I currently have a 4 node vSAN cluster using all 4 QSFP ports on my ICX 6650 switch and need to expand. Below are the NICs I already have, and the switch I’m deciding between. How do these 3 switches compare, and which is best suited for my upgrade?
(4x) MCX416A-BCAT (dual 56/50/40 gbe ports)
(4x) MCX4131A-GCAT (single 50/40 gbe port)
(4x) MCX4121C-ACAT (dual 25/10 gbe port)
I’m leaning towards the 7050QX-32S since I will need a SFP port for the fiber WAN. Although I think the SX6036 may be the better choice since I already have all Mellanox NICs and can leverage the 56/50 gbe InfiniBand speeds. Additional questions I have:
(4x) MCX416A-BCAT (dual 56/50/40 gbe ports)
(4x) MCX4131A-GCAT (single 50/40 gbe port)
(4x) MCX4121C-ACAT (dual 25/10 gbe port)
- Brocade ICX 7750-26Q
- Arista 7050QX-32S
- Mellanox SX6036
I’m leaning towards the 7050QX-32S since I will need a SFP port for the fiber WAN. Although I think the SX6036 may be the better choice since I already have all Mellanox NICs and can leverage the 56/50 gbe InfiniBand speeds. Additional questions I have:
- Can a QSFP switch port be used with an adapter to use a SFP optic for the 1gbps WAN fiber connection?
- Can the SX6036 run 56gbe on some ports and 50gbe on other ports at the same time?
- Based on datasheet, all 3 switches use about the same power consumption at idle or with passive cable, correct?
- I may need to connect a few 1gbps and 10gbps ethernet cables from various devices. Will an QSFP to SFP adapter with SFP to 10Gbase-T adapter work to have the RJ-45 ethernet plugged into the QSFP port?