Administrator Guide

To verify port splitting, use the show system stack-unit stack—unit—number fanout {count | configure} command
• The quad port must be in a default conguration before you can split it into 4x10G ports. The 40G port is lost in the conguration when
the port is split; be sure that the port is also removed from other L2/L3 feature congurations.
• The system must be reloaded after issuing the CLI for the change to take eect.
Converting a QSFP or QSFP+ Port to an SFP or SFP+
Port
You can convert a QSFP or QSFP+ port to an SFP or SFP+ port using the Quad to Small Form Factor Pluggable Adapter (QSA).
QSA provides smooth connectivity between devices that use Quad Lane Ports (such as the 40 Gigabit Ethernet adapters) and 10 Gigabit
hardware that uses SFP+ based cabling. Using this adapter, you can eectively use a QSFP or QSFP+ module to connect to a lower-end
switch or server that uses an SFP or SFP+ based module.
When connected to a QSFP or QSFP+ port on a 40 Gigabit adapter, QSA acts as an interface for the SFP or SFP+ cables. This interface
enables you to directly plug in an SFP or SFP+ cable originating at a 10 Gigabit Ethernet port on a switch or server.
You can use QSFP optical cables (without a QSA) to split a 40 Gigabit port on a switch or a server into four 10 Gigabit ports. To split the
ports, enable the fan-out mode.
Similarly, you can enable the fan-out mode to congure the QSFP port on a device to act as an SFP or SFP+ port. As the QSA enables a
QSFP or QSFP+ port to be used as an SFP or SFP+ port, Dell Networking OS does not immediately detect the QSA after you insert it into
a QSFP port cage.
After you insert an SFP or SFP+ cable into a QSA connected to a 40 Gigabit port, Dell Networking OS assumes that all the four fanned-out
10 Gigabit ports have plugged-in SFP or SFP+ optical cables. However, the link UP event happens only for the rst 10 Gigabit port and you
can use only that port for data transfer. As a result, only the rst fanned-out port is identied as the active 10 Gigabit port with a speed of
10G or 1G depending on whether you insert an SFP+ or SFP cable respectively.
NOTE
: Although it is possible to congure the remaining three 10 Gigabit ports, the Link UP event does not occur for these ports
leaving the lanes unusable. Dell Networking OS perceives these ports to be in a Link Down state. You must not try to use these
remaining three 10 Gigabit ports for actual data transfer or for any other related congurations.
If you use an active optical cable (AOC), you can convert the QSFP+ port to a 10 Gigabit SFP+ port or 1 Gigabit SFP port. Use the speed
command to enable the required speed.
Important Points to Remember
• Before using the QSA to convert a 40 Gigabit Ethernet port to a 10 Gigabit SFP or SFP+ port, enable 40 G to 4*10 fan-out mode on
the device.
• When you insert a QSA into a 40 Gigabit port, you can use only the rst 10 Gigabit port in the fan-out mode to plug-in SFP or SFP+
cables. The remaining three 10 Gigabit ports are perceived to be in Link Down state and are unusable.
• You cannot use QSFP Optical cables on the same port where QSA is used.
• When you remove the QSA module alone from a 40 Gigabit port, without connecting any SFP or SFP+ cables; Dell Networking OS
does not generate any event. However, when you remove a QSA module that has SFP or SFP+ optical cables plugged in, Dell
Networking OS generates an SFP or SFP+ Removed event.
Example Scenarios
Consider the following scenarios:
Interfaces
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