Brocade Communications Systems X6-4, Hardware Installation Manual, Page: 141 / 249

Core Routing Blades
• Core routing blade overview.......................................................................................................................................................................141
• Precautions specific to the blade............................................................................................................................................................. 144
• Faulty core routing blade indicators........................................................................................................................................................ 145
• Time and items required..............................................................................................................................................................................146
• Replacing a core routing blade..................................................................................................................................................................146
• Verifying blade operation.............................................................................................................................................................................149
Core routing blade overview
Two CR32-4 core routing blades are installed in device slots 5 and 6. Core routing blades contain ASICs that allow switching between up
to four port blades. Core routing blades connect to port blades through Fibre Channel backplane ports. Each core routing blade provides
96 backplane ports for port blade connection. Each core routing blade also has 32 front-end ports that are mapped to 8 QSFP
transceivers on the blade's front panel. These transceivers can create ICL connections for up to nine separate directors in a full-mesh
topology and 12 directors in a core-to-edge topology. Each transceiver provides four 32 Gbps FC links for a total of 128 Gbps per
connection. This core routing blade is compatible only with the Brocade X6-4.
Core routing blades contain the following LED indicators:
• Green blade power LED
• Amber blade status LED
• Bicolor green/amber QSFP port status LEDs
For details on interpreting LED operation, refer to Interpreting core routing blade LEDs on page 108.
CR32-4 port numbering
The following illustration shows how ports are numbered and port trunking groups are arranged on the blade.
FIGURE 54 CR32-4 core routing blade port numbering
1. QSFP ports 4-7 (right to left)
2. QSFP ports 0-3 (right to left)
3. Map of ports 2, 3, 6, and 7
4. Map of ports 0, 1, 4, and 5
QSFP ports are numbered from 0 through 3 along the top row from right to left and 4 through 7 along bottom row from right to left. For
information on supported QSFP transceivers, refer to
Supported transceivers and cables on page 87.
Ports belonging to the same trunking groups are indicated with the same color border under the ports. These colors are also applied to
the port map labels on each blade to indicate ports belonging to the same trunking groups.
Brocade X6-4 Director Hardware Installation Guide
53-1004106-07 141