Users Guide

PowerEdge MX Ethernet I/O modules
The Dell EMC PowerEdge MX7000 supports the following Ethernet modules: MX9116n Fabric Switching Engine, MX7116n
Fabric Expander Module, and MX5108n Ethernet Switch. For detailed information, see the Dell EMC PowerEdge MX7000
documentation.
● The MX9116n Fabric Switching Engine is a scalable L2/L3 switch designed that provides high-bandwidth, low-latency 25GE
networking; for example, in private cloud and software-defined storage (SDS) networks. This high-end switch offers:
○ Sixteen 25GE server-facing ports
○ Twelve double-density QSFP (QSFP28-DD) ports that you can use to connect to Fabric Expanders or break out to:
8x10GE, 8x25GE, or 4x50GE ports for connection to rack servers or other Ethernet devices, or 2x40GE/2x100GE ports
for uplinks, connection to SAN storage, and switch interconnects.
○ Two single-density QSFP28 ports that operate in 1x100GE, 2x50GE, 1x40GE, 4x25GE, or 4x10GE mode.
○ Two QSFP28 unified ports that operate in Ethernet or Fibre Channel 1x100GE, 1x40GE, 4x25GE, 4x10GE, 2x50GE, or
4x32GFC, 2x32GFC, 1x32GFC, or 4x16GFC mode.
● The MX7116n Fabric Expander Module operates as an unmanaged Ethernet repeater to connect servers to the Fabric
Switching Engine using QSFP28-DD connections. The Expander Module offers:
○
Sixteen 25GE server-facing ports
○ Two QSFP28-DD ports for connection to a Fabric Switching Engine
● The MX5108n Ethernet Switch is a basic Ethernet switch that is designed to provide high-performance, low-latency
networking for single MX7000 chassis installations. It provides FCoE transit, but no native Fibre Channel functionality, and
offers:
○ Eight 25GE server-facing ports
○ Two 100GE QSFP28 uplink ports
○ One 40GE QSFP+ uplink port
○ Four 10GBase-T uplink ports
NOTE: On MX9116n, Layer 2 VXLAN is supported in Full Switch mode. However, Layer 3 VXLAN is not supported.
The following matrix indicates various components that are supported on MX9116n and M5108n:
Table 63. Components in MX9116n and MX5108n
Functionality MX9116n MX5108n
Static VXLAN Yes Yes
Layer 2 bridge with
BGP EVPN
Yes Yes
Layer 3 Routing In and
Out of Tunnels (RIOT)
Asymmetric IRB
No Yes (256 Layer 3 VNIs)
Layer 3 RIOT
Symmetric IRB
No No
For more information regarding Ethernet and Fibre Channel interfaces, see Unified port groups. For more information regarding
other interfaces and IOMs, see Dell EMC PowerEdge MX Networking Deployment Guide.
For a list of supported breakout modes, see Configure breakout mode.
For more information about the architecture, features, and functionality of the PowerEdge MX networking infrastructure,
including the steps for configuring and troubleshooting the PowerEdge MX networking switches in Full Switch and SmartFabric
modes, see Dell EMC PowerEdge MX Networking Deployment Guide.
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