Users Guide

Port Pipes
A port pipe is a Dell Networking-specific term for the hardware packet-processing elements that handle
network traffic to and from a set of front-end I/O ports. The physical, front-end I/O ports are referred to
as a port set. The system has 10 switch cards and each card has only one port pipe and 48 ports in each.
• For ports connected through the port extender, you can have a maximum of 4 sessions system.
• For ports directly attached to the chassis you can have a maximum of 4 sessions per port pipe.
Refer to Port Numbering Convention for the exact port location on switch line cards.
Configuration Task List for Physical Interfaces
By default, all interfaces are operationally disabled and traffic does not pass through them.
The following section includes information about optional configurations for physical interfaces:
• Overview of Layer Modes
• Configuring Layer 2 (Data Link) Mode
• Configuring Layer 2 (Interface) Mode
• Management Interfaces
• Auto-Negotiation on Ethernet Interfaces
• Clearing Interface Counters
Overview of Layer Modes
On the Dell Networking OS, you can place physical interfaces, port channels, and VLANs in Layer 2 mode
or Layer 3 mode.
By default, VLANs are in Layer 2 mode.
Table 36. Layer Modes
Type of Interface Possible Modes Requires Creation Default State
10–Gigabit Ethernet and
40–Gigabit Ethernet
Layer 2
Layer 3
No Shutdown (disabled)
Management N/A No Shutdown (disabled)
PE Gigabit Ethernet Layer 2 No Shutdown (disabled)
Loopback Layer 3 Yes No shutdown (enabled)
Null interface N/A No Enabled
Port Channel
Layer 2
Layer 3
Yes Shutdown (disabled)
VLAN
Layer 2
Layer 3
Yes, except for the
default VLAN.
No shutdown (active for
Layer 2)
Shutdown (disabled for
Layer 3)
470
Interfaces