Fanning out 40G Ports Dynamically
Splitting QSFP Ports to SFP+ Ports
The platform supports splitting a single 40G QSFP port into four 10G SFP+ ports using one of the
supported breakout cables (for a list of supported cables, refer to the Installation Guide or the Release
Notes).
NOTE: You can split the 40G ports to 10G ports and vice —versa without reloading the device.
To split a single 40G port into four 10G ports, use the following command.
• Split a single 40G port into four 10G ports.
CONFIGURATION mode
stack-unit stack-unit port number portmode quad
– stack-unit: enter the stack member unit identifier of the stack member to reset. The range is
from 1 to 6.
– number: enter the port number of the 40G port to be split. In S6000–ON, all are 40 G ports. The
range is from 1 to 32.
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
effectively 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 configure 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 first 10 Gigabit port and you can use only that port for
Interfaces
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