IBM System Networking RackSwitch G8264
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IBM System Networking RackSwitch G8264
IBM Redbooks Product Guide
IBM® System Networking RackSwitch™ G8264 leveraging 10Gb SFP+ and 40Gb QSFP+ Ethernet
technology is specifically designed for the data center. It is ideal for today's big data, cloud, and
optimized workload solutions. It is an enterprise class Layer 2 and layer 3 full featured switch that
delivers line-rate, high-bandwidth switching, filtering, and traffic queuing without delaying data. Large
data-center grade buffers help keep traffic moving, while the redundant power and fans along with
numerous high availability features help provide high availability for business sensitive traffic.
The RackSwitch G8264, shown in Figure 1, is ideal for latency sensitive applications such as high
performance computing clusters and financial applications. In addition to the 10-Gb Ethernet (GbE)
and 40-GbE connections, the G8264 also has the capability for legacy 1-GbE connections. The
G8264 supports the newest protocols including Data Center Bridging/Converged Enhanced Ethernet
(DCB/CEE) for support of Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) in addition to iSCSI and
network-attached storage (NAS).
Figure 1. IBM System Networking RackSwitch G8264
The G8264 also supports IBM Virtual Fabric, which helps clients significantly reduce cost and
complexity related to I/O requirements of many virtualization deployments. Virtual Fabric helps reduce
the number of multiple I/O adapters to a single dual-port 10 G adapter and reduces the number of
cables and required upstream switch ports. By using Virtual Fabric, you can carve a dual-port 10 G
server adapter into 8 virtual network interface cards (vNICs) and create dedicated virtual pipes
between the adapter and switch for optimal performance, higher availability, and improved security.
With Virtual Fabric IT, you can make dynamic changes and allocate bandwidth per vNIC so that you
can adjust it over time without downtime.
The RackSwitch G8264 is the first 10 GbE switch to offer benefits of OpenFlow. OpenFlow is the new
open application programming interface (API) that enables the network administrator to easily
configure and manage virtual networks that control traffic on a “per-flow” basis. It creates multiple
independent virtual networks and related policies without dealing with the complexities of the
underlying physical network and protocols. The G8264 is also the recommended switch to use with
the network controller that is compliant with OpenFlow, which is the IBM Programmable Network
Controller.
Did you know?
The RackSwitch G8264 supports several types of configurations: 1-Gb, 10-Gb, and 40-Gb, vNIC,
Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE/DCB), NAS, and iSCSI.
The RackSwitch G8264 with SFP+ technology is the ideal solution for clients who are looking for
low latency and low power consumption.
The IBM RackSwitch G8264 supports stacking for up to eight switches using a single switch
image and configuration file that shares one IP address and one management interface.
