Cables

[TheResolute]

We are considering purchasing a VBlock.

We have heard the cabling is simplified. 

How many cables are connected to each blade

Does each blade have a power cable, or does it get its power directly from the chassis

Can it get its 10GB from the Chassis

[abbharga]

Hi Ted,

In the B series offering, the blades are installed on a chassis (upto 8 half-width and 4 full). The chassis in addtion to this have the 4 PSU (to supply the power to the chassis and the blades ) - hence the blades draw power from the chassis, fans to cool the blades and the chassis and also the IO Modules (IOM) to connect the blades to the FI (for both management as well as data traffic).

Yes each blade can get 10 G from the chassis.

Hope this helps!

./Abhinav

[chaausti]

You can have up to 4 power supplies shared by all the blades in a chassis, one power cable is required for each power supply..

With a pair of 2204 IOM you need 2 cables per chassis, but can have up to 8 per chassis.

With a pair of 2208 IOM you need 2 cables per chassis, but can have up to 16 per chassis.

The blades connect to the IOM over the chassis backplane and blades share the connections between the IOM and FI.

An IOM is a fabric extender and each of the two IOM connects all the blades in one chassis to one of the Fabric Interconnects.

There is no additional cableing for each chassis.

Here is an example:

http://www.eweek.com/images/stories/slideshows/CISCO/cisco9.jpg

[Gordon Leonard]

                The attached document may be of some help in regards to bandwidth and connections.