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System Installation and Initialization

Installation and initialization of the system require attention to the normal mechanical, power, and thermal precautions for rack-mounted equipment.

The rack mounting holes conform to the EIA-310 standard for 19-inch racks. Take precautions to guarantee proper ventilation in order to maintain good airflow at ambient temperature.

Due to thermal considerations, the switch systems must be installed in a horizontal position. do not install the systems vertically. 




  • Unless otherwise specified, NVIDIA products are designed to work in an environmentally controlled data center with low levels of gaseous and dust (particulate) contamination.
  • The operation environment should meet severity level G1 as per ISA 71.04 for gaseous contamination and ISO 14644-1 class 8 for cleanliness level.

The installation procedure for the system involves the following phases:

StepProcedureSee
1Follow the safety warnings

Safety Warnings

2Pay attention to the air flow consideration within the system and rackAir Flow
3Make sure that none of the package contents is missing or damagedPackage Contents
4Mount the system into a rack enclosure19" System Mounting Options
5Power on the system

Initial Power On

6Perform system bring-upSystem Bring-Up of Managed Systems
7[Optional] FRU replacementsFRU Replacements

Safety Warnings

Prior to the installation, please review the Safety Warnings. Note that some warnings may not apply to all models.

Air Flow

NVIDIA systems are offered with two air flow patterns:

  • Power (rear) side inlet to connector side outlet - marked with blue dots that are placed on the power inlet side.

    Air Flow Direction Marking - Power Side Inlet to Connector Side Outlet

  • Connector (front) side inlet to power side outlet - marked with red dots that are placed on the power inlet side. 

    Air Flow Direction Marking - Connector Side Inlet to Power Side Outlet

  • All servers and systems in the same rack should be planned with the same airflow direction.
  • All FRU components need to have the same air flow direction. A mismatch in the air flow will affect the heat dissipation.

The table below provides an air flow color legend and respective OPN designation.

DirectionDescription and OPN Designation

Power side inlet to connector side outlet. Blue indicators are placed on the power inlet side.
OPN designation is “-F”.

Connector side inlet to power side outlet. Red indicators are placed on the power inlet side. 
OPN designation is “-R”.

Package Contents

Before installing your new system, unpack it and check against the parts list below that all the parts have been sent. Check the parts for visible damage that may have occurred during shipping.

The QM9700 and QM9790 package content is as follows:

  • 1 – System
  • 1 – Rail kit
  • 4 – Power cables Type C14 to C15
  • 1 - Harness: HAR000631 – Harness RS232 2M cable – DB9 to RJ-45 (only in QM9700)
  • 2 – Cable retainers
  • 32 - OSFP thermal caps 

If anything is damaged or missing, contact your sales representative at Networking-support@nvidia.com.

19” System Mounting Options

By default, the systems are shipped with the rail kit described in Tool-Less Rail Kit.