IBM BladeCenter® Open Fabric includes industry-leading Ethernet switch modules that offer an easy way to manage, high performance Ethernet networking capabilities for BladeCenter® systems. Compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter, these switch modules from IBM, Brocade and Cisco supporting 1Gb and 10Gb Ethernet bandwidth, provide high performance Ethernet capabilities designed to help your business run better.
| Ethernet switch modules | Product features | Bandwidth | Compatibility | Management |
|---|---|---|---|---|
10Gb Ethernet Pass-Thru Module for IBM BladeCenter® 
|
Supports both Optical and Fiber 10Gb SFP+ modules. Supports Convergence Enhanced Packets along with regular 10Gb. |
14 10Gb uplink ports and 14 10Gb links to each server. | Supported on High Speed Chassis (H/HT) and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Flexible and simple management via web browser or industry-standard CLI. |
IBM BladeCenter Virtual Fabric 10Gb Switch Module 
|
Works with existing 1Gb or 10Gb infrastructures and when paired with the Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapter, it can offer up to 8 virtual ports per adapter. | 10 external SFP+ based uplink ports. 14 10Gb ports to each Blade. |
Supported on High Speed Chassis (H/HT) and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Easy Management using SmartConnect tool. |
IBM iFlow Director 
|
Provides a high-speed stateless statistical traffic load distribution system integrated into a wire-speed 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch. | Ten 10 Gbps uplink ports and 14 non-blocking 10 Gbps internal ports. | Supported on high speed chassis (H/HT) and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Flexible and simple management via web browser, industry-standard CLI, SNMP or telnet. |
IBM BladeCenter 1/10Gb Uplink Ethernet Switch Module 
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Ideal for clients who require 1Gb today and 10Gb capability for future growth. | 6 external 1Gb and 3 external 10Gb ports. | Supported on all BladeCenter® chassis and Multi-switch interconnect modules and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Easy to configure, use and manage via a web-based interface. |
IBM BladeCenter Layer 2/3 Gb Ethernet Switch Modules 
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Delivers complete Layer 2 and 3 functionality - routing, filtering, traffic queuing to better serve the processing demands of bandwidth -intensive applications. | 6 external 1Gb copper ports or 6 external 1Gb fiber ports. | Supported on all BladeCenter® chassis and Multi-switch interconnect modules and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Flexible and simple management via web browser or industry-standard CLI. |
IBM BladeCenter Layer 2-7 Gigabit Ethernet Switch Module
|
Integrates Layer 2/3 Ethernet connectivity with Layer 4-7 application and server load balancing in single switch module. | 4 external 1Gb ports. | Supported on all BladeCenter® chassis and Multi-switch interconnect modules and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Flexible and simple management via web browser or industry-standard CLI. |
Brocade Converged 10GbE Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter ®
|
First integrated Converged Switch for IBM BladeCenter that enables both Ethernet and Fibre Channel ports in a single package. Dymanic Ports allow for easy migration with low acquisition and operational costs. | Base switch module enables the first 16 ports to be activated and includes 2 Brocade 10Gb SFP+ transceivers (49Y4216). The switch port upgrade activates all 30 ports on the switch and includes 2 Brocade 8Gb SFP+ transceivers (44X1962). | Supported on High Speed Chassis (H/HT) and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Data Center Fabric Manager (DCFM) is fully integrated with IBM System Director for end-to-end data center management on a single pane of glass. |
Cisco Nexus 4001I Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter 
|
End-to-end 10Gb switch offers a high-performance, low-latency solution that seamlessly integrates with other Cisco® Nexus family products. Optional upgrade license key enables easy transition to FCoE. | 20 ports of 10Gb (14 internal and 6 external) bandwidth. | Supported on High Speed Chassis (H/HT), All Multi-switch interconnect modules and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Common Nexus CLI and web based management tool. |
Cisco Catalyst Switch Module 3012 for IBM BladeCenter 
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High performance, reliable switching ideal for IBM BladeCenter® S. | 4 external 1Gb ports. | Supported on all BladeCenter® chassis and Multi-switch interconnect modules and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Common management with external Cisco® switches via IOS Command Line Interface and CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution. |
Cisco Catalyst Switch Module 3110G for IBM BladeCenter 
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Built-in Cisco® Virtual Blade Switch (VBS) technology helps increase server performance and resiliency while simplifying operations and management. | 3110G - 4 external 1Gb ports. | Supported on BladeCenter E, H, and HT chassis and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Common management with external Cisco® switches via IOS Command Line Interface and CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution. |
| Cisco Catalyst Switch Module 3110X for IBM BladeCenter
|
Built-in Cisco® Virtual Blade Switch (VBS) technology helps increase server performance and resiliency while simplifying operations and management. | 3110X - 1 external 10Gb port. | Supported on BladeCenter E, H, and HT chassis and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Common management with external Cisco® switches via IOS Command Line Interface and CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution. |
Intelligent Copper Pass-Thru Module for IBM BladeCenter® 
|
Easy to install and ideal for customers deploying IBM BladeCenter® into an existing network environment. | 14 external 1Gb standard RJ45 ports. | Supported on all BladeCenter® chassis and Multi-switch interconnect modules and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Secure Serial over LAN (SoL) allows users to access any server console via the serial port. |
Server Connectivity Module for IBM BladeCenter® 
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For small and midsized businesses where a separation between the server and networking domains is preferred. | 6 external 1Gb ports. | Supported on all BladeCenter® chassis and Multi-switch interconnect modules and compatible with IBM Fabric Manager for BladeCenter. | Easy to install, configure and manage through an easy to use browser based interface. |
| Ethernet adapters and mezzanines | Product features |
|---|---|
| 2/4 Port Ethernet Expansion Card (CFFh) for IBM BladeCenter® | Based on Broadcom 5709 chipset, it enables 2 ports in BladeCenter® S Chassis for higher redundancy and enables 4 ports on BladeCenter® H and HT chassis to enable high speed IO bays 7, 8, 9 and 10. |
| Broadcom 2-port 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter for IBM BladeCenter | 2-port 10 Gb adapter enables up to 4 high speed bays in a BladeCenter H chassis and supports both standard physical port mode (pNIC) and virtual NIC (vNIC) mode for general purpose virtual fabric capabilities. Extends the flexibility of virtual fabric to other 10 Gb switch modules for IBM BladeCenter. This adapter works on the latest BladeCenter Intel processor-based blade servers. |
| Broadcom (Gen 2) 10Gb 4-port Ethernet Expansion Card (CFFh) for IBM BladeCenter | This expansion card enables up to 4 high speed bays in BladeCenter H chassis. Offers PCI-Gen 2 architecture and end-to-end 10Gb I/O virtualization via BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager in addition to easy SoL/cKVM management over 10Gb. Works on the latest BladeCenter Intel processor-based blade servers. |
| Emulex 10GbE VFA II for IBM BladeCenter HS23 | This 2-port 10 GbE Virtual Fabric adapter enables the BladeCenter HS23 with an additional two 10 GbE Virtual Fabric ports for a total of four 10 GbE physical ports or 14 Virtual NICs for extreme speed and IO flexibility. Supports Ethernet and Virtual NICs using the same hardware components. Helps simplify your I/O infrastructure by reducing the number of switches needed inside the chassis. |
| Emulex 10GbE Virtual Fabric Adapter II for IBM BladeCenter | This 2-port 10Gb adapter enables up to 8 virtual Ethernet ports in a BladeCenter H or HT chassis and supports both standard physical port mode (pNIC) and virtual NIC (vNIC) mode for general purpose virtual fabric capabilities. Each of the virtual ports can be tuned to work at any bandwidth between 100 Mb and 10 Gb at increments of 100Mb. Provides the flexibility to upgrade to HW iSCSI and FCoE protocols on the same adapter via a software key upgrade. This adapter works on the latest BladeCenter Intel processor-based blade servers. |
| Emulex 10GbE Virtual Fabric Adapter Advanced II for IBM BladeCenter | 2-port 10 Gb adapter enables up to 8 virtual Ethernet ports in a BladeCenter H or HT chassis and supports iSCSI and FCoE in addition to standard physical port mode (pNIC) and virtual NIC (vNIC) mode for advanced virtualization capabilities. Each of the virtual ports can be tuned to work at any bandwidth between 100 Mb and 10Gb at increments of 100 Mb. Integrated HW ISCSI and FCoE protocol support enables ISCSI and FCoE traffic to run on 2 of the virtual NIC ports. This adapter works on the latest BladeCenter Intel processor-based blade servers. |
| Ethernet Expansion Card (CIOv) for IBM BladeCenter | This is a 2 port 1Gb Ethernet adapter with PCI-e interface is designed specifically for the HS22 blade server as well as all follow-on blades. It is based on the proven Broadcom 5709S ASIC and offers value-added features like TCP Offload (TOE) and SW iSCSI support for high performance. The adapter's innovative combination form factor design allows usage of other I/O technologies (in CFFh form factor) simultaneously from the same blade server, such as additional Ethernet or Fibre Channel adapters. |
| Intel 2-port 10Gb Ethernet Expansion Card (CFFh) for IBM BladeCenter® | Enables an end-to-end 10Gb solution on the BladeCenter® H/HT chassis. Offers PCI-Gen 2 architecture and end-to-end 10Gb I/O virtualization via BladeCenter® Open Fabric Manager in addition to easy SoL/cKVM management over 10Gb. This adapter works on the latest BladeCenter Intel processor-based blade servers. |
| Mellanox 10Gb 2-port Ethernet Expansion Card for IBM BladeCenter | Low latency mezzanine card based on ConnectX-2 technology. Delivers high bandwidth for accelerating database, OLTP, and simulation workloads. Provides end-to-end 10Gb Ethernet connectivity. Supported on the latest BladeCenter Intel processor-based blade servers. |
| QLogic Ethernet and 8 Gb Fibre Channel Expansion Card (CFFh) for IBM BladeCenter | The QLogic Ethernet and 8 Gb Fibre Channel Expansion Card (CFFh) for IBM BladeCenter is installed in the blade server and allows connectivity to high-speed switch bays. This expansion card provides flexibility for connecting the blade server to the horizontally oriented BladeCenter H modules in bays 7 and 8 or bays 9 and 10 when using the Multi-Switch Interconnect Module (MSIM). |
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Virtual Fabric 10Gb Switch for IBM BladeCenter
