Lenovo RackSwitch G8264 Leverages 10Gb SFP+ and 40Gb QSFP+ Ethernet User Guide

: June 3, 2024
: Lenovo

Table of Contents

RackSwitch G8264
Part number information
Features and specifications
Connectors and LEDs
Network cabling requirements
Warranty
Typical configurations
Trademarks
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

RackSwitch G8264

Product Guide (withdrawn product)

The RackSwitch™ G8264 that leverages 10Gb SFP+ and 40Gb QSFP+ Ethernet technology and 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 traditional 1 GbE connections. The G8264 supports the newest protocols including Data Center Bridging/Converged Enhanced Ethernet (DCB/CEE) for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) in addition to iSCSI and network-attached storage (NAS).

Did you know?
The G8264 supports Virtual Fabric, which helps clients significantly reduce the 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, 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 the 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. With OpenFlow, clients can easily create user-controlled virtual networks, optimize performance dynamically, and minimize complexity when used with an industry- compliant OpenFlow controller.

Part number information

The part numbers to order the switch and additional options are shown in Table

Table 1. Part numbers and feature codes for ordering

Description| Part number| Feature code for MTM 7309-HC3| Feature code for MTM 7309-HC4
---|---|---|---
Switch
RackSwitch G8264 (Rear to Front)| 7309G64| A1AC| None
RackSwitch G8264 (Front to Rear)| 730964F| None| A1AD
Miscellaneous options
Console Cable Kit Spare| 90Y9462| A2MG| A2MG
Adjustable 19″ 4 Post Rail Kit| 00D6185| A3KP| A3KP
Recessed 19″ 4 Post Rail Kit| 00CG089| None| A51M
iDataPlex Rail Kit| 90Y3535| None| A1SZ
Air Inlet Duct for 483 mm RackSwitch| 00D6060| A3KQ| None
Hot-Swappable, Front-to-Rear Power Supply Spare| 49Y7937| None| A2MJ
Hot-Swappable, Rear-to-Front Power Supply Spare| 49Y7938| A2MH| None
Hot-Swappable, Front-to-Rear Fan Assembly Spare| 00D6073| None| A54J
Hot-Swappable, Rear-to-Front Fan Assembly Spare| 00D6071| A54K| None

The part numbers for the G8264 switches include the following items:

One RackSwitch G8264 with two power supplies and four fan assemblies (rear-to-front airflow or front-to-rear airflow)
Generic Rack Mount Kit (2-post)
Console Cable Kit that includes:
RJ-45 (plug) to RJ-45 (plug) serial cable (1 m)
Mini-USB to RJ-45 (jack) adapter cable (0.2 m) with retention clip
DB-9 to RJ-45 (jack) adapter
Warranty Flyer
Important Notices Flyer
Documentation CD-ROM

Note: Power cables are not included and must be ordered separately (see Table 2 for details).
The G8264 switch supports up to two hot-swap power supplies (two power supplies come standard with the switch) and up to four hot-swap fan assemblies (four fan assemblies come standard with the switch). Spare power supplies and fan assemblies can be ordered if required. Each Power Supply Spare option contains one hot-swap power
supply (rear-to-front or front-to-rear), and each Fan Assembly Spare option contains one hot-swap fan assembly (rear-to-front or front-to-rear).
The G8264 switch also comes standard with the Console Cable Kit for management through a serial interface. Spare serial management cables can be ordered if required. The Console Cable Kit Spare option contains the following items:

RJ-45 (plug) to RJ-45 (plug) serial cable (1 m)
Mini-USB to RJ-45 (jack) adapter cable (0.2 m) with retention clip
DB-9 to RJ-45 (jack) adapter

The G8264 switch supports optional adjustable 19-inch, 4-post rack installation kit, part number 00D6185. Optionally, Air Inlet Duct, part number 00D6060, can be ordered with the G8264 (rear-to-front airflow) switch for 4-post rack installations.
The G8264 (front-to-rear airflow) switch optionally supports recessed 19-inch, 4-post rack kit (00CG089) which is used when the switch is installed in the 1410 Intelligent Cluster Rack, 9363 Enterprise Rack, or PureFlex System Rack with NeXtScale System. The G8264 (front-to-rear airflow) switch also supports 4-post iDataPlex rack kit (90Y3535) which is used when the switch is installed in the iDataPlex Rack.
The G8264 switch ships standard without any AC power cables. Table 2 lists the part numbers and feature codes to order the power cables (two power cables are required per switch).
Table 2. Power cables

Description| Part number| Feature code for MTM 7309-HC3 and 7309- HC4
---|---|---
Rack power cables
1.5m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable| 39Y7937| 6201
2.8m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C20 Rack Power Cable| 39Y7938| 6204
4.3m, 10A/100-250V, C13 to IEC 320-C14 Rack Power Cable| 39Y7932| 6263
Line cords
European 10A line C13 to CEE 7/7 (2.8M)| 39Y7917| 6212
Denmark 10A line C13 to DK2-5A (2.8M)| 39Y7918| 6213
Switzerland 10A line C13 to SEV 1011 (2.8M)| 39Y7919| 6216
Israel 10A line C13 to SI 32 (2.8M)| 39Y7920| 6218
South Africa 10A line C13 to SABS 164/1 (2.8M)| 39Y7922| 6214
United Kingdom 10A line C13 to BS 1363 (2.8M)| 39Y7923| 6215
Australia/NZ 10A line C13 to SAA-AS C112 (2.8M)| 39Y7924| 6211
Korea 7A line C13 to KETI 15A/250V (2.8M)| 39Y7925| 6219
India 6A line C13 to Fig 68 (2.8M)| 39Y7927| 6269
China 6A line C13 to GB 2099.1 (2.8M)| 39Y7928| 6210
Brazil 10A line C13 to NBR 6147 (2.8M)| 39Y7929| 6223
Argentina 10A line C13 to IRAM 2063 (2.8M)| 39Y7930| 6222
10A/250V C13 to NEMA 6-15P 2.8m power cord| 46M2592| A1RF
Japan 10A/100V C13 to JIS C-8303 2.8m power cord| 46M2593| A1RE

Supported cables and transceivers
With the flexibility of the G8264 switch, clients can take advantage of the technologies that they require for multiple environments:

For 1 GbE links, clients can use RJ-45 SFP transceivers with UTP cables up to 100 m. Clients that need longer distances can use a 1000BASE-SX transceiver, which can drive distances up to 220 meters by using 62.5 µ multi-mode fiber and up to 550 meters with 50 µ multi-mode fiber, or the 1000BASE-LX transceivers that support distances up to 10 kilometers using single-mode fiber (1310 nm).
For 10 GbE server or upstream network connectivity, clients can use direct-attached copper (DAC) SFP+ cables for in-rack cabling and distances up to 7 m. These DAC cables have SFP+ connectors on each end, and they do not need separate transceivers. For longer distances, the 10GBASE-SR transceiver can support
distances up to 300 meters over OM3 multimode fiber or up to 400 meters over OM4 multimode fiber. The 10GBASE-LR transceivers can support distances up to 10 kilometers on single-mode fiber. For extended distances, the 10GBASE-ER transceivers can support distances up to 40 kilometers on single-mode fiber. To increase the number of available 10 GbE ports, clients can split out four 10 GbE ports for each 40 GbE port using QSFP+ DAC Breakout Cables for distances up to 5 meters. For distances up to 100 m, optical MTPto-LC break- out cables can be used with the 40GBASE-SR4 transceiver, but Lenovo does not supply these optical breakout cables.
For 40 GbE to 40 GbE connectivity, clients can use the affordable QSFP+ to QSFP+ DAC cables for distances up to 7 meters. For distances up to 100 m, the 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceiver can be used with OM3 multimode fiber with MTP connectors or up to 150 m when using OM4 multimode fiber with MTP connectors. For distances up to 10 km, the 40GBASE-LR QSFP+ transceiver can be used with single-mode fiber with LC connectors.

Table 3 lists the supported cables and transceivers.
Table 3. Supported transceivers and direct-attach cables

Description| Part number| Feature code (MTM 7309- HC3 / 7309- HC4)| Maximum quantity supported
---|---|---|---
SFP transceivers – 1 GbE
Lenovo 1000BASE-T SFP Transceiver (does not support 10/100 Mbps)| 00FE333| A5DL| 48
Lenovo 1000BASE-SX SFP Transceiver| 81Y1622| 3269| 48
Lenovo 1000BASE-LX SFP Transceiver| 90Y9424| A1PN| 48
SFP+ transceivers – 10 GbE
Lenovo 10GBASE-SR SFP+ Transceiver| 46C3447| 5053| 48
Lenovo 10GBASE-LR SFP+ Transceiver| 90Y9412| A1PM| 48
Lenovo 10GBASE-ER SFP+ Transceiver| 90Y9415| A1PP| 6
Optical cables for 1 GbE SFP SX and 10 GbE SFP+ SR transceivers
Lenovo 0.5m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable| 00MN499| ASR5| 48
Lenovo 1m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable| 00MN502| ASR6| 48
Lenovo 3m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable| 00MN505| ASR7| 48
Lenovo 5m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable| 00MN508| ASR8| 48
Lenovo 10m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable| 00MN511| ASR9| 48
Lenovo 15m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable| 00MN514| ASRA| 48
Lenovo 25m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable| 00MN517| ASRB| 48
Lenovo 30m LC-LC OM3 MMF Cable| 00MN520| ASRC| 48
SFP+ passive direct-attach cables – 10 GbE
Lenovo 0.5m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable| 00D6288| A3RG| 48
Lenovo 1m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable| 90Y9427| A1PH| 48
Lenovo 1.5m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable| 00AY764| A51N| 48
Lenovo 2m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable| 00AY765| A51P| 48
Lenovo 3m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable| 90Y9430| A1PJ| 48
Lenovo 5m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable| 90Y9433| A1PK| 48
Lenovo 7m Passive SFP+ DAC Cable| 00D6151| A3RH| 48
SFP+ active direct-attach cables – 10 GbE

Lenovo 1m Active SFP+ DAC Cable| 95Y0323| A25A| 48
Lenovo 3m Active SFP+ DAC Cable| 95Y0326| A25B| 48
Lenovo 5m Active SFP+ DAC Cable| 95Y0329| A25C| 48
Lenovo 1m Active DAC SFP+ Cable (replaces 95Y0323)| 00VX111| AT2R| 48
Lenovo 3m Active DAC SFP+ Cable (replaces 95Y0326)| 00VX114| AT2S| 48
Lenovo 5m Active DAC SFP+ Cable (replaces 95Y0329)| 00VX117| AT2T| 48
QSFP+ transceiver and cables – 40 GbE
Lenovo 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ Transceiver| 49Y7884| A1DR| 4
Lenovo 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ Transceiver| 00D6222| A3NY| 4
Optical cables for 40 GbE QSFP+ SR4 transceivers
Lenovo 10m QSFP+ MTP-MTP OM3 MMF Cable| 90Y3519| A1MM| 4
Lenovo 30m QSFP+ MTP-MTP OM3 MMF Cable| 90Y3521| A1MN| 4
Lenovo 10m QSFP+ MTP-MTP OM3 MMF Cable (replaces 90Y3519)| 00VX003| AT2U| 4
Lenovo 30m QSFP+ MTP-MTP OM3 MMF Cable (replaces 90Y3521)| 00VX005| AT2V| 4
QSFP+ breakout cables – 40 GbE to 4×10 GbE
Lenovo 1m Passive QSFP+ to SFP+ Breakout DAC Cable| 49Y7886| A1DL| 4
Lenovo 3m Passive QSFP+ to SFP+ Breakout DAC Cable| 49Y7887| A1DM| 4
Lenovo 5m Passive QSFP+ to SFP+ Breakout DAC Cable| 49Y7888| A1DN| 4
QSFP+ direct-attach cables – 40 GbE
Lenovo 1m Passive QSFP+ DAC Cable| 49Y7890| A1DP| 4
Lenovo 3m Passive QSFP+ DAC Cable| 49Y7891| A1DQ| 4
Lenovo 5m Passive QSFP+ DAC Cable| 00D5810| A2X8| 4
Lenovo 7m Passive QSFP+ DAC Cable| 00D5813| A2X9| 4

Benefits

The RackSwitch G8264 is considered particularly suited for these environments:

The G8264 supports several types of configurations: 1 GbE, 10 GbE, 40 GbE, vNIC, Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE/DCB), NAS, and iSCSI.
The G8264 with SFP+ technology is the ideal solution for clients who are looking for low latency and low power consumption.
The 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 for simplified management.
The G8264 supports Data Center Bridging (DCB), the group of protocols from IEEE that provide lossless Ethernet that allows clients to reduce the costs of implementing either:
NAS or iSCSI convergence and priority-based flow control
FCoE by aggregating switch ports before connecting to more costly upstream Fibre Channel gateway devices.
The G8264 can be configured in easy connect mode to allow for transparent and simple connectivity to the upstream network, enabling easy connectivity to upstream Cisco, Juniper, or other networks without having to change those networks.
Lenovo is a leader in network virtualization, offering the on-switch VMready® software that reduces the complexity of managing virtual machines (VMs) in the network. For more information, see VMready at: http://www.ibm.com/systems/networking/software/vmready
The G8264 is SDN ready with its OpenFlow support. With OpenFlow, you can easily create user-controlled virtual networks, optimize performance dynamically and minimize complexity when used with OpenFlow controller.
The G8264 plays a vital role in Virtual Fabric, which reduces costs and complexity in environments where four or more NICs are needed per server. An example is a virtualization, where clients often need up to eight NICs per server. For more information, see Virtual Fabric at: http://www.ibm.com/systems/networking/software/virtualfabric.html

The RackSwitch G8264 offers the following benefits:

High performance
The 10 Gb/40 Gb switch provides the best combination of low latency, non- blocking line-rate switching, and ease of management. It has a throughput of 1.28 Tbps.
Lower power and better cooling
The RackSwitch G8264 uses as little as 330 W of power, which is a fraction of the power consumption of most competitive offerings. Unlike side-cooled switches, which can cause heat recirculation and reliability concerns, the front-to-rear or rear-to-front cooling design of the G8264 reduces data center air conditioning costs by having airflow match the servers in the rack. In addition, variable speed fans help to automatically reduce power consumption.
Stacking
With the G8264, a single switch image and configuration file can be used for up to eight switches, sharing only one IP address and one management interface.
Virtual Fabric
The G8264 can help customers address I/O requirements for multiple NICs while reducing cost and complexity. Virtual Fabric allows you to carve a physical NIC into multiple virtual NICs (between 2 – 8 vNIC) and to create a virtual pipe between the adapter and the switch for improved performance, availability, and security.
VM-aware Networking
VMready software on the switch simplifies configuration and improves security in virtualized environments.
VMready automatically detects virtual machine movement between physical servers and instantly reconfigures each VM’s network policies across VLANs to keep the network up and running without interrupting traffic or impacting performance. VMready works with all leading VM providers, such as VMware, Citrix, Xen, and
Microsoft Hyper-V.
Layer 3 functionality
The G8264 includes Layer 3 functionality, which provides security and performance benefits, as inter-VLAN traffic stays within the switch. This switch also provides the full range of Layer 3 protocols from static routes for technologies such as Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) for enterprise customers.
Seamless interoperability
RackSwitch switches perform seamlessly with other vendors’ upstream switches.
Fault tolerance
RackSwitch switches learn alternate routes automatically and perform faster convergence in the unlikely case of a link, switch, or power failure. The switch uses proven technologies like L2 trunk failover, advanced VLANbased failover, VRRP, and HotLink.
Multicast
The G8264 supports IGMP Snooping v1, v2, and v3 with 2 K IGMP groups. It also supports Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM), such as PIM Sparse Mode or PIM Dense Mode.
Converged fabric
The G8264 switch supports CEE and connectivity to FCoE gateways. CEE helps enable clients to combine storage, messaging traffic, VoIP, video, and other data on a common data center Ethernet infrastructure. FCoE helps enable highly efficient block storage over Ethernet for consolidating server network connectivity. As a result, clients can deploy a single server interface for multiple data types, which can simplify both the deployment and management of server network connectivity, while maintaining the high availability and robustness required for storage transactions.
OpenFlow enabled The RackSwitch G8264 is the first 10 GbE switch to offer the benefits of OpenFlow. OpenFlow is the new open 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 ideal switch to use with industry-compliant OpenFlow controllers.
Transparent networking capability
With a simple configuration change to Easy Connect Mode, the RackSwitch G8264 becomes a transparent network device, invisible to the core, eliminating network administration concerns of Spanning Tree Protocol configuration/interoperability, and VLAN assignments and avoiding any possible loops. By emulating a host NIC to the data center core, it accelerates the provisioning of VMs by eliminating the need to configure the typical access switch parameters.

Table 4 compares the features of the RackSwitch G8264 with the RackSwitch G8264T.
Table 4. Comparison of the RackSwitch G8264 and RackSwitch G8264T features

| RackSwitch G8264| RackSwitch G8264T
---|---|---
Port types| Based on SFP+| Based on 10GBase-T
Latency| Lower latency – 880 nanosecond| 3.2 microseconds
Stacking| Yes| No
Typical power| Lower power – 330 watts| Competitive versus other 10GBase-T – 385 W
Copper cable length| Up to 7 m| Up to 100 m
Total distance| Up to 40 km with Transceiver| Limited to 100 m
TCO| Less than other SFP+| Lower TCO – for 100 m and less (based on adapter, cables and switch)

Features and specifications

Note: Features and specifications listed in this section are based on Networking OS 7.9.
The RackSwitch G8264 has the following features and specifications:

Form factor: 1U rack mount switch
RackSwitch G8264 Rear-to-Front version for ports located in the rear of the rack matching System x®, BladeCenter®, and Flex System® designs
RackSwitch G8264 Front-to-Rear version for ports located in the front of the rack matching airflow of iDataPlex® ® and NeXtScale™ System designs
Ports
48 ports for 1 Gb or 10 Gb Ethernet SFP/SFP+ transceivers (support for 1000BASE-SX, 1000BASE-LX, 1000BASE-T, 10GBASE-SR, 10GBASE-LR, or 10GBASE-ER) or SFP+ direct-attach copper cables. SFP+ modules and DAC cables are not included and must be purchased separately.
4 ports for 40 Gb Ethernet QSFP+ transceivers, QSFP+ to QSFP+ DAC cables, or QSFP+ to 4x 10 Gb
SFP+ break-out cables. QSFP+ modules and DAC cables are not included and must be purchased separately.
One 10/100/1000 Ethernet port (RJ-45 connector) for out-of-band (OOB) management
One RS-232 serial port (mini-USB connector) that provides an additional means to configure the switch
One USB port for mass storage devices
Scalability and performance
1 Gb, 10 Gb, and 40 Gb Ethernet ports for bandwidth optimization and performance
Up to 64 10 Gb Ethernet SFP+ connections (with optional break-out cables)
Non-blocking architecture with wire-speed forwarding of traffic and aggregated throughput of 1.28 Tbps
Up to 960 Million packets per second (Mpps) with 880 nanoseconds switching latency
Media access control (MAC) address learning: automatic update, support for up to 128,000 MAC addresses
Up to 126 IP interfaces per switch
Static and LACP (IEEE 802.3ad) link aggregation, up to 64 trunk groups with up to 32 ports per trunk group
Support for jumbo frames (up to 9,216 bytes)
Broadcast/multicast storm control
IGMP snooping to limit flooding of IP multicast traffic
IGMP filtering to control multicast traffic for hosts participating in multicast groups
Configurable traffic distribution schemes over trunk links based on source/destination IP or MAC addresses, or both
Fast port forwarding and fast uplink convergence for rapid STP convergence
Availability and redundancy
Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) for Layer 3 router redundancy
IEEE 802.1D STP for providing L2 redundancy
IEEE 802.1s Multiple STP (MSTP) for topology optimization, up to 32 STP instances are supported by a single switch
IEEE 802.1w Rapid STP (RSTP) provides rapid STP convergence for critical delay-sensitive traffic like voice or video
Per-VLAN Rapid STP (PVRST) enhancements
Layer 2 Trunk Failover to support active/standby configurations of network adapter teaming on compute nodes
Hot Links provides basic link redundancy with fast recovery for network topologies that require
Spanning Tree to be turned off
VLAN support
Up to 4095 VLANs are supported per switch, with VLAN numbers ranging from 1 to 4095 (VLAN 4095 is used by the management network.)
Port-based and protocol-based VLANs
802.1Q VLAN tagging support
Ingress VLAN tagging support to tunnel packets through a public domain without altering the original
802.1Q tagging information
Private VLANs support as defined in RFC 5517
Security
VLAN-based, MAC-based, and IP-based access control lists (ACLs)
802.1x port-based authentication
Multiple user IDs and passwords
User access control
Radius, TACACS+, and LDAP authentication and authorization
NIST 800-131A Encryption
Selectable encryption protocol
Quality of Service (QoS)
Support for IEEE 802.1p, IP ToS/DSCP, and ACL-based (MAC/IP source and destination addresses,
VLANs) traffic classification and processing
Traffic shaping and re-marking based on defined policies
Eight output Class of Service (COS) queues per port for processing qualified traffic
Weighted Random Early Detection (WRED) with Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) to help avoid congestion
IPv4/IPv6 ACL metering
IP v4 Layer 3 functions
Host management
IP forwarding
IP filtering with ACLs, up to 256 IPv4 ACLs supported
VRRP for router redundancy
Support for up to 128 static routes
Routing protocol support (RIP v1, RIP v2, OSPF v2, BGP)
Support for policy-based routing (PBR)
Support for DHCP Relay
Support for IGMP snooping and IGMP relay
Support for Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) in Sparse Mode (PIM-SM) and Dense Mode (PIMDM).
IPv6 Layer 3 functions
IPv6 host management
IPv6 forwarding
Up to 128 static routes
Support for OSPF v3 routing protocol
IPv6 filtering with ACLs, up to 128 IPv6 ACLs supported
OpenFlow 1.0 and 1.3.1 support
Virtualization
Virtual NICs (vNICs) with Ethernet, iSCSI, or FCoE traffic on vNICs
Unified Fabric Port (UFP)
Ethernet or FCoE traffic is supported on UFP virtual ports (vPorts)
Supports up to 1024 VLAN for the virtual ports
Supports either VMready or 802.1Qbg Edge Virtual Bridging (not both) on the same physical port
Integration with L2 Failover
Virtual link aggregation groups (vLAGs)
802.1Qbg Edge Virtual Bridging (EVB) is an emerging IEEE standard for allowing networks to become virtual machine (VM)-aware.
Virtual Ethernet Bridging (VEB) and Virtual Ethernet Port Aggregator (VEPA) are mechanisms for switching between VMs on the same hypervisor.
Edge Control Protocol (ECP) is a transport protocol that operates between two peers over an
IEEE 802 LAN provides reliable, in-order delivery of upper-layer protocol data units.
Virtual Station Interface (VSI) Discovery and Configuration Protocol (VDP) allows centralized configuration of network policies that will persist with the VM, independent of its location.
EVB Type-Length-Value (TLV) is used to discover and configure VEPA, ECP, and VDP.
VMready support
Converged Enhanced Ethernet
Priority-Based Flow Control (PFC) (IEEE 802.1Qbb) extends 802.3x standard flow control to allow the switch to pause traffic based on the 802.1p priority value in each packet’s VLAN tag.
Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS) (IEEE 802.1Qaz) provides a method for allocating link bandwidth based on the 802.1p priority value in each packet’s VLAN tag.
Data Center Bridging Capability Exchange Protocol (DCBX) (IEEE 802.1AB) allows neighboring network devices to exchange information about their capabilities.
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
FC-BB5 FCoE specification compliant
FCoE transit switch operations
FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) support for automatic ACL configuration
FCoE Link Aggregation Group (LAG) support
Supports 2,048 FCoE sessions with FIP Snooping by using Class ID ACLs
Stacking
Up to eight switches in a stack – single IP management
802.1Qbg support
vNIC or UFP support
Support for UFP with 802.1Qbg
Manageability
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP V1, V2, and V3)
HTTP browser GUI
Telnet interface for CLI
Secure Shell (SSH)
Secure FTP (sFTP)
Service Location Protocol (SLP)
Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP)
Serial interface for CLI
Scriptable CLI
Firmware image update (TFTP and FTP)
Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP) for switch clock synchronization
Switch Center management application
Monitoring
Switch LEDs for port status and switch status indication
Remote Monitoring (RMON) agent to collect statistics and proactively monitor switch performance
Port mirroring for analyzing network traffic passing through a switch
Change tracking and remote logging with Syslog feature
Support for sFLOW agent for monitoring traffic in data networks (separate sFLOW analyzer required elsewhere)

The following features are not supported with IPv6:

Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) and DHCP
RADIUS, TACACS+ and LDAP
Stacking
VMware Virtual Center (vCenter) for VMready
Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM)
Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)
sFLOW

The following features are not supported with Stacking (for a full list of features refer to the Networking OS Application Guide):

FCoE
IGMP Relay, IGMP Querier, and IGMPv3
IPv6
Policy-based routing
Routing protocols (RIP, OSPF, BGP)
sFLOW
Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)

Standards supported

The switch supports the following standards:

IEEE 802.1AB Data Center Bridging Capability Exchange Protocol (DCBX)
IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
IEEE 802.1p Class of Service (CoS) prioritization
IEEE 802.1s Multiple STP (MSTP)
IEEE 802.1Q Tagged VLAN (frame tagging on all ports when VLANs are enabled)
IEEE 802.1Qbg Edge Virtual Bridging
IEEE 802.1Qbb Priority-Based Flow Control (PFC)
IEEE 802.1Qaz Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS)
IEEE 802.1x port-based authentication
IEEE 802.1w Rapid STP (RSTP)
IEEE 802.3 10BASE-T Ethernet
IEEE 802.3ab 1000BASE-T copper twisted pair Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation Control Protocol
IEEE 802.3ae 10GBASE-SR short range fiber optics 10 Gb Ethernet
IEEE 802.3ae 10GBASE-LR long-range fiber optics 10 Gb Ethernet
IEEE 802.3ae 10GBASE-ER extended range fiber optics 10 Gb Ethernet
IEEE 802.3ba 40GBASE-SR4 short range fiber optics 40 Gb Ethernet
IEEE 802.3ba 40GBASE-CR4 copper 40 Gb Ethernet
IEEE 802.3u 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet
IEEE 802.3x Full-duplex Flow Control
IEEE 802.3z 1000BASE-SX short-range fiber optics Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE 802.3z 1000BASE-LX long-range fiber optics Gigabit Ethernet

Connectors and LEDs

Figure 2 shows the front panel of the RackSwitch G8264.

The front panel of the G8264 contains the following components:

LEDs that display the status of the switch and the network.
One Mini-USB RS-232 console port provides an additional means to configure the switch.
One USB port for mass storage devices.
48x SFP/SFP+ port connectors to attach SFP/SFP+ transceivers for 1 Gb or 10 Gb Ethernet connections or DAC cables for 10 Gb Ethernet connections.
4x QSFP+ port connectors to attach QSFP+ transceivers for 40 Gb Ethernet connections or DAC cables for 40 Gb or 4x 10 Gb Ethernet connections.
An Ethernet link OK LED and an Ethernet Tx/Rx LED for each Ethernet port on the switch.

Figure 3 shows the rear panel of the RackSwitch G8264.

The rear panel of the G8264 contains the following components:

Two Hot-swap AC power supplies (IEC 320-C14 power connector)
Four hot-swap fan assemblies

Network cabling requirements

The network cables that can be used with the switch are listed in Table 5.
Table 5. G8264 network cabling requirements

Transceiver	Standard	Cable	Connector

40 Gb Ethernet
40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+

Transceiver (49Y7884)

| 40GBASE-SR4| 10 m or 30 m MTP fiber optics cables supplied by Lenovo (see Table 3); support for up to 100 m with OM3 multimode fiber or up to 150 m with OM4 multimode fiber| MTP
40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+

Transceiver (00D6222)

| 40GBASE-LR4| 1310 nm single-mode fiber cable up to 10 km| LC
Direct attach cable| 40GBASE-CR4| QSFP+ to QSFP+ DAC cables up to 7 m; QSFP+ to 4x SFP+ DAC break-out cables up to 5 m for 4x 10 GbE SFP+ connections out of a 40 GbE port (see Table 3)| QSFP+
10 Gb Ethernet
10GBASE-SR SFP+

Transceiver (46C3447)

| 10GBASE-SR| Up to 30 m with fiber optic cables supplied by Lenovo (see Table 3); 850 nm OM3 multimode fiber cable up to 300 m or up to 400 m with OM4 multimode fiber| LC
10GBASE-LR SFP+

Transceiver (90Y9412)

| 10GBASE-LR| 1310 nm single-mode fiber cable up to 10 km| LC
10GBASE-ER SFP+

Transceiver (90Y9415)

Transceiver (00FE333)

| 1000BASE-T| UTP Category 5, 5E, and 6 up to 100 meters| RJ-45
1000BASE-SX SFP

Transceiver (81Y1622)

| 1000BASE-SX| Up to 30 m with fiber optic cables supplied by Lenovo (see Table 3); 850 nm multimode fiber cable up to 550 m (50 µ) or up to 220 m (62.5 µ)| LC
1000BASE-LX SFP

Transceiver (90Y9424)

Warranty

The RackSwitch G8264 comes with a standard 3-year hardware warranty with Next Business Day (NBD), 9×5, Customer Replaceable Unit (CRU) warranty service from Lenovo. Software Upgrade Entitlement is based on the switch’s warranty or post-warranty extension and service contracts. Optional warranty and maintenance upgrades are available for the G8264 switch through Lenovo Services:

Warranty service upgrades (3, 4, or 5 years)
24×7 onsite repair with 2-hour target response time
24×7 onsite repair with 4-hour target response time
9×5 onsite repair with 4-hour target response time
Maintenance (post-warranty) service offerings (1 or 2 years)
24×7 onsite repair with 2-hour target response time
24×7 onsite repair with 4-hour target response time
9×5 onsite repair with 4-hour target response time
9×5 onsite repair with next business day target response time

Lenovo service upgrade offerings are region-specific, that is, each region might have its own service types, service levels, response times, and terms and conditions. Not all covered types of Lenovo service upgrade offerings might be available in a particular region.
For more information about the Lenovo warranty service upgrade offerings that are available in your region, visit the Product Selector at the following website:
https://www-304.ibm.com/sales/gss/download/spst/servicepac

Physical specifications
The approximate dimensions and weight of the G8264 switch are as follows:

Height: 44 mm (1.7 in.)
Width: 440 mm (17.3 in.)
Depth: 381 mm (15.0 in.)
Weight: 6.4 kg (14.1 lb)

Operating environment
The G8264 switch is supported in the following operating environment:

Temperature: 0 to 45 ºC (32 to 113 ºF).
Relative humidity: Non-condensing, 10 – 85%
Altitude: up to 3,049 m (10,000 feet)
Acoustic noise: Less than 65 dB
Airflow: Front-to-rear or rear-to-front cooling with redundant variable speed fans for reduced power draw
Electrical input: 50-60 Hz, 100-240 V AC auto-switching
Typical power: 330 W

Agency approvals

The switch conforms to the following regulations:

Safety certifications
UL-UL60950-1 (First Edition)
C-UL to CAN/CSA 22.2 No.60950-1 (First Edition)
TUV/GS to EN 60950-1, Amendment A1-A4, A11
CB-IEC60950-1, all country deviations
Electromagnetic compatibility certifications
FCC 47CFR Part 15 Class A
EN 55022 Class A
ICES-003 Class A
VCCI Class A
AS/NZS CISPR 22 Class A
CISPR 22 Class A
EN 55024
EN 300386
CE
NEBS
GR-63-Core: NEBS, Physical Protection
GR-1089-Core: EMC and Electrical Safety for Network Telecommunications Equipment
Non PoE models: 24 port and 48 port
Environmental
Reduction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS) 6

Typical configurations

The following configurations are the most typical for using the RackSwitch G8264:

Rack-optimized server aggregation: 10 GbE attached rack servers
Rack-optimized server aggregation: 1 GbE attached rack servers
2560-node 1 GbE network: Using next-generation 64-port 1U switches
Virtual Fabric configuration with System x servers using the Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapter
IP storage over 10 GbE: Changing the economics of storage

Rack-optimized server aggregation: 10 GbE attached rack servers

The RackSwitch G8264 is an ideal networking device for port aggregation, allowing the consolidation of one to three racks full of servers before connecting to an upstream switch.

High-concentration of rack-optimized servers, for example:
System x 1U servers with a 10 Gb adapter installed
Easily supports 40 servers per rack.
Easily supports up to 48 servers or more, depending on uplink bandwidth required across two racks, including storage or UPS.
System x 2U servers with a 10 Gb adapter installed
Most clients will have up to twenty 2U servers per rack.
With the G8264 switch being able to support up to 64 SFP+ ports, a client can easily use a switch across three racks of servers, and more likely two for redundancy.
BladeCenter using any of the following modules in the chassis:
BladeCenter 1/10 Gb Uplink Ethernet Switch Module
With only two 10 Gb SFP+ ports per chassis, clients with larger data centers can easily support 24 chassis or more per RackSwitch G8264.
BladeCenter Virtual Fabric 10 Gb Switch Module With support of up to ten 10 Gb SFP+ ports per switch, clients can easily support 4 – 6 chassis per RackSwitch, and if they are not concerned about oversubscription, they can support up to 24 or more per RackSwitch G8264.
10 Gb Ethernet Pass-Thru Module for BladeCenter
For many clients looking to use a pass-through module, upstream costs can be expensive, especially if you are connecting to a core switch and are looking at up to fourteen 10 Gb ports per chassis. The G8264 provides a much more cost-effective alternative and can support up to four fully populated BladeCenter H chassis per RackSwitch. This alternative is also much better for larger BladeCenter H environments compared to a smaller 24-port switch.
Low-profile, high-performance, 48/64-port 10 GbE switch needed for aggregation function per rack.

Figure 4 shows 10 GbE port aggregation, and Table 6 lists the features and benefits.

Figure 4. 10 GbE port aggregation
Table 6. Features and benefits

Features	Benefits
Line-rate, non-blocking, all 64-ports	Supports massive compute and

virtualization workloads
Deterministically low latency| Faster application response times
Support for IGMP Snooping and L3 forwarding| Enables high-bandwidth, low- latency multicast applications
Standards-based Layer 2/3 protocols; industry-standard CLI| Interoperates with the existing network; no learning curve

Rack-optimized server aggregation: 1 GbE attached rack servers
The design goal is to have the RackSwitch G8264 (10 GbE) switch at the distribution layer and RackSwitch G8000/G8052 (1 GbE) at the Edge/Access layer.
The G8264 is also ideal at the distribution layer when you are looking to aggregate connections for access layer switches like the G8000 or G8052 which support forty-eight 1 GbE ports to the servers and four 10 GbE uplinks. In either scenario, the G8264 provides exceptional value by providing the following support:

Up to 12 G8000/G8052 switches (576 servers) when using the four 10 Gb uplinks per G8000/G8052, while still having the four 40 Gb uplinks from the G8264 to the core
Up to 16 G8000/G8052 switches (768 servers) when using the four 10 Gb uplinks per G8000/G8052 and using 10 Gb SFP+ break-out cables in the four 40 Gb ports with no uplinks to a core

Keep in mind the following additional details:

Logical configuration: Configure G8000/G8052 for Layer 2 and apply static routes for L3 forwarding
Full Layer 2/3 Feature Set: STP, MSTP, RSTP, PVRST+; RIP v1/2, static routes, OSPF
Security: 802.1X; RADIUS/TACACS+; Wire Speed ACLs, SSH v1, v2; HTTPS Secure BBI
QoS: Up to eight queues per port, IEEE 802.1p and DiffServ prioritization

Figure 5 shows the aggregation design for 1 GbE attached rack servers.

2560-node 1 GbE network: Using next-generation 64 port 1U switches
The following high-level configuration is an example of how a configuration might look if the G8052 is used as leaf switches and the G8264 is used as a spine switch.

All active links
Traffic load balanced across all links using Layer 3 ECMP
64 RackSwitch G8052 Leaf Switches for 2560 non-blocking 1 GbE ports
48x 10/100/1000 server-facing ports each
4x 10GBASE-SR fiber uplinks each
Four RackSwitch G8264 spine switches for non-blocking core

Figure 6 shows the 2560-node logical design.

Virtual Fabric configuration with System x servers using the Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapters
The following example describes a Virtual Fabric implementation:

Virtual Fabric for System x is built using industry standards and is the ideal solution for customers that require more than two NICs per server. Over the past couple of years many clients have seen their I/O requirements per server increase anywhere from 4 to 6 to 8 or even more NICs per server, especially with the adoption of virtualization. What Virtual Fabric does is provide clients with the ability to leverage a virtual NIC approach leveraging 10 Gb Ethernet technology to help reduce cost and complexity while also achieving better performance and more flexibility. It provides the following benefits:
Reduced costs
Acquisition and operation by using fewer adapters, cables, and upstream switch ports.
Reduced complexity
Fewer items to manage, based on standards, making management easier with the addition of high availability and better security.
Better performance
A significant amount more I/O bandwidth per server and lower latency than traditional 1 Gb Ethernet.
Flexibility
The ability to carve up a dual-port 10 Gb adapter into 4 – 8 virtual NICs and create virtual pipes between the adapter and switch for higher availability and security. Not only can customers dynamically allocate
I/O bandwidth to each virtual NIC, Virtual Fabric also provides the ability to change those allocations as needed. For example, a customer might have one configuration for workload during the day and another during the evenings. Virtual Fabric has the ability to make those changes on the fly without downtime.
Virtual Fabric is designed in partnership with Emulex. This solution requires the following components: Emulex 10 Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters for System x
For more details, see Emulex 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter II and III Family for System x , TIPS0844 at:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips0844.html
RackSwitch G8264

Figure 7 shows the Virtual Fabric logical design.

IP storage over 10 GbE: Changing the economics of storage
G8264 benefits for IP storage applications are as follows:

Lossless Ethernet Fabric
Low latency ideal for HPC clusters, cloud, and financial applications
Line-rate, high-bandwidth performance
Low-power consumption with fewer components
Low-cost, pay-as-you-grow 10 Gb/40 Gb storage network

Figure 8 shows IP storage connectivity.

Related publications
For more information, see the following references:

Offering Information page (to search on announcement letters, sales manuals, or both):
http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/index.wss?request_locale=en
On this page, enter G 8 2 6 4 f o r S y s t e m x a n d i D a t a P l e x, select the information type, and then click Search. On the next page, narrow your search results by geography and language.
RackSwitch G8264 product publications
http://ibm.com/support/entry/portal/documentation
Application Guide
Industry-Standard CLI Reference
Browser-Based Interface (BBI) Quick Guide
Menu-based CLI Command Reference
VMready
http://www.ibm.com/systems/networking/software/vmready
Virtual Fabric
http://www.ibm.com/systems/networking/software/virtualfabric.html

Related product families
Product families related to this document are the following:

10 Gb Ethernet Connectivity
Top-of-Rack Switches

Notices
Lenovo may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in all countries. Consult your local Lenovo representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to a Lenovo product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only the Lenovo product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any Lenovo intellectual property right may be used instead. However, it is the user’s responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any other product, program, or service. Lenovo may have patents or pending patent applications covering the subject matter described in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to:

Lenovo (United States), Inc.
8001 Development Drive
Morrisville, NC 27560
U.S.A.
Attention: Lenovo Director of Licensing

LENOVO PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION ”AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some jurisdictions do not allow disclaimers of express or implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not apply to you.
This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. Lenovo may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice.
The products described in this document are not intended for use in implantation or other life support applications where malfunction may result in injury or death to persons. The information contained in this document does not affect or change Lenovo product specifications or warranties. Nothing in this document shall operate as an express or implied license or indemnity under the intellectual property rights of Lenovo or third parties. All information contained in this document was obtained in specific environments and is presented as an illustration. The result obtained in other operating environments may vary. Lenovo may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way it believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you.
Any references in this publication to non-Lenovo Web sites are provided for convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Web sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this Lenovo product, and use of those Web sites is at your own risk. Any performance data contained herein was determined in a controlled environment. Therefore, the result obtained in other operating environments may vary significantly. Some measurements may have been made on development-level systems and there is no guarantee that these measurements will be the same on generally available systems. Furthermore, some measurements may have been estimated through extrapolation. Actual results may vary. Users of this document should verify the applicable data for their specific environment.
© Copyright Lenovo 2022. All rights reserved.

This document, TIPS0815, was created or updated on June 9, 2015. Send us your comments in one of the following ways:

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Trademarks

Lenovo and the Lenovo logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both. A current list of Lenovo trademarks is available on the Web at https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/legal/copytrade/.

The following terms are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both:
Lenovo®
BladeCenter®
Flex System
Intelligent Cluster
Lenovo Services
NeXtScale
NeXtScale System®
RackSwitch
System x®
VMready®
iDataPlex®
The following terms are trademarks of other companies:
Hyper-V® and Microsoft® are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

RackSwitch G8264 (withdrawn product)

References

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