HPE NS9 X5 Port Controversy: Physical or Virtual?

[Mikedyx]

I'm trying to make sense of the claim that the HPE NS9 X5 supports 270 ports via dual-fabric HDR200 InfiniBand.

- One ConnectX-7 typically supports 16 ports max, so you'd need 17 NICs. But how would that fit into a standard server chassis?
- Even assuming PCIe 4.0 x16 slots, the available 32GB/s falls short of the ~50GB/s needed for full-bandwidth on 270 ports.

Could this be:
- A switch-based topology (e.g., NS9 X5 as an endpoint connected to an external SN3700)?
- Port virtualization using SR-IOV or NPAR?
- Or is there any secret sauce like PCIe 5.0/CXL magic going on?

Has anyone benchmarked this with ib_write_bw or seen performance data?

Appreciate any thoughts or references to official docs. I'm wondering if this is just port virtualization dressed up in marketing terms.

 

[BlueFox]

Not hard to fit that many PCIe slots into a system? This isn't some 2U chassis. Once you get into modular systems like this, there's plenty of space. HPE Superdome had 192 PCIe slots for example and that was nearly 15 years ago. As for bandwidth, 1280 PCIe lanes will have no issues with that.

If you need performance data, should talk to your account rep. They should be able to demo one for you.