Cisco UCS Manager is embedded software that resides on the fabric interconnects, providing complete configuration and management capabilities for all of the components in the Cisco UCS system. This configuration information is replicated between the two fabric interconnects, providing a highly available solution for this critical function. The most common way to access Cisco UCS Manager for simple tasks is to use a Web browser. A command-line interface (CLI) and an XML API are also included for command-line or programmatic operations.

The Cisco UCS Manager GUI provides role-based access control (RBAC) to allow multiple levels of users administrative rights to system objects. Users can be restricted to certain portions of the system based on locale, which corresponds to an optional organizational structure that can be created. Users can also be classified based on their access levels or areas of expertise, such as Storage Administrator, Server Equipment Administrator, or Read-Only.

Cisco UCS Manager provides unified, embedded management of all software and hardware components. Every instance of Cisco UCS Manager and all of the components managed by it form a domain. For organizations that deploy multiple Cisco UCS domains, Cisco UCS Central software provides a centralized user interface that allows you to manage multiple, globally distributed Cisco UCS domains with thousands of servers. Cisco UCS Central integrates with Cisco UCS Manager and utilizes it to provide global configuration capabilities for pools, policies, and firmware.

With unified fabric, multiple types of data center traffic can run over a single Data Center Ethernet (DCE) network. Instead of having a series of different host bus adapters (HBAs) and network interface cards (NICs) present in a server, unified fabric uses a single converged network adapter. This type of adapter can carry LAN and SAN traffic on the same cable.

Cisco UCS uses Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) to carry Fibre Channel and Ethernet traffic on the same physical Ethernet connection between the fabric interconnect and the server. This connection terminates at a converged network adapter on the server, and the unified fabric terminates on the uplink ports of the fabric interconnect. On the core network, the LAN and SAN traffic remains separated. Cisco UCS does not require that you implement unified fabric across the data center.

The converged network adapter presents an Ethernet interface and Fibre Channel interface to the operating system. At the server, the operating system is not aware of the FCoE encapsulation because it sees a standard Fibre Channel HBA.

At the fabric interconnect, the server-facing Ethernet port receives the Ethernet and Fibre Channel traffic. The fabric interconnect (using Ethertype to differentiate the frames) separates the two traffic types. Ethernet frames and Fibre Channel frames are switched to their respective uplink interfaces.

The primary components included within Cisco UCS Manager are as follows:

• Cisco UCS Manager—Cisco UCS Manager is the centralized management interface for Cisco UCS. For more information on Cisco UCS Manager, see Introduction to Cisco UCS Manager in Cisco UCS Manager Getting Started Guide

• Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects—The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect is the core component of Cisco UCS deployments, providing both network connectivity and management capabilities for the Cisco UCS system. The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects run the Cisco UCS Manager control software and consist of the following components:

  • Cisco UCS fabric interconnects:

    • Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect

    • Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G (Cisco UCS X-Series Direct)

    • Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect

    • Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect

  • Transceivers for network and storage connectivity

  • Expansion modules for various Fabric Interconnects

  • Cisco UCS Manager software

  For more information on Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects, see Cisco UCS Fabric Infrastructure Portfolio.

• Cisco UCS I/O Modules and Cisco UCS Fabric Extender—IO modules are also known as Cisco FEX or simply FEX modules. These modules serve as line cards to the FIs in the same way that Cisco Nexus Series switches can have remote line cards. IO modules also provide interface connections to blade servers. They multiplex data from blade servers and provide this data to FIs and do the same in the reverse direction. In production environments, IO modules are always used in pairs to provide redundancy and failover.

  Important

  The 40G backplane setting is not applicable for 22xx IOMs.

• Cisco UCS Blade Server Chassis—The Cisco UCS 5100 Series Blade Server Chassis is a crucial building block of Cisco UCS, delivering a scalable and flexible architecture for current and future data center needs, while helping reduce total cost of ownership.

• Cisco UCS Blade and Rack Servers—Cisco UCS Blade servers are at the heart of the UCS solution. They come in various system resource configurations in terms of CPU, memory, and hard disk capacity. The Cisco UCS rack-mount servers are standalone servers that can be installed and controlled individually. Cisco provides Fabric Extenders (FEXs) for the rack-mount servers. FEXs can be used to connect and manage rack-mount servers from FIs. Rack-mount servers can also be directly attached to the fabric interconnect.

  Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) can choose from different blade configurations as per business needs.

• Cisco UCS I/O Adapters—Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers are designed to support up to two network adapters. This design can reduce the number of adapters, cables, and access-layer switches by as much as half because it eliminates the need for multiple parallel infrastructure for both LAN and SAN at the server, chassis, and rack levels.

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 (UCSC-FI-6664) is a 2-rack unit (2RU), fixed-port system designed for Top-of-Rack (TOR) deployment in data centers. It serves as a central component in the Cisco UCS system, providing both network connectivity and management capabilities. It connects servers to the LAN or SAN, facilitating a unified computing environment. Management of the fabric interconnect can be performed through its console interface for initial setup, and subsequently via its management interface within Cisco UCS Manager.

Key features of Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect:

• Ports

  48 QSFP ports: These ports are divided into two groups:

  • QSFP Ports 1-24: Support Gigabit Ethernet links at speeds of 10 Gbps (through QSA transceivers), and 25 Gbps, 40 Gbps, and 100 Gbps (through QSA28 transceivers). FCoE links are also supported, but standard FC links are not.

  • QSFP Ports 41-64: Support only Gigabit Ethernet or Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) links at speeds of 10 Gbps (through QSA transceivers), and 25 Gbps, 40 Gbps, or 100 Gbps (through QSA28 transceivers). Standard Fibre Channel links are not supported on these ports.

• 16 Unified Ports (SFP ports 25-40): These ports, indicated by yellow silk screening, are flexible and support:

  • Fibre Channel: 16 Gbps, 32 Gbps, or 64 Gbps. These are the only ports on the Fabric Interconnect that support standard FC traffic.

  • Gigabit Ethernet or Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE): 10 Gbps or 25 Gbps.

• MACsec-capable Ports: QSFP ports 49-64 are recommended as uplinks and support Media Access Control Security (MACsec) on Gigabit Ethernet links, but not FCoE links.

• Breakout Support: Breakout port support for this fabric interconnect currently not available.

• Secure Boot Support

• Fan modules (4): These are port-side exhaust fan modules (NXASFAN-160CFM2-PE) with blue coloring, providing redundant and load-sharing cooling.

• Power supply modules (2): Two 1400-W AC power supply modules (NXA-PAC-1400W-PE) are provided for 1+1 redundancy. These also feature port-side exhaust airflow with blue coloring.

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 (UCSC-FI-6536) is a One-rack unit (1RU), top of rack (TOR), fixed-port data center platform that provides both network connectivity and management capabilities to the Cisco UCS system.

The fabric interconnect can provide Ethernet and Fibre Channel connectivity to the servers in the system. The servers connect to the fabric interconnect, and then to the LAN or SAN.

Cisco UCS Manager on UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect supports Cisco UCS X-Series Compute Nodes, B-Series Blade Servers and C-Series Rack Servers, Cisco UCS S-Series Storage Servers, as well as the associated storage resources and networks.

High availability and redundancy can be achieved by connecting a pair of fabric interconnects to each other through L1 or L2 ports in cluster mode configuration.

Each Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect offers the following features:

• Thirty-six QSFP28 ports capable of 100G including 4 unified ports (33-36). Ports also support:

  • Autonegotiating with peer devices to speeds of 100G, 40G, 25G, 10G, and 1G.

  • Port breakout is supported for Ethernet ports (1-32) and Unified ports (33-36).

    • Ethernet breakout is supported on switch ports 1 through 36 when each port is configured with a breakout cable.

      • The Dynamic Ethernet Breakout feature enables converting a standard Ethernet port to a breakout port on-the-fly so that you do not need to reboot the Fabric Interconnect. Dynamic Ethernet Breakout also supports converting breakout ports back to a standard Ethernet port without a reboot.

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

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

      • FC breakout ports support peer communication at fixed speeds of 8Gbs, 16 Gbps, and 32 Gbps.

      • All four FC breakout ports must be configured with the same speed. Mixed speeds on a QSFP port's FC breakout ports are not supported.

      • Using breakout ports enables the fabric interconnect to support the maximum 16 FC ports supported by Fibre Channel.

    Note	Converting from Ethernet to FC breakout ports, or FC breakout ports back to Ethernet, requires a reboot/reload after changing the breakout type. FCoE storage ports are not supported.

• One management port (one 10/100/1000BASE-T port)

• Two L1/L2 Ethernet RJ-45 ports for high availability or cluster configurations. Ethernet ports support 10/100/1000Mb speed.

• One console port (RS-232)

• One USB 3.0 port

• CPU: 4 Core, 1.8GHz, Intel 5th-Generation core processor

• Memory:

  • 32 GB DDR4 DIMMs

  • 128 GB M.2 SSD Flash Drive

  • 32 GB Boot Flash (16 MB primary, and 16 MB standby/golden)

This fabric interconnect includes the following user-replaceable components:

• Fan modules (6), each is a port-side exhaust fan module with dark grey latch coloring (UCS-FAN-6536).

• Power supply modules (2). One power supply module (PSU) is the active module for operations, and the second PSU is the standby for redundancy [1+1]) with the following choices:

  • 1100-W AC power supply with dark grey latch coloring (UCS-PSU-6536-AC)

  Note	All fan modules and power supplies must use the same airflow direction.

The following figure shows the fabric interconnect features on the port side of the chassis.

To determine which transceivers, adapters, and cables are support the fabric interconnect, see the Cisco Transceiver Modules Compatibility Information document.

The following figure shows the fabric interconnect features on the power supply side of the chassis.

The following figure shows the side of the chassis.

Plan to position the ports in a hot aisle so that fans and power supplies intake air from the cold aisle, blow the cool air through the fabric interconnect, and exhaust the heated air into the hot aisle.

The fan and power supply modules are field replaceable. You can replace one fan module or one power supply module during operations so long as the other modules are installed and operating. If you have only one power supply installed, you can install the replacement power supply in the open slot before removing the original power supply.

Note	All fan and power supply modules must have the same direction of airflow. Otherwise, the fabric interconnect can overheat and shut down.

Caution

Because fans and power supply modules have port-side exhaust airflow (blue coloring for fan modules), you must locate the ports in the hot aisle. If you locate the air intake in a hot aisle, the fabric interconnect can overheat and shut down.

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 Fabric Interconnect Port Overview

Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects offer flexible and high-performance networking solutions, supporting various port configurations for Ethernet, Fibre Channel (FC), and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) traffic. The specific capabilities vary by model and generation.

Port Details by Fabric Interconnect Model

Configuration Notes

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 following table summarizes the port support the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects:

Migration Limitations:

Migration from any generation Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects (including fourth, fifth, or sixth generation) to Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G (Cisco UCS X-Series Direct) is currently not supported.

Cisco UCS Manager supports migration between various Fabric Interconnect models to facilitate seamless upgrades and enhanced performance. Below is the list of supported migrations:

• Cisco UCS 6400 Series to Cisco UCS 6500 Series Fabric Interconnects

  • Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect to Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect

  • Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect to Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect

  • Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect to Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect migration with UCS Central

  • Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect to Cisco UCS 6536 Fabric Interconnect migration with UCS Central

  • Cisco UCS 6400 Series to Cisco UCS 6600 Series Fabric Interconnects

    • Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect to Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect

    • Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect to Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect

    • Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect to Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect migration with UCS Central

    • Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnect to Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect migration with UCS Central

  • Cisco UCS 6500 Series to Cisco UCS 6600 Series Fabric Interconnect

  • Cisco UCS 6536 to Fabric Interconnect to Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect

  • Cisco UCS 6536 to Fabric Interconnect to Cisco UCS 6664 Fabric Interconnect with UCS Central

Note

The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G (Cisco UCS X-Series Direct) cannot currently be migrated to any other Fabric Interconnects. For more information, refer to the appropriate Migration Guide for Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects available on the Cisco UCS Manager Configuration Guides listing page.

You can configure a Cisco UCS domain in the following ways:

• As a single fabric interconnect in a standalone configuration

• As a redundant pair of fabric interconnects in a cluster configuration

A cluster configuration provides high availability. If one fabric interconnect becomes unavailable, the other takes over. Only one management port (Mgmt0) connection is required to support a cluster configuration. However, both Mgmt0 ports should be connected to provide link-level redundancy. In a cluster configuration, the master and slave slots are identified as primary and subordinate.

In addition, a cluster configuration actively enhances failover recovery time for redundant virtual interface (VIF) connections. When an adapter has an active VIF connection to one fabric interconnect and a standby VIF connection to the second, the learned MAC addresses of the active VIF are replicated but not installed on the second fabric interconnect. If the active VIF fails, the second fabric interconnect installs the replicated MAC addresses and broadcasts them to the network through gratuitous ARP messages, shortening the switchover time.

Note	The cluster configuration provides redundancy only for the management plane. Data redundancy is dependent on the user configuration and might require a third-party tool to support data redundancy.