisco Nexus 9396PX with spine-leaf architecture can greatly increase the network scaling capability and adaptability. Detailed information about modules and cables that can be used with Cisco Nexus 9396PX are listed in the following chart.

Connection	Option 1: Optics & Cable		Option 2: DAC
Spine to leaf (40G connection)	QSFP-40G-SR4	MMF, OM3/OM4, MPO patch cable	QSFP-H40G-AOC (1m to 10m are available) QSFP-H40G-CU (1m to 5m are available) QSFP-H40G-ACU (7m to 10m are available)
	QSFP-40G-SR4-S
	QSFP-40G-CSR4
	QSFP-40GE-LR4	SMF, LC duplex patch cable
	QSFP-40G-LR4
	WSP-Q40GLR4L
	QSFP-40G-LR4-S
	QSFP-40G-ER4
Leaf to server (1/10G connection)	SFP+ Optics		SFP-10G-AOC (1m to 10m are available) SFP-H10GB-CU (1m to 5m are available)
	SFP-10G-SR	MMF, LC duplex patch cable
	SFP-10G-SR-S
	SFP-10G-LR	SMF, LC duplex patch cable
	SFP-10G-LR-S
	SFP-10G-ER
	SFP-10G-ER-S
	SFP-10G-ZR
	DWDM SFP+
	SFP Optics
	GLC-T (1000BASE-T)	RJ-45, Cat 5
	SFP-GE-T
	GLC-SX-MMD	MMF, LC duplex patch cable
	GLC-SX-MM
	GLC-LH-SMD	SMF, LC duplex patch cable
	GLC-EX-SMD
	GLC-LH-SM

All the products mention in this chart can be customized according to your applications in Fiberstore (FS.COM). They will be fully tested in Fiberstore Test Center before they go to the market. Kindly contact sales@fs.com for more details.

Source: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/how-to-connect-cisco-cisco-nexus-9396px-to-40g-network.html