Use fabric interconnect ports configured as uplink ports to connect to uplink upstream network switches. Connect these uplink ports to upstream switch ports as individual links, or as links configured as port channels. Port channel configurations provide bandwidth aggregation as well as link redundancy.

You can achieve northbound connectivity from the fabric interconnect through a standard uplink, a port channel, or a virtual port channel configuration. The port channel name and ID configured on fabric interconnect should match the name and ID configuration on the upstream Ethernet switch.

It is also possible to configure a port channel as a vPC, where port channel uplink ports from a fabric interconnect are connected to different upstream switches. After all uplink ports are configured, create a port channel for these ports.

Beginning with release 4.3(2a), Cisco UCS Manager supports Cisco UCS X9508 server chassis with Cisco UCS X-Series servers. Cisco UCS X-Series servers support Intelligent Fabric Modules (IFM), which function similarly to the Input/Output Module (IOM) in Cisco UCS B-Series servers. This guide uses the term IOM to refer both IOM and IFM.

Each fabric interconnect is connected to IOMs in the UCS chassis, which provides connectivity to each blade server. Internal connectivity from blade servers to IOMs is transparently provided by Cisco UCS Manager using 10BASE-KR Ethernet standard for backplane implementations, and no additional configuration is required. You must configure the connectivity between the fabric interconnect server ports and IOMs. Each IOM, when connected with the fabric interconnect server port, behaves as a line card to fabric interconnect, hence IOMs should never be cross-connected to the fabric interconnect. Each IOM is connected directly to a single fabric interconnect.

The Fabric Extender (also referred to as the IOM, or FEX) logically extends the fabric interconnects to the blade server. The best analogy is to think of it as a remote line card that’s embedded in the blade server chassis, allowing connectivity to the external world. IOM settings are pushed via Cisco UCS Manager and are not managed directly. The primary functions of this module are to facilitate blade server I/O connectivity (internal and external), multiplex all I/O traffic up to the fabric interconnects, and help monitor and manage the Cisco UCS infrastructure.

Configure Fabric interconnect ports that should be connected to downlink IOM cards as server ports. Make sure there is physical connectivity between the fabric interconnect and IOMs. You must also configure the IOM ports and the global chassis discovery policy.

Note	For UCS 2200 I/O modules, you can also select the Port Channel option and all I/O module-connected server ports will be automatically added to a port channel.

Cisco UCS leverages Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) standard protocol to deliver Fibre Channel. The upper Fibre Channel layers are unchanged, so the Fibre Channel operational model is maintained. FCoE network management and configuration is similar to a native Fibre Channel network.

FCoE encapsulates Fibre Channel traffic over a physical Ethernet link. FCoE is encapsulated over Ethernet with the use of a dedicated Ethertype, 0x8906, so that FCoE traffic and standard Ethernet traffic can be carried on the same link. FCoE has been standardized by the ANSI T11 Standards Committee.

Fibre Channel traffic requires a lossless transport layer. Instead of the buffer-to-buffer credit system used by native Fibre Channel, FCoE depends upon the Ethernet link to implement lossless service.

Ethernet links on the fabric interconnect provide two mechanisms to ensure lossless transport for FCoE traffic:

• Link-level flow control

• Priority flow control

Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G (Cisco UCS X-Series Direct) has eight ports that include:

• Ports 1 & 2 that are unified ports to manage all SAN features and configurations.

• The 100G Ethernet ports [1-8] can also be configured as 25Gx4 SFP28 compatible breakout ports or 4x10G ports, offering flexible networking solutions to accommodate a range of data center needs.

• The 32G Fibre Channel ports [1 & 2] can also be configured as 8Gx4 SFP28 compatible breakout ports offering flexible networking solutions to accommodate a range of data center needs.

Note	Migration of any previous generation Fabric Interconnects to the Cisco UCS 9108 100G Intelligent Fabric Module is currently not supported.

Ports on the Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnects can be configured to carry either Ethernet or Fibre Channel traffic. You can configure only ports 33-36 to carry Fibre Channel traffic. The ports cannot be used by a Cisco UCS domain until you configure them.

Ports on the Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects can be configured to carry either Ethernet or Fibre Channel traffic. You can configure only ports 1-16 to carry Fibre Channel traffic. The ports cannot be used by a Cisco UCS domain until you configure them.

Note

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect supported 8 unified ports (ports 1 - 8) with Cisco UCS Manager 4.0(1) and 4.0(2), but with Release 4.0(4) and later releases, it supports 16 unified ports (ports 1 - 16). When you configure a port on a Fabric Interconnect, the administrative state is automatically set to enabled. If the port is connected to another device, this may cause traffic disruption. The port can be disabled and enabled after it has been configured.

The following table summarizes the port support for third, fourth, fifth generation of Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects, and Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G.

The Cisco UCS X-Series Direct is identified by the product ID: UCSX-S9108-100G, and the product description: Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G.

The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G platform streamlines data center architecture by eliminating the need for separate Fabric Interconnects (FIs), integrating essential networking and management functionality directly within the chassis. The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G platform is designed for deployments in smaller settings, where the compute server requirements are less extensive than those of a traditional data center. This solution is centered around a single-chassis system, the Cisco UCS X9508 Chassis, which incorporates Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G directly into the chassis for a consolidated and efficient infrastructure. To ensure high availability, each chassis houses two Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G that establish direct downlink connections to servers and provide uplink connections to facilitate seamless integration with both Local Area Network (LAN) and Storage Area Network (SAN) systems. The Fabric Interconnects (FIs) are adeptly designed to fit into the Cisco UCS X-Series chassis, presenting as a single module within the NX-OS environment that merges QSFP ports with server backplane ports.

The hardware configuration of the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G platform retains the same form factor as the standard Cisco UCS X-Series chassis, and features 17 MACs, each configurable for 10G, 25G, 40G, or 100G connectivity. It is equipped with an CPU, for operating NX-OS, Cisco UCS Manager for management and Chassis Management Controller (CMC) software. The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G includes an onboard Ethernet switch with multiple 10G links dedicated to out-of-band communication between blade components such as the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), CMC. A dedicated 1G link facilitates IFM-to-IFM clustering and high availability synchronization. Within the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G, Ethernet ports 1-8, backplane ports 9-16, and the Baseboard Interface (BIF) port 17 coexist on a singular switch card. Ports 1-2 are unified to manage all SAN features and configurations. The 100G Ethernet ports [1-8] can also be configured as 25Gx4 SFP28 compatible breakout ports or 4x10G ports, offering flexible networking solutions to accommodate a range of data center needs.

The Cisco UCS X-Series Direct architecture is engineered to support a diverse range of workloads, from traditional applications to cloud-native services, by offering a composable and disaggregated approach to computing resources. Key components of the Cisco UCS X-Series Direct architecture include:

• Cisco UCSX-9508 Chassis—A modular and future-proof chassis that can accommodate various types of compute nodes, providing the flexibility to adapt to different workload requirements without the need for a complete hardware overhaul.

• Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G—This solution is centered around a single-chassis system, the Cisco UCS X9508 Chassis, which incorporates Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G directly into the chassis for a consolidated and efficient infrastructure. To ensure high availability, each chassis houses two Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G that establish direct downlink connections to servers and provide uplink connections to facilitate seamless integration with both Local Area Network (LAN) and Storage Area Network (SAN) systems.

• Software Architecture—In terms of the startup and operational model, the management, Cisco UCS Manager aligns with the approach taken in the Cisco UCS 6500 and 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects. In this model, Cisco UCS Manager is encapsulated within a container and is initiated by the underlying NX-OS, depending on the selected management mode.

The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G is equipped with advanced port breakout functionality, which allows network administrators to subdivide a single high-bandwidth port into multiple lower-bandwidth ports. This feature is particularly beneficial for optimizing port utilization, managing cabling complexity, and adapting to various bandwidth requirements.

The Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect is a core part of the Cisco Unified Computing System, providing both network connectivity and management capabilities for the system. The Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect provides the communication backbone and management connectivity for UCS B-series blade servers and UCS C-series rack servers.

Cisco UCS 6500 Series Fabric Interconnects currently include Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect. All servers attached to a Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect become part of a single, highly available management domain. In addition, by supporting a unified fabric, Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect provides both LAN and SAN connectivity for all servers within its domain.

The Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect supports multiple traffic classes over a lossless Ethernet fabric from the server through the fabric interconnect.

The Cisco UCS 6536 36-Port Fabric Interconnect is a One-Rack-Unit (1RU) 1/10/25/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet, FCoE, and Fibre Channel switch offering up to 7.42 Tbps throughput and up to 36 ports.

Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect supports splitting a single 40 Gigabit(G)/100G Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) port into four 10G/25G ports using a supported breakout cable. The switch has 32 40/100-Gbps Ethernet ports and four unified ports that can support 40/100-Gbps Ethernet ports or 16 Fiber Channel (FC) ports after breakout at 8/16/32-Gbps FC speeds. The 16 FC ports after breakout can operate as an FC Uplink or FC storage port. The switch also supports two ports (Port 9 and Port 10) at 1-Gbps speed using QSA, and all 36 ports can breakout for 10 or 25 Gbps Ethernet connectivity. All Ethernet ports can support FCoE.

Port breakout is supported for Ethernet ports (1-32) and Unified ports (33-36). These 40/100G ports are numbered in a 2-tuple naming convention. The process of changing the configuration from 40G to 10G, or from 100G to 25G is called breakout, and the process of changing the configuration from [4X]10G to 40G or from [4X]25G to 100G is called unconfigure.

When you break out a 40G port into 10G ports or a 100G port into 25G ports, the resulting ports are numbered using a 3-tuple naming convention. For example, the breakout ports of the second 40-Gigabit Ethernet port are numbered as 1/31/1, 1/31/2, 1/31/3, and 1/31/4.

FC breakout is supported on ports 36 through 33 when each port is configured with a four-port breakout cable. For example: Four FC breakout ports on the physical port 33 are numbered as 1/33/1, 1/33/2, 1/33/3, and 1/33/4.

Note	Fibre Channel support is only available through the configuration of the Unified Ports (36-33) as Fibre Channel breakout port.

The following image shows the rear view of the Cisco UCS 6536 fabric interconnect:

The following image shows the rear view of the Cisco UCS 6536 fabric interconnect that include Ports and LEDs:

Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect provides both network connectivity and management capabilities to the Cisco UCS system. The fabric interconnect provides Ethernet and Fibre Channel to the servers in the system, the servers connect to the fabric interconnect, and then to the LAN or SAN.

Each Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect runs Cisco UCS Manager to fully manage all Cisco UCS elements. The fabric interconnect supports 10/25 Gigabit ports in the fabric with 40/100 Gigabit uplink ports. High availability can be achieved when a Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect is connected to another Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect through the L1 or L2 port on each device.

Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect consists of:

• Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnects

• Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnects

The Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect is a 2 RU top-of-rack (TOR) switch that mounts in a standard 19-inch rack such as the Cisco R Series rack.

The high-density Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect has 96 10/25 Gb SFP28 ports and 12 40/100 Gb QSFP28 ports. Each 40/100 Gb port can break out into 4 x 10/25 Gb uplink ports. Ports 1 - 16 are unified ports that support 10/25 GbE or 8/16/32G Fibre Channel speeds. Ports 89-96 support 1Gbps Ethernet speeds.

The Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect supports either:

• Eight FCoE port channels

• Or Four SAN port channels

• or Four SAN port channels and four FCoE port channels

The Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect also has one network management port, one RS-232 serial console port for setting the initial configuration, and one USB port for saving or loading configurations. The FI also includes L1/L2 ports for connecting two fabric interconnects in a high-availability configuration.

The Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect also contains a CPU board that consists of:

• Intel Xeon Processor, 6 core

• 64 GB of RAM

• 8 MB of NVRAM (4 x NVRAM chips)

• 128 GB SSD (bootflash)

The Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect has two power supplies (redundant as 1+1) and three fans (redundant as 2+1).

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect (FI) is a 1-RU top-of-rack switch that mounts in a standard 19-inch rack such as the Cisco R Series rack.

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect has 48 10/25 Gb SFP28 ports (16 unified ports) and 6 40/100 Gb QSFP28 ports. Each 40/100 Gb port can break out into 4 x 10/25 Gb uplink ports. The sixteen unified ports support 10/25 GbE or 8/16/32G Fibre Channel speeds.

Note	The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect supported 8 unified ports (ports 1 - 8) with Cisco UCS Manager 4.0(1) and 4.0(2), but with release 4.0(4) and later it supports 16 unified ports (ports 1 - 16).

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect supports:

• Maximum of 8 FCoE port channels

• Or 4 SAN port channels

• Or a maximum of 8 SAN port channels and FCoE port channels (4 each)

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect also has one network management port, one console port for setting the initial configuration, and one USB port for saving or loading configurations. The FI also includes L1/L2 ports for connecting two fabric interconnects for high availability.

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect also contains a CPU board that consists of:

• Intel Xeon D-1528 v4 Processor, 1.6 GHz

• 64 GB of RAM

• 8 MB of NVRAM (4 x NVRAM chips)

• 128 GB SSD (bootflash)

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect chassis has two power supplies and four fans. Two of the fans provide front to rear airflow.

Cisco UCS Manager Release 4.0(1) and 4.0(2) introduced support for various software features on Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnects. Cisco UCS Manager Release 4.1 extends support for these features on Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnects. These software features are:

• Switching Modes—Support for Ethernet and FC switching modes on Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects .

• MAC Security—Support for MAC security on Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects.

• Breakout Uplink Ports—Support for splitting a single 40/100G QSFP port into four 10/25G ports using a supported breakout cable. These ports can be used only as Ethernet uplink or FCoE uplink ports connecting to a 10/25G switch. They cannot be configured as server ports, FCoE storage ports, appliance ports or monitoring ports.

• MTU Configuration—Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnects support MTU configuration for QOS drop class policy.

Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects do not support the following software features:

• Chassis Discovery Policy in Non-Port Channel Mode—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects support only Port Channel mode.

• Chassis Connectivity Policy in Non-Port Channel Mode—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects support only Port Channel mode.

• Multicast Hardware Hash—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects do not support multicast hardware hash.

• Service Profiles with Dynamic vNICS—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects do not support Dynamic vNIC Connection Policies.

• Multicast Optimize—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects do not support Multicast Optimize for QoS.

• Port profiles and DVS Related Configurations—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects do not support configurations related to port profiles and distributed virtual switches (DVS).

Configuration of the following software features has changed for Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects:

• Unified Ports—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects support up to 16 unified ports, which can be configured as FC. These ports appear at the beginning of the module.

• VLAN Optimization—On Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects, you can configure VLAN port count optimization through port VLAN (VP) grouping when the PV count exceeds 16000. The following table illustrates the PV Count with VLAN port count optimization enabled and disabled on Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect, Cisco UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnects.

  	6300 Series FI	6400 Series FI	6500 Series FI (6536 FI)
  PV Count with VLAN Port Count Optimization Disabled	16000	16000	16000
  PV Count with VLAN Port Count Optimization Enabled	64000	108000	108000

  When a Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect is in Ethernet switching mode:

  • The Fabric Interconnect does not support VLAN Port Count Optimization Enabled

  • The Fabric Interconnect supports 16000 PVs, similar to EHM mode, when set to VLAN Port Count Optimization Disabled

• Limited Restriction on VLAN—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects reserve 128 additional VLANs for system purposes.

A Cisco UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnect provides both network connectivity and management capabilities to a Cisco UCS system. The fabric interconnect provides Ethernet and Fibre Channel to the servers in the system, the servers connect to the fabric interconnect, and the fabric interconnect connects to the LAN or SAN.

Each Cisco UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnect runs Cisco UCS Manager to fully manage all Cisco UCS elements. The fabric interconnect supports full end-to-end 40-Gigabit capabilities in the fabric and enables 16-Gigabit Fibre Channel capabilities. High availability can be achieved when a Cisco UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnect is connected to another Cisco UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnect through the L1 or L2 port on each device.

The Cisco UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnect joins next-generation UCS products, including the following hardware:

• Cisco UCS 6332 Fabric Interconnect, an Ethernet or Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) chassis with 32 40-Gigabit QSFP+ ports

• Cisco UCS 6332-16UP Fabric Interconnect, an Ethernet, FCoE, and Fibre Channel chassis with 16 1- or 10-Gigabit SFP+ ports or 16 4-, 8-, or 16-Gigabit Fibre Channel ports, 24 40-Gigabit QSFP+ ports

• Cisco 2304 IOM or Cisco 2304V2, I/O modules with 8 40-Gigabit backplane ports and 4 40-Gigabit uplink ports

• Multiple VICs

The Cisco UCS 6332 Fabric Interconnect is a 1-RU, top-of-rack switch with 32 40-Gigabit QSFP+ ports, one 100/1000 network management port, one RS-232 console port for setting the initial configuration, and two USB ports for saving or loading configurations. The switch also includes an L1 port and an L2 port for connecting two fabric interconnects to provide high availability. The switch mounts in a standard 19-inch rack, such as the Cisco R Series rack.

Cooling fans pull air front-to-rear. That is, air intake is on the fan side and air exhaust is on the port side.

The Cisco UCS 6332-16UP Fabric Interconnect is a 1-RU top-of-rack switch with 24 40-Gb QSFP+ ports, 16 10-Gb SFP ports, one 100/1000 network management port, one RS-232 console port for setting the initial configuration, and two USB ports for saving or loading configurations. The switch also includes an L1 port and an L2 port for connecting two fabric interconnects to provide high availability. The switch mounts in a standard 19-inch rack, such as the Cisco R Series rack.

Cooling fans pull air front-to-rear. That is, air intake is on the fan side and air exhaust is on the port side.

Ports on the Cisco UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnects can be configured to carry either Ethernet or Fibre Channel traffic. These ports are not reserved. They cannot be used by a Cisco UCS domain until you configure them.

Note	When you configure a port on a fabric interconnect, the administrative state is automatically set to enabled. If the port is connected to another device, this may cause traffic disruption. You can disable the port after it has been configured.

The following table summarizes the third generation ports for the Cisco UCS fabric interconnects.

Note	Cisco UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnects support breakout capability for ports. For more information on how the 40G ports can be converted into four 10G ports, see Port Breakout Functionality on Cisco UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnects.

Cisco UCS Manager Release 3.1(1) and later releases provide support for Cisco UCS 5108 Blade Server Chassis

Chassis Management provides details on managing the chassis through Cisco UCS Manager.

The Cisco UCS Mini solution extends the Cisco UCS architecture into environments with requirements for smaller domains, including branch and remote offices, point-of-sale locations, and smaller IT environments. Cisco UCS Mini has three main infrastructure components:

• Cisco UCS 6324 fabric interconnect

• Cisco UCS blade server chassis

• Cisco UCS blade or rack mount servers

In the Cisco UCS Mini solution, the Cisco UCS 6324 fabric interconnect is collapsed into the IO Module form factor, and is inserted into the IOM slot of the blade server chassis. The Cisco UCS 6324 fabric interconnect has 24 10G ports available on it. Sixteen of these ports are server facing, two 10G ports are dedicated to each of the eight half width blade slots. The remaining eight ports are divided into groups of four 1/10G Enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+) ports and one 40G Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) port, which is called the 'scalability port'.

Cisco UCS Manager Release 3.1(1) introduces support for a second UCS 5108 chassis to an existing single-chassis Cisco UCS 6324 fabric interconnect setup. This extended chassis enables you to configure an additional 8 servers. Unlike the primary chassis, the extended chassis supports IOMs. Currently, it supports UCS-IOM-2204XP and UCS-IOM-2208XP IOMs. The extended chassis can only be connected through the scalability port on the FI-IOM.

Important

Currently, Cisco UCS Manager supports only one extended chassis for UCS Mini.

Cisco UCS is a single integrated system with switches, cables, adapters, and servers that are all tied together and managed by unified management software. One capability that enables this unification is the ability to virtualize every component of the system at every level. Switch port, cables, adapter, and servers can all be virtualized. Because of the virtualization capabilities at every component of the system, you have the unique capability to provide rapid provisioning of any service on any server on any blade through a system that is wired once. The following image illustrates these virtualization capabilities.