Cable Installation

All cables can be inserted or removed with the unit powered on.

To insert a cable, press the connector into the port receptacle until the connector is firmly seated. The LED indicator, corresponding to each data port, will light when the physical connection is established. When a logical connection is made, the relevant port LED will turn on.

To remove a cable, disengage the locks and slowly pull the connector away from the port receptacle. The LED indicator for that port will turn off when the cable is unseated.

For a list of Supported Cables and Transceivers, please refer to the SN4000 Systems Datasheet.

For full cabling guidelines, ask your NVIDIA representative for a copy of NVIDIA Cable Management Guidelines and FAQs Application Note.

For more information about port LEDs, refer to Port LEDs.

QSFP Cable Orientation

When using an NVIDIA splitter cable, the following splitting options are available:

• SN4410 (see "SN4410 Splitting Options”):

  • Each 100GbE port (ports #1-24) provides up to 24 100GbE NRZ; or up to 48 100GbE NRZ, using a QSFP-DD to QSFP28 splitter cable (1/10/25/40/50GbE speeds are supported as well).

  • Each 400GbE port (ports #25-32) can be split to 8 ports of 50GbE, while blocking the adjacent ports.

  • Each 400GbE port (ports #25-32) can be split to 2 ports of 200GbE or 4 ports of 100GbE, without any limitations.

• SN4600 (see "SN4600/SN4600C Splitting Options”):

  • Each 200GbE port can be split to 2 ports of 100GbE without any limitation.

  • Each 200GbE odd number port can be split to 4 ports of 50GbE while disabling (unmapping) the 100GbE port above or below it.

  • Each 100GbE port can be split to 2 ports of 50GbE without any limitation. Each 100GbE odd number port can be split to 4 ports of 25GbE, while disabling (unmapping) the 100GbE port above or below it. See "SN4600/SN4600C Splitting Options” below.

• SN4600C (see "SN4600/SN4600C Splitting Options”):

  • Each 100GbE port can be split to 2 ports of 50GbE without any limitation.

  • Each 100GbE odd number port can be split to 4 ports of 25GbE ports, while disabling (unmapping) the 100GbE port above or below it. See "SN4600/SN4600C Splitting Options” below.

• SN4700 (see "SN4700 Splitting Options”):

  • Each 400GbE port (ports #1-32) can be split to 8 ports of 50GbE, while blocking the adjacent ports.

  • Each 400GbE port (ports #1-32) can be split to 2 ports of 200GbE or 4 ports of 100GbE, without any limitations.

Using Splitter (Breakout) Cables with NVIDIA Onyx (MLNX-OS)

When using this feature, you should log into the NVIDIA Onyx (MLNX-OS) CLI and configure the individual ports to be ‘split-2’ or ‘split-4’. For further information on NVIDIA’s cable, visit https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/networking/interconnect/.

Using Splitter (Breakout) Cables with Cumulus Linux

If you are using 4x10G direct attach copper cables or active optical cables, edit the /etc/cumulus/ports.conf to enable support for these cables, then restart the switchd service using the sudo systemctl restart switchd command. For more details, see Switch Port Attributes in the Cumulus Linux User Guide.

Examples of Splitter (Breakout or Fanout) Cables

SN4410 Splitting Options

SN4600/SN4600C Splitting Options

SN4700 Splitting Options