MXS924 Users Guide
–
Dolphin Interconnect Solutions
Page 12
Cables
The MXS924 switch supports x4 copper or fiber cables. The maximum cable distance will depend on the actual cable
quality, the device at the other end of the cable, and the cable link speed (Gen1, Gen2, Gen3 or Gen4). Cables compliant
to the PCI-SIG External Cabling Specification 3.0 (PCIe 3.0 cables) are recommended for transparent use. NTB use cases
can use PCIe 3.0 cables or approved MiniSAS-HD cables available from Dolphin.
Speed and medium, card
Max cable length
Gen4, MXH930, MXH932
Copper 3 meters tested, longer TBD
Fiber 100 meters
Gen3, PXH830, PXH832
Copper 3 meters tested, longer TBD
Fiber 100 meters
Gen3, MXH830, MXH832
TBD
Between MXS924 switches (Gen4)
TBD
Management processor
The actual configuration of the switch is controlled by the onboard firmware loaded from onboard FLASH memory and will
be enabled immediately after power is applied to the switch. The built-in management processor has no active role in
normal operations except for firmware updates, switch configuration and monitoring.
Use cases summary and settings
The table below gives an overview of the default configuration settings and limitations.
Use Case
Description
Cable Hot Plug
Power Sequence
Requirements
Software/
Driver
Transparent Transparent
– Dolphin
adapter card connects
to downstream PCIe
devices or PCIe
expansion systems
through the MXS924
switch
Not supported by
legacy device
drivers
IO system and
MXS924 must
power on before
PC
No driver required
for host card or
MXS924 switch.
Legacy drivers for IO
Devices
NTB
NTB configuration. All
connected hosts have
Dolphin adapter card
Fully supported
No limitations
Dolphin SISCI,
SuperSockets,
TCP/IP, SmartIO
Table 3: Switch use cases
