About the Cisco UCS S3260 System
The Cisco UCS S3260 is a dense storage rack server with dual server nodes, optimized for large data sets used in environments such as Big data, cloud, object storage, and content delivery. It belongs to the Cisco UCS S-Series rack-mount servers product family.
Beginning with Cisco UCS Manager Release 3.1(3), Cisco UCS C3260/C3X60 is renamed to Cisco UCS S3260. You may still see certain components in the system labeled as C3260/C3X60. For this release, the terms S3260 and C3260/C3X60 are used interchangeably. Both, S3260 and C3260/C3X60, refer to the same hardware component.
Cisco UCS Manager Release 3.2(3) introduces Cisco UCS S3260 M5 server. Cisco UCS S3260 M5 server integrates with Cisco UCS Manager the same way Cisco UCS S3260 does. The information and procedures in this document can be used for Cisco UCS S3260 M5 servers.
The Cisco UCS S3260 system is designed to operate in a non-cluster environment and as part of the Cisco Unified Computing System with Cisco UCS Manager integration. It assumes almost the same characteristics of its predecessor, Cisco UCS C3160, but with the following additional features:
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System IO Controllers (SIOC) with Cisco VIC 1300 and 1400 Series Embedded Chip supporting 10/25/40/100G speeds.
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Support of up to two server modules
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Capability to operate in a non-cluster setup and with Cisco UCS Manager
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Individual hard disk drives (HDD) can be assigned to either server in the dedicated or shared mode
In addition, one of the server slots in the Cisco UCS S3260 system can be utilized by a storage expansion module for an additional four 3.5" drives. The server modules can also accommodate two solid state drives (SSD) for internal storage dedicated to that module. The chassis supports Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) expanders that can be configured to assign the 3.5" drives to individual server modules.
Beginning with release 3.1(3), Cisco UCS S3260 system supports the following:
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Server SIOC Connectivity functionality
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Second RAID controller in the optional I/O expander module
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Dual HBA Controller
Note
If a Cisco UCS S3260 system has Dual HBA Controller then you cannot downgrade Cisco UCS Manager to any release earlier than 3.1(3).
In a Cisco UCS S3260 system, both servers should have either dual RAID controllers or dual HBA controllers. Mixing the controller types is not supported.
Cisco UCS S3260 system supports Server SIOC Connectivity functionality. Using this functionality, you can configure the data path through both the primary and auxiliary SIOCs when the chassis has single server and dual SIOCs set up. For more details, see Server SIOC Connectivity Functionality.
Cisco UCS S3260 system supports Second RAID controller in the optional I/O expander module that attaches to the top of the server node. You cannot downgrade Cisco UCS Manager, BMC, CMC, and BIOS to any release earlier than 3.1(3) depending on the number of disk zoned to the controllers :
Controller Configuration |
Is Downgrade Possible? |
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Two controllers in the server (one in optional I/O expander) or one controller in the server (in optional I/O expander) and at least one disk is zoned to the controller in the optional I/O expander. |
No |
Two controllers in the server (one in optional I/O expander) or one controller in the server (in optional I/O expander) and at least one disk is pre-provisioned to controller in the optional I/O expander. |
No |
Two controllers in the server (one in optional I/O expander) or one controller in the server (in any slot) and disk are not zoned or pre-provisioned to the controller in optional I/O expander. |
Yes |
License Requirement
Beginning with release 4.2(3b), for Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect (UCS-FI-6536), all ports are enabled using a term-based subscription license (Supported license term: 36-60 months).
Note |
Licensing for FI 6536 is not a port-based license like in previous FI generations. |
ETH_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG (/6400 FI series), 40G_ETH_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG (for 6400 and 6300 FI - 6332), 10G_PORT_ACTIVATION_PKG (for 6300 FI - 6332-16UP), licenses are used when S3260 system is connected to FI as appliance (appliance port) or Cisco UCS Manager managed node (server port).
For more information on license requirement, refer Server License Management chapter in Cisco UCS Manager Server Management Guide.