• Two 40GbE, four 10GBASE-T, and four 8GB FC ports
FC Flex IO Module Capabilities and Operations
The FC Flex IO module has the following characteristics:
• You can install one or two FC Flex IO modules on the MXL 10/40GbE Switch or I/O Aggregator. Each
module supports four FC ports.
• Each port can operate in 2Gbps, 4Gbps, or 8Gbps of Fibre Channel speed.
• All ports on an FC Flex IO module can function in the NPIV mode that enables connectivity to FC
switches or directors, and also to multiple SAN topologies.
• It automatically senses the current speed when the port link is up. Valid link speeds are 2 Gbps, 4
Gbps, and 8 Gbps.
• By default, the FC ports are configured to operate in N-port mode to connect to an F port on an FC
switch in a fabric. You can apply only one FCoE map on an FC port. An N-Port is a port on the node of
an FC device and is called a node port.
• There should a maximum of 64 server fabric login (FLOGI) requests or fabric discovery (FDISC)
requests per server MAC address before being forwarded by the FC Flex IO module to the FC core
switch. Without user configuration, only 32 server login sessions are permitted for each server MAC
address. To increase the total number of sessions to 64, use the max sessions command.
• A distance of up to 300 meters is supported at 8 Gbps for Fibre Channel traffic.
• Multiple domains are supported in an NPIV proxy gateway (NPG).
• You cannot configure the MXL or Aggregator switches in Stacking mode if the switches contain the
FC Flex IO module. Similarly, FC Flex IO modules do not function when you insert them in to a stack
of MXL or Aggregrator switches.
• If the switch does not contain FC Flex modules, you cannot create a stack, and a log message states
that stacking is not supported unless the switches contain only FC Flex modules.
Guidelines for Working with FC Flex IO Modules
The following guidelines apply to the FC Flex IO module:
• All the ports of FC Flex IO modules operate in FC mode, and do not support Ethernet mode.
• FC Flex IO modules are not supported in the chassis management controller (CMC) GUI.
• The only supported FCoE functionality is NPIV proxy gateway. Configure the other FCoE services,
such as name server, zone server, and login server on an external FC switch.
• With the FC Flex IO module, the MXL 10/40GbE Switch continues to support bare metal provisioning
(BMP) on any Ethernet port. BMP is not supported on FC ports. BMP improves accessibility to the MXL
10/40GbE Switch by automatically loading pre-defined configurations and boot images that are
stored in file servers. You can use BMP on a single switch or on multiple switches.
• FC Flex IOM module is a field-replaceable unit (FRU). Its memory type is electrically erasable
programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), which enables it to save manufacturing information,
such as the serial number. It is hot-swappable, assuming that the module that is removed is replaced
by the same type of module in that same slot.
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