IBM BNT 10-port 10 Gb Ethernet Switch Module

Specifications

The IBM Virtual Fabric 10Gb Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter offers the most bandwidth of any blade switch and represents the perfect migration platform for clients who are still at 1 Gb outside the chassis by seamlessly integrating in the existing 1 Gb infrastructure. This is the first 10 Gb switch for IBM BladeCenter that is convergence ready (that is, able to transmit Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) to a Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) capable top-of-rack switch). This new feature is available with firmware release 6.1 and newer.
In addition, this switch is a key part of the IBM Virtual Fabric offering, which allows clients to form up to eight virtual network interface controllers (vNICs) from one physical adapter (14 vNICs with an adapter plus the onboard 10 GbE controller with the BladeCenter HS23) and to manage them in virtual groups. This switch can be managed via a command-line interface (CLI) or a graphical interface of the switch, providing all the benefits of I/O Virtualization at 10 Gb speeds.

• Integration and consolidation
  This switch offers integration within the BladeCenter chassis, consolidating full Layer 2-3 LAN switching and routing capabilities into a single chassis. This helps flatten the data center infrastructure and reduces the number of discrete devices, management consoles, and equipment that administrators must deal with, helping lower costs and simplifying deployment.
• Cost
  The switch is priced extremely competitively compared with external switches, especially when you factor in that no cables are required between the blade and the switch. In addition, the ability to use direct-attach cables with the switch can help clients save even more compared with the more expensive CX4, XFP, or X2 transceiver.
• Performance
  With support for ten 10 Gb uplinks, clients can exploit not only up to 200 Gbps of bi-directional uplink bandwidth, but also an extremely low oversubscription (14 to 10), which can support even the most performance-intensive environments (up to 7.2 Gbps per blade server port). Clients wanting extreme performance can use up to four switches and the quad port 10 Gb adapter and get up to 1.92 Tbps of data per BladeCenter H chassis.
• Lower power consumption
  Using only 75 W per switch delivers extreme performance per watt, which is second to none with its support for up to 6.4 Gbps per watt of power.
• Layer 3 functionality
  The switch module includes Layer 3 functionality, which provides security and performance benefits as inter-VLAN traffic stays within the chassis. This switch also provides the full range of Layer 3 protocols from static routes for technologies such as Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) for enterprise customers.
• Interoperability
  IBM switches interoperate seamlessly with other vendors" upstream switches.
• Management
  IBM provides a choice of interfaces that IT staff can use for management which includes IBM System Networking graphical user interface or an industry-based CLI (Cisco-like) for those familiar with IOS, and a full-function Web-based GUI for the latest in simplicity.
• Fault tolerance
  These switches learn alternate routes automatically and perform faster convergence in the unlikely case of a link, switch, or power failure. The switch uses proven technologies like L2 trunk failover, advanced VLAN-based failover, VRRP, IGMP V3 snooping, and OSPF.
• Converged fabric
  The switch is designed to support CEE and connectivity to FCoE modules, making the IBM solution fully FCoE capable. CEE will help enable clients to combine storage, messaging traffic, VoIP, video, and other data on a common data center Ethernet infrastructure. FCoE will help enable highly efficient block storage over Ethernet for consolidating server network connectivity. As a result, clients can deploy a single server interface for multiple data types, which can simplify both deployment and management of server network connectivity, while maintaining the high availability and robustness required for storage transactions.