Use fabric interconnect ports configured as uplink ports to connect to uplink upstream network switches. Connect these uplink ports to upstream switch ports as individual links, or as links configured as port channels. Port channel configurations provide bandwidth aggregation as well as link redundancy.

You can achieve northbound connectivity from the fabric interconnect through a standard uplink, a port channel, or a virtual port channel configuration. The port channel name and ID configured on fabric interconnect should match the name and ID configuration on the upstream Ethernet switch.

It is also possible to configure a port channel as a vPC, where port channel uplink ports from a fabric interconnect are connected to different upstream switches. After all uplink ports are configured, create a port channel for these ports.

Beginning with release 4.3(2a), Cisco UCS Manager supports Cisco UCS X9508 server chassis with Cisco UCS X-Series servers. Cisco UCS X-Series servers support Intelligent Fabric Modules (IFM), which function similarly to the Input/Output Module (IOM) in Cisco UCS B-Series servers. This guide uses the term IOM to refer both IOM and IFM.

Each fabric interconnect is connected to IOMs in the UCS chassis, which provides connectivity to each blade server. Internal connectivity from blade servers to IOMs is transparently provided by Cisco UCS Manager using 10BASE-KR Ethernet standard for backplane implementations, and no additional configuration is required. You must configure the connectivity between the fabric interconnect server ports and IOMs. Each IOM, when connected with the fabric interconnect server port, behaves as a line card to fabric interconnect, hence IOMs should never be cross-connected to the fabric interconnect. Each IOM is connected directly to a single fabric interconnect.

The Fabric Extender (also referred to as the IOM, or FEX) logically extends the fabric interconnects to the blade server. The best analogy is to think of it as a remote line card that’s embedded in the blade server chassis, allowing connectivity to the external world. IOM settings are pushed via Cisco UCS Manager and are not managed directly. The primary functions of this module are to facilitate blade server I/O connectivity (internal and external), multiplex all I/O traffic up to the fabric interconnects, and help monitor and manage the Cisco UCS infrastructure.

Configure Fabric interconnect ports that should be connected to downlink IOM cards as server ports. Make sure there is physical connectivity between the fabric interconnect and IOMs. You must also configure the IOM ports and the global chassis discovery policy.

Note	For UCS 2200 I/O modules, you can also select the Port Channel option and all I/O module-connected server ports will be automatically added to a port channel.

This section provides an overview of the port types, capabilities, and differences across generations of Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects.

• The Cisco UCS 6600 Series Fabric Interconnect is a 2RU top-of-rack switch with 64 ports that include:

  • Includes 48 QSFP ports that support 10/25 Gbps Ethernet and FCoE.

  • Includes 16 Unified SFP ports that support 10/25 Gbps Ethernet or 16/32/64 Gbps Fibre Channel.

  • Ports 49–64 are optimized for secure uplinks with Media Access Control Security (MACsec).

• Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G (Cisco UCS X-Series Direct) has eight ports that include:

  • Ports 1 & 2 that are unified ports to manage all SAN features and configurations.

  • The 100G Ethernet ports [1-8] can also be configured as 25Gx4 SFP28 compatible breakout ports or 4x10G ports, offering flexible networking solutions to accommodate a range of data center needs.

  • The 32G Fibre Channel ports [1 & 2] can also be configured as 8Gx4 SFP28 compatible breakout ports offering flexible networking solutions to accommodate a range of data center needs.

  Note	Migration of any previous generation Fabric Interconnects to the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G is currently not supported.

• Ports on the Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect can be configured to carry either Ethernet or Fibre Channel traffic. You can configure only ports 33-36 to carry Fibre Channel traffic. The ports cannot be used by a Cisco UCS domain until you configure them.

• Ports on the Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect can be configured to carry either Ethernet or Fibre Channel traffic. You can configure only ports 1-16 to carry Fibre Channel traffic. The ports cannot be used by a Cisco UCS domain until you configure them.

  Note

  The Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect supported 8 unified ports (ports 1 - 8) with Cisco UCS Manager 4.0(1) and 4.0(2), but with Release 4.0(4) and later releases, it supports 16 unified ports (ports 1 - 16). When you configure a port on a Fabric Interconnect, the administrative state is automatically set to enabled. If the port is connected to another device, this may cause traffic disruption. The port can be disabled and enabled after it has been configured.

The Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect is a 2-rack unit (RU), fixed-port system designed for Top-of-Rack deployment in data centers. The fabric interconnect has both Ethernet and unified ports. Unified ports provide Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Fibre Channel, NVMe over Fabric, and Ethernet. By supporting these different protocols, you can use a single multi-protocol Virtual Interface Card (VIC) in your servers.

The UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect supports an array of Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), Fibre Channel (FC), and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) ports to offer connectivity to peer data center devices. This device is also ideal for high-performance, scalable, and secure networking in modern data centers.

The Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect includes:

• 64 total ports

  • 48 ports of 40/100 Gbps

  • 16 unified ports

    • Supports 10/25 Gbps for Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)

    • Supports 10/25 Gbps or 16/32/64 Gbps Fibre Channel for maximum flexibility

• 2RU fixed form factor for dense 100 Gbps connectivity

• Fibre Channel end-host and switch-mode support

The Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect is a high-density, line-rate, low-latency 100 Gbps solution specifically designed for the Cisco UCS X-Series Modular System and Cisco UCS C-Series Rack servers. It serves as a foundational component within Cisco UCS, unifying computing, networking, management, storage access, and virtualization resources into a single, cohesive system. This integrated approach is engineered to significantly reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for data center deployments.

Architecture:

• Front Panel: Houses all the network ports and system status lights (LEDs). These ports are highly flexible, supporting various connection types like Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) through "Unified Ports."

• Rear Panel: Contains the management connections (for setup and control), and the power supplies and fan modules.

• Redundancy and Reliability: The design includes redundant power supplies and multiple fan modules to ensure continuous operation and efficient cooling.

This design allows the fabric interconnect to serve as a central hub, connecting servers to both the local network and external storage systems.

Key Features and Capabilities

• Unified Fabric:The Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect features 64 ports, including 48 QSFP ports (10/25 Gbps with Ethernet/FCoE support) and 16 Unified SFP ports (10/25 Gbps or 16/32/64 Gbps Fibre Channel). Ports 49-64 are optimized for secure uplinks with Media Access Control Security (MACsec).

• Server Connectivity:

  • For Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers, direct connection to the 6664 Fabric Interconnect is supported. Alternatively, the Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX3 switch can be deployed as a Fabric Extender (FEX) to provide the benefits of networking cabling consolidation for rack servers, similar to a modular server system.

  • For Cisco UCS X-Series Modular Systems, network cable consolidation is achieved through Intelligent Fabric Modules (IFMs). These IFMs are available in both 25 Gbps and 100 Gbps form factors, facilitating up to 200 Gbps of aggregate bandwidth per compute node.

Note	Port breakout functionality is not available on Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnects.

The Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect is a 2-rack unit (RU) fixed-port system designed for flexible and high-performance networking. It features 64 front panel ports that support a variety of connectivity options.

Front Panel Port Configuration and Types

The UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect supports the following possible configurations or port types for each front panel port:

Port Number	Port Hardware	Admin Port Speed	Port Type	Port Role
1-24	QSFP 28	40 Gbps/100 Gbps	Gigabit Ethernet	Server Port Ethernet/FCoE Uplink Port FCoE Storage Port Appliance Port (EHM only) Monitor Port
25-40 (Unified Ports)	SFP28	16 Gbps/32 Gbps/64 Gbps	Fibre Channel (FC)	FC Uplink Port FC Storage Port
		10 Gbps/25 Gbps	Gigabit Ethernet	Server Port Ethernet/FcoE Uplink Port Appliance Port (EHM only) Monitor Port
41-64 Note: Ports 49–64 are MAC Security (MACsec)-capable	QSFP 28	40 Gbps/100 Gbps	Gigabit Ethernet	Server Port Ethernet/FCoE Uplink Port FCoE Storage Port Appliance Port (EHM only) Monitor Port

Note	Breakout port functionality is not supported on Cisco UCS 6600 Series Fabric Interconnects.

The Cisco UCS X-Series Direct is identified by the product ID UCSX-S9108-100G, and the product description Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G.

Components of Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G:

• Two Cisco UCS X9508 Chassis

• A pair of Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G

• One or more of the following servers:

  • Up to eight two-socket Cisco UCS X215c M8 Compute Nodes

  • Up to eight two-socket Cisco UCS X210c M6/M7/M8 Compute Nodes

  • Up to four four-socket Cisco UCS X410c M7 Compute Nodes

  • Up to four Cisco UCS C220 M7/M8 Servers

  • Up to four Cisco UCS C240 M7/M8 Servers

  • Up to four Cisco UCS C225 M7/M8 Servers

  • Up to four Cisco UCS C245 M7/M8 Servers

• Optional components:

  • Cisco UCS 9416 X-Fabric Modules

  • Cisco UCS X440p PCIe Node with up to four GPUs used in conjunction with the 9416 X-Fabric Modules

The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G platform streamlines data center architecture by eliminating the need for separate Fabric Interconnects (FIs), integrating essential networking and management functionality directly within the chassis. The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G platform is designed for deployments in smaller settings, where the compute server requirements are less extensive than those of a traditional data center. This solution is centered around a single-chassis system, the Cisco UCS X9508 Chassis, which incorporates Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G directly into the chassis for a consolidated and efficient infrastructure. To ensure high availability, each chassis houses two Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G that establish direct downlink connections to servers and provide uplink connections to facilitate seamless integration with both Local Area Network (LAN) and Storage Area Network (SAN) systems. The Fabric Interconnects (FIs) are adeptly designed to fit into the Cisco UCS X-Series chassis, presenting as a single module within the NX-OS environment that merges QSFP ports with server backplane ports.

The hardware configuration of the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G platform retains the same form factor as the standard Cisco UCS X-Series chassis, and features 17 MACs, each configurable for 10 Gbps, 25 Gbps, 40 Gbps, or 100 Gbps connectivity. It is equipped with an CPU, for operating NX-OS, Cisco UCS Manager for management and Chassis Management Controller (CMC) software. The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G includes an onboard Ethernet switch with multiple 10G links dedicated to out-of-band communication between blade components such as the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), CMC. A dedicated 1G link facilitates IFM-to-IFM clustering and high availability synchronization. Within the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G, Ethernet ports 1-8, backplane ports 9-16, and the Baseboard Interface (BIF) port 17 coexist on a singular switch card. Ports 1-2 are unified to manage all SAN features and configurations. The 100G Ethernet ports [1-8] can also be configured as 25Gx4 SFP28 compatible breakout ports or 4x10G ports, offering flexible networking solutions to accommodate a range of data center needs.

The Cisco UCS X-Series Direct architecture is engineered to support a diverse range of workloads, from traditional applications to cloud-native services, by offering a composable and disaggregated approach to computing resources. Key components of the Cisco UCS X-Series Direct architecture include:

• Cisco UCSX-9508 Chassis—A modular and future-proof chassis that can accommodate various types of compute nodes, providing the flexibility to adapt to different workload requirements without the need for a complete hardware overhaul.

  Cisco UCS X-Series Direct supports the addition of a secondary Cisco UCS X9508 Chassis, enabling scalability of up to 20 servers. This includes both Cisco UCS C-Series servers and Cisco UCS X-Series Compute Nodes, providing flexible expansion options for diverse workloads.

• Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G—This solution is centered around a single-chassis system, the Cisco UCS X9508 Chassis, which incorporates Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G directly into the chassis for a consolidated and efficient infrastructure. To ensure high availability, each chassis houses two Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G that establish direct downlink connections to servers and provide uplink connections to facilitate seamless integration with both Local Area Network (LAN) and Storage Area Network (SAN) systems.

• Software Architecture—In terms of the startup and operational model, the management, Cisco UCS Manager aligns with the approach taken in the Cisco UCS 6500 and 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects. In this model, Cisco UCS Manager is encapsulated within a container and is initiated by the underlying NX-OS, depending on the selected management mode.

The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G is equipped with advanced port breakout functionality, which allows network administrators to subdivide a single high-bandwidth port into multiple lower-bandwidth ports. This feature is particularly beneficial for optimizing port utilization, managing cabling complexity, and adapting to various bandwidth requirements.

The Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect is a core part of the Cisco Unified Computing System, providing both network connectivity and management capabilities for the system. The Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect provides the communication backbone and management connectivity for UCS B-series blade servers and UCS C-series rack servers.

Cisco UCS 6500 Series Fabric Interconnects currently include Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect. All servers attached to a Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect become part of a single, highly available management domain. In addition, by supporting a unified fabric, Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect provides both LAN and SAN connectivity for all servers within its domain.

The Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect supports multiple traffic classes over a lossless Ethernet fabric from the server through the fabric interconnect.

The Cisco UCS 6536 36-Port Fabric Interconnect is a One-Rack-Unit (1RU) 1/10/25/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet, FCoE, and Fibre Channel switch offering up to 7.42 Tbps throughput and up to 36 ports.

Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect supports splitting a single 40 Gigabit(G)/100G Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) port into four 10G/25G ports using a supported breakout cable. The switch has 32 40/100-Gbps Ethernet ports and four unified ports that can support 40/100-Gbps Ethernet ports or 16 Fiber Channel (FC) ports after breakout at 8/16/32-Gbps FC speeds. The 16 FC ports after breakout can operate as an FC Uplink or FC storage port. The switch also supports two ports (Port 9 and Port 10) at 1-Gbps speed using QSA, and all 36 ports can breakout for 10 or 25 Gbps Ethernet connectivity. All Ethernet ports can support FCoE.

Port breakout is supported for Ethernet ports (1-32) and Unified ports (33-36). These 40/100G ports are numbered in a 2-tuple naming convention. The process of changing the configuration from 40G to 10G, or from 100G to 25G is called breakout, and the process of changing the configuration from [4X]10G to 40G or from [4X]25G to 100G is called unconfigure.

When you break out a 40G port into 10G ports or a 100G port into 25G ports, the resulting ports are numbered using a 3-tuple naming convention. For example, the breakout ports of the second 40-Gigabit Ethernet port are numbered as 1/31/1, 1/31/2, 1/31/3, and 1/31/4.

FC breakout is supported on ports 36 through 33 when each port is configured with a four-port breakout cable. For example: Four FC breakout ports on the physical port 33 are numbered as 1/33/1, 1/33/2, 1/33/3, and 1/33/4.

Note	Fibre Channel support is only available through the configuration of the Unified Ports (36-33) as Fibre Channel breakout port.

The following image shows the rear view of the Cisco UCS 6536 fabric interconnect:

The following image shows the rear view of the Cisco UCS 6536 fabric interconnect that include Ports and LEDs:

Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect provides both network connectivity and management capabilities to the Cisco UCS system. The fabric interconnect provides Ethernet and Fibre Channel to the servers in the system, the servers connect to the fabric interconnect, and then to the LAN or SAN.

Each Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect runs Cisco UCS Manager to fully manage all Cisco UCS elements. The fabric interconnect supports 10/25 Gigabit ports in the fabric with 40/100 Gigabit uplink ports. High availability can be achieved when a Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect is connected to another Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect through the L1 or L2 port on each device.

Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect consists of:

• Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnects

• Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnects

The Cisco UCS 6400 Series fabric interconnect supports Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers, UCS 5108 B-Series Server Chassis, C-Series Rack Servers, and UCS S-Series Storage Servers.

The Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect is a 2 RU top-of-rack (TOR) switch that mounts in a standard 19-inch rack such as the Cisco R Series rack.

The high-density Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect has 96 10/25 Gb SFP28 ports and 12 40/100 Gb QSFP28 ports. Each 40/100 Gb port can break out into 4 x 10/25 Gb uplink ports. Ports 1 - 16 are unified ports that support 10/25 GbE or 8/16/32G Fibre Channel speeds. Ports 89-96 support 1Gbps Ethernet speeds.

The Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect supports either:

• Eight FCoE port channels

• Or Four SAN port channels

• or Four SAN port channels and four FCoE port channels

The Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect also has one network management port, one RS-232 serial console port for setting the initial configuration, and one USB port for saving or loading configurations. The FI also includes L1/L2 ports for connecting two fabric interconnects in a high-availability configuration.

The Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect also contains a CPU board that consists of:

• Intel Xeon Processor, 6 core

• 64 GB of RAM

• 8 MB of NVRAM (4 x NVRAM chips)

• 128 GB SSD (bootflash)

The Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect has two power supplies (redundant as 1+1) and three fans (redundant as 2+1).

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect (FI) is a 1-RU top-of-rack switch that mounts in a standard 19-inch rack such as the Cisco R Series rack.

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect has 48 10/25 Gb SFP28 ports (16 unified ports) and 6 40/100 Gb QSFP28 ports. Each 40/100 Gb port can break out into 4 x 10/25 Gb uplink ports. The sixteen unified ports support 10/25 GbE or 8/16/32G Fibre Channel speeds.

Note	The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect supported 8 unified ports (ports 1 - 8) with Cisco UCS Manager 4.0(1) and 4.0(2), but with release 4.0(4) and later it supports 16 unified ports (ports 1 - 16).

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect supports:

• Maximum of 8 FCoE port channels

• Or 4 SAN port channels

• Or a maximum of 8 SAN port channels and FCoE port channels (4 each)

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect also has one network management port, one console port for setting the initial configuration, and one USB port for saving or loading configurations. The FI also includes L1/L2 ports for connecting two fabric interconnects for high availability.

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect also contains a CPU board that consists of:

• Intel Xeon D-1528 v4 Processor, 1.6 GHz

• 64 GB of RAM

• 8 MB of NVRAM (4 x NVRAM chips)

• 128 GB SSD (bootflash)

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect chassis has two power supplies and four fans. Two of the fans provide front to rear airflow.

Cisco UCS Manager Release 4.0(1) and 4.0(2) introduced support for various software features on Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnects. Cisco UCS Manager Release 4.1 extends support for these features on Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnects. These software features are:

• Switching Modes—Support for Ethernet and FC switching modes on Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects .

• MAC Security—Support for MAC security on Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects.

• Breakout Uplink Ports—Support for splitting a single 40/100G QSFP port into four 10/25G ports using a supported breakout cable. These ports can be used only as Ethernet uplink or FCoE uplink ports connecting to a 10/25G switch. They cannot be configured as server ports, FCoE storage ports, appliance ports or monitoring ports.

• MTU Configuration—Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnects support MTU configuration for QOS drop class policy.

Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects do not support the following software features:

• Chassis Discovery Policy in Non-Port Channel Mode—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects support only Port Channel mode.

• Chassis Connectivity Policy in Non-Port Channel Mode—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects support only Port Channel mode.

• Multicast Hardware Hash—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects do not support multicast hardware hash.

• Service Profiles with Dynamic vNICS—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects do not support Dynamic vNIC Connection Policies.

• Multicast Optimize—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects do not support Multicast Optimize for QoS.

• Port profiles and DVS Related Configurations—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects do not support configurations related to port profiles and distributed virtual switches (DVS).

Configuration of the following software features has changed for Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects:

• Unified Ports—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects support up to 16 unified ports, which can be configured as FC. These ports appear at the beginning of the module.

• VLAN Optimization—On Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects, you can configure VLAN port count optimization through port VLAN (VP) grouping when the PV count exceeds 16000.

  The following table shows the PV count with VLAN port count optimization for the supported Fabric Interconnects.

  	6400 Series FI (6454 & 64108)	6500 Series FI (6536 FI)	6600 Series FI (6664 FI)
  PV Count with VLAN Port Count Optimization Disabled	16000	16000	16000
  PV Count with VLAN Port Count Optimization Enabled	108000	108000	108000

  When a Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect is in Ethernet switching mode:

  • The Fabric Interconnect does not support VLAN Port Count Optimization Enabled

  • The Fabric Interconnect supports 16000 PVs, similar to EHM mode, when set to VLAN Port Count Optimization Disabled

• Limited Restriction on VLAN—Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects reserve 128 additional VLANs for system purposes.

Cisco UCS is a single integrated system with switches, cables, adapters, and servers that are all tied together and managed by unified management software. One capability that enables this unification is the ability to virtualize every component of the system at every level. Switch port, cables, adapter, and servers can all be virtualized. Because of the virtualization capabilities at every component of the system, you have the unique capability to provide rapid provisioning of any service on any server on any blade through a system that is wired once. The following image illustrates these virtualization capabilities.