Gigabit Ethernet is technology that allows computer systems to communicate at speeds up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps).
This board is supported in the following systems:
SGI Altix XE210
SGI Altix XE240
SGI Altix 450
SGI Altix 4700
This chapter includes the following sections:
The Gigabit Ethernet board is available in two formats: the quad-port Fiber-Optic Gigabit Ethernet board and the quad-port Copper Gigabit Ethernet board.
These boards are described in the following sections:
Fiber-Optic Gigabit Ethernet is defined in the IEEE standard P802.3z. The Fiber-Optic Gigabit Ethernet board is compatible with this approved standard. Copper Gigabit Ethernet is defined in the IEEE standard P802.3ab. The Copper Gigabit Ethernet board is compatible with this approved standard.
The Fiber-Optic Gigabit Ethernet board includes these features:
PCI Express (PCI-E) bus with a x4 Lane width
Duplex LC fiber small form factor (SFF) connector
Four Ethernet ports
2000 Mbit/s in full duplex mode per port
High performance, reliable, low power, dual integrated MAC /SERDES chip controller
Dual, high-speed RISC processor per channel for advanced packet classification
Hardware acceleration that can off-load tasks from the host processor. The controllers can off-load TCP/UDP/IP checksum calculations and TCP segmentation.
Support for Jumbo Frames (9KB)
For full technical specifications of the board, see Appendix A, “Specifications”.
 | Note: The hardware MAC addresses for the four ports are lowest at the top of the card and highest at the bottom of the card. |
Figure 1-1 shows the quad-port fiber-optic Gigabit Ethernet board.
The copper Gigabit Ethernet board includes these features:
Gigabit Ethernet (1000Base-T), Fast Ethernet (100Base-TX), Ethernet (10Base-T)
Quad Ethernet ports
Full-duplex and Simplex Gigabit Ethernet interface as defined in the IEEE P802.3ab approved standard
2000 Mbit/s in full duplex mode per port
High performance, reliable, low power, dual integrated MAC + PHY chip controller
Dual, high-speed RISC processor per channel for advanced packet classification
Hardware acceleration that can off-load tasks from the host processor. The controllers can off-load TCP/UDP/IP checksum calculations and TCP segmentation.
Support for Jumbo Frames (9KB)
Note: The hardware MAC addresses for the four ports are lowest at the top of the card and highest at the bottom of the card.
For full technical specifications of the board, see Appendix A, “Specifications”.
Figure 1-2 shows the quad-port Copper G igabit Ethe rnet board.
The cabling for the Gigabit Ethernet board is described in the following sections:
The fiber-optic Gigabit Ethernet board is connected to the network using fiber-optic cable. The cable, which is not included in the shipment, must be a 50-micron or 62.5-micron multimode duplex cable with an LC connector.
Table 1-1 lists SGI fiber-optic cables.
Table 1-1. SGI 62.5-Micron Cable Options for Fiber-Optic Gigabit Ethernet
Length | Marketing Code |
|---|---|
3 m (9.8 ft) | X-F-OPT-3M |
10 m (39.3 ft) | X-F-OPT-10M |
25 m (82 ft) | X-F-OPT-25M |
100 m (328 ft) | X-F-OPT-100M |
Table 1-2 lists operating ranges for 50-micron and 62.5-micron cables for a 1000-BASE-SX port. Fiber type is MM.
Table 1-2. Fiber-Optic Operating Range, 1000-BASE-SX Standard
Diameter (Microns) | Modal Bandwidth (MHz * km) | Range (Meters) |
|---|---|---|
62.5 | 160 | 2 to 220[a] |
62.5 | 200 | 2 to 275[b] |
50 | 400 | 2 to 500 |
5 | 500 | 2 to 550[c] |
[a] The TIA 568 building wiring standard specifies 160/500 MHz * km multimode fiber. [b] The international ISO/IEC 11801 building wiring standard specifies 200/500 MHz * km multimode fiber. [c] The ANSI Fibre Channel specification specifies 500/500 MHz * km 50 micron multimode fiber, and 500/500 MHz * km fiber has been proposed for addition to ISO/IEC 11801. | ||
This card only supports 1000-Base-SX.
The Copper Gigabit Ethernet board is implemented using twisted pair cable. The cable, which is not included in the shipment, must be Category-5 cable plant (4-pair) with an RJ45 UTP connector at each end. Table 1-3 lists the SGI twisted pair cables. The operating range for 1000-Base-T is up to 100 m (328 ft).
Table 1-3. SGI Twisted Pair Cable
Length | Marketing Code |
|---|---|
6 feet | CBL-GBE-RJ45-06FT-Z |
10 feet | CBL-GBE-RJ45-10FT-Z |
15 feet | CBL-GBE-RJ45-15FT-Z |
25 feet | CBL-GBE-RJ45-25FT-Z |
50 feet | CBL-GBE-RJ45-50FT-Z |
To achieve the longer distances available with 1000-Base-T, use a switch with 1000-Base-T ports.
Table 1-4 summarizes the configuration limits for the Fiber-Optic and Copper Gigabit Ethernet boards
Table 1-4. Configuration Limits
System | Maximum Per Bus | Maximum Number of Boards |
|---|---|---|
Altix XE210 | 1 | 1 |
Altix XE240 | 1 | 2 with a PCI-x riser, 4 with a PCI-E riser |
Altix 450 | 1 | 8 |
Altix 4700 | 1 | 8 |