Brocade X7-8 and X7-4 FC SAN Directors

The Brocade X7 FC SAN Directors are high-performance, modular, chassis-based Fibre Channel networking devices that provides connectivity between servers, switches and storage systems to form the backbone of an enterprise FC storage area network. The X7 Directors provide a modular building block, purpose-built for scalability to accommodate growth and power large-scale storage environments.

With a 50% latency reduction compared to the previous generation, X7 Directors maximize the performance of NVMe storage and high transaction workloads, eliminating I/O bottlenecks and unleashing the full performance of next generation storage.

The modular design provides flexibility with two customizable chassis that can scale on-demand for more devices, applications, and workloads, the X7-8 and X7-4. Both chassis utilize Brocade UltraScale ICL technology to scale out modular SANs while preserving blade ports for device connectivity and allowing flexible SAN design that supports core-edge or mesh topologies.

Figure 1. Brocade Gen 7 Director X7-8 (left) and X7-4 (right)

X7 Directors provide cyber resiliency with integrated security technology that protects mission critical operations by validating the integrity of Gen 7 hardware and software. With enhanced security and autonomous SAN technology, organizations can take the guesswork out of protecting and managing a network.

With Lenovo FC SAN Switch offerings, Lenovo can be your trusted partner that offers "one stop shop" and single point of contact for delivery of leading-edge technologies and innovations from Lenovo and other leading IT vendors. These offerings can satisfy the wide range of your end-to-end IT infrastructure needs, including end-user devices, servers, storage, networking, services, management software, and financing.

The Brocade X7 FC SAN Directors provide up to 512 ports, enabling organizations to scale more devices, applications, and workloads. With diverse deployment options, multiprotocol flexibility, and mixed blade capability, organizations can adapt and optimize their businesses to meet next-generation storage and server requirements. The X7 Directors support the concurrent use of both traditional Fibre Channel and NVMe storage traffic, allowing organizations to seamlessly integrate Gen 7 Fibre Channel networks with next generation NVMe-based storage, without a disruptive rip-and-replace.

The X7 Directors lay the foundation for the autonomous SAN. With autonomous SAN technology, the director harnesses the power of analytics and the simplicity of automation to optimize performance, ensure reliability, and simplify management. Leveraging these capabilities enables organizations to realize a self-learning, self-optimizing, and self-healing SAN.

The X7 Directors offer the following features and benefits:

• Scale more devices, applications, and workloads with up to 512 64 Gb links per chassis
• Maximize NVMe and high transaction workloads with 50% lower network latency
• Transform telemetry data into actionable insights to optimize performance and ensure reliability
• Automate actions to simplify management and resolve issues without intervention
• Increase visibility and simplify operations with a modern SAN management tool
• Safeguard mission-critical workloads from vulnerabilities with Gen 7 integrated security
• Seamlessly integrate next generation NVMe into the storage fabric without a disruptive rip-and replace
• Design flexible architectures to increase agility with concurrent Fibre Channel, NVMe, FICON, or FCIP connectivity
• Extend replication over distance with a highly scalable extension solution for Fibre Channel, IP, and FICON
• Enterprise bundle software (Fabric Vision, Extended Fabrics, Trunking, CUP and Integrated Routing) are included as standard features.

The Brocade X7-4 Director with the airflow diversion kit is a 9U rack mount chassis that is built for midsize networks. It has four horizontal blade slots to provide up to 256 ports for device connectivity. An additional 16 UltraScale ICL connections provide 64 ports for chassis-to-chassis interconnect.

The Brocade X7-8 Director is a 14U rack mount chassis that is built for large enterprise networks. It has eight vertical blade slots to provide up to 512 ports for device connectivity. An additional 32 UltraScale Inter-Chassis Link (ICL) connections provide 128 ports for chassis-to-chassis interconnect.

In this section:

• X7-4 Chassis
• X7-8 Chassis
• Port Blades and SX6 Extension Blades

The port side of the X7-4 chassis has the following components:

• Four blade slots within the X7-4 chassis can be populated with optional port or extension blades. The chassis comes without port blades or extension blades, see Blades for ordering information.
• Two redundant hot-swap active/standby Control Processor blades (CP blades come with the chassis). A Control Processor (CP) blade contains the control plane for the device and hosts the Fabric OS that manages all hardware within the device, and it provides the following external connections for device configuration, firmware downloads, service, management, and monitoring functions:
  • USB port for firmware download and technical support data
  • Serial console RJ-45 port
  • 10/100/1000 Mb Ethernet RJ-45 port for device management and configuration
  • 10/100/1000 Mb Ethernet RJ-45 port for service
  • 10 Gb Ethernet RJ-45 port (reserved for future use)
  • Note: The two 10/100/1000 Mb Ethernet ports are configured in an active/standby pair.
• Two redundant hot-swap active/active Core Routing blades (CR blades come with the chassis). Core routing blades contain ASICs that allow switching between up to four port blades, and each core routing blade provides 96 Fibre Channel backplane ports for port or extension blade connections and 32 front-end FC links that are mapped to 8 QSFP+ ports for inter-chassis links (ICLs). POD License Kits are sold separately.

The non-port side of the X7-4 chassis has the following components:

• Choice of hot-swap power supplies AC or High Voltage (two must be ordered together with the chassis). Dual-function high-voltage AC, high-voltage DC (HVAC/HVDC) power supply assembly: Converts AC or DC input to the required DC output power required for device operation. Each power supply assembly provides the following power outputs in Watts at the indicated AC and DC input rated voltages: 1450W (100–120 VAC); 2870W (200–277 VAC); 2870W (240–380 VDC). Most common is AC NPI power supply.
  • AC power supply supporting non-port side air intake (NPI) provides 1450W (100–120 VAC) and 2870W (200–240 VAC). This assembly has two fans that move the air from the non-port side to the port side of the device.
  • AC power supply model supporting non-port side air exhaust (NPE) provides 1450W (100–120 VAC) and 2870W (200–240 VAC). This assembly has two fans that move the air from the port side to the non-port side of the device.
  • High voltage power supply model supporting non-port side air intake (NPI). This assembly has two fans that move the air from the non-port side to the port side of the device.
  • High voltage power supply model supporting non-port side air exhaust (NPE). This assembly has two fans that move the air from the port side to the non-port side of the device.
• Choice of hot-swap cooling modules (two must be ordered together with the chassis and must match airflow of the power supplies)
  • Non-port side air intake (NPI) moves the air from the non-port side to the port side of the device.
  • Non-port side air exhaust (NPE) moves the air from the port side to the non-port side of the device.

The port side of the X7-8 chassis has the following components:

• Eight blade slots within the X7-8 chassis can be populated with optional port or extension blades. The chassis comes without port blades or extension blades, see Blades for ordering information.
• Two redundant hot-swap active/standby Control Processor blades (CP blades come with the chassis) A Control Processor (CP) blade contains the control plane for the device and hosts the Fabric OS that manages all hardware within the device, and it provides the following external connections for device configuration, firmware downloads, service, management, and monitoring functions:
  • USB port for firmware download and technical support data
  • Serial console RJ-45 port
  • 10/100/1000 Mb Ethernet RJ-45 port for device management and configuration
  • 10/100/1000 Mb Ethernet RJ-45 port for service
  • 10 Gb Ethernet RJ-45 port (reserved for future use)
  • Note: The two 10/100/1000 Mb Ethernet ports are configured in an active/standby pair.
• Two redundant hot-swap active/active Core Routing blades (CR blades come with the chassis). Core routing blades contain ASICs that allow switching between up to eight port blades, and each core routing blade provides 192 Fibre Channel backplane ports for port or extension blade connections and 64 front-end FC links that are mapped to 16 QSFP+ ports for inter-chassis links (ICLs). POD License Kits are sold separately.

The following figure shows the non-port side view of the X7-8 FC SAN Director.

Figure 5. X7-8 FC SAN Director non-port side view

• Choice of hot-swap power supplies AC or High Voltage (four must be ordered together with the chassis). Dual-function high-voltage AC, high-voltage DC (HVAC/HVDC) power supply assembly: Converts AC or DC input to the required DC output power required for device operation. Each power supply assembly provides the following power outputs in Watts at the indicated AC and DC input rated voltages: 1450W (100–120 VAC); 2870W (200–277 VAC); 2870W (240–380 VDC). Most common is AC NPI power supply.
  • AC power supply supporting non-port side air intake (NPI) provides 1450W (100–120 VAC) and 2870W (200–240 VAC). This assembly has two fans that move the air from the non-port side to the port side of the device.
  • AC power supply model supporting non-port side air exhaust (NPE) provides 1450W (100–120 VAC) and 2870W (200–240 VAC). This assembly has two fans that move the air from the port side to the non-port side of the device.
  • High voltage power supply model supporting non-port side air intake (NPI). This assembly has two fans that move the air from the non-port side to the port side of the device.
  • High voltage power supply model supporting non-port side air exhaust (NPE). This assembly has two fans that move the air from the port side to the non-port side of the device.
• Choice of hot-swap cooling modules (three must be ordered together with the chassis and must match airflow of the power supplies)
  • Non-port side air intake (NPI) moves the air from the non-port side to the port side of the device.
  • Non-port side air exhaust (NPE) moves the air from the port side to the non-port side of the device

The following figure shows the 48-port blade.

Figure 7. 48-port blade (Image example is FC32-48)

There are multiple 48-port blades offerings. These blades contain 48 ports capable of Fibre Channel speeds up to 32 or 64 Gbps depending on model, and support up to 192 32-Gbps external ports in a single X7-4 chassis, and up to 384 32-Gbps external ports in a single X7-8 chassis. While most client will leverage SWL transceiver models, LWL models are available for those mainframe-connected environments or those needing connectivity over longer distances.

• The Gen 7 Brocade FC64-48 Fibre Channel port blade provides 48 x 64G Fibre Channel ports with backward-compatibility support for 8, 10, 16, and 32G Fibre Channel connectivity.
• The Brocade FC32-X7-48 Fibre Channel port blade provides 48 x 32G Fibre Channel ports with backward-compatibility support for 8, 10, and 16G Fibre Channel connectivity.
• The Gen 6 FC32-48 Fibre Channel port blade provides 48 x 32G Fibre Channel ports with backward-compatibility support for 4, 8, 10, and 16G Fibre Channel connectivity

The following figure shows the SX6 extension blade.

Figure 8. SX6 extension blade

The SX6 Extension blade is intended as an extension platform to support Fibre Channel, FICON, and IP based storage data flows. Extension features enable you to use the existing IP wide area network (WAN) infrastructure to connect Fibre Channel and IP fabrics. Extension features support applications such as remote data replication (RDR), centralized backup, and data migration over very long distances. Extension tunnels, built on a physical connection between two extension switches or blades, allow Fibre Channel and IP I/O to pass through the IP WAN. The SX6 Extension blade can connect with an SX6 blade in another Brocade FC SAN Director or with a Brocade 7840 Extension Switch.

The following table lists the Brocade X7-4 and X7-8 FC SAN Director system specifications.

Note: The supported hardware options and firmware features listed in this product guide are based on the Fabric OS version 9.X.

The following table lists the X7-4 and X7-8 FC SAN Director Models.

The X7-4 and X7-8 FC SAN Director part numbers include the following items:

• One Director chassis that contains the following components:
  • Two control processing blades
  • Two core routing blades
• Enterprise Bundle SW license installed
• Integrated Routing SW license installed
• Ground lug kit
• Wrist strap
• X7-4 Specific
  • Vertical Cable Management Comb
  • Airflow diversion Kit (27"-31") and documentation
  • 4-post rack mount Kit
• X7-8 Specific
  • Cable Management Comb
  • 14U rack mount kit (27"-31")

Configuration notes:

• Models come standard with CR blades, however in order to leverage the ICLs, ICL POD kits are required. See the Inter-Chassis Links section for details.
• Models do not include port blades or extension blades and will need to be ordered for the Director model. See the Blades section for details.
• Models do not include fan modules or power supplies and must be ordered together with the director model. See Cooling and Power supplies and cables for details.
• Models do not include power cords and must be ordered together with the director model. See Power supplies and cables for details.

The X7-4 and X7-8 FC SAN Directors support the port and extension blade options that are listed in the following table.

Blades can be mixed, but the maximum is four for the X7-4 and eight for the X7-8.

Port and extension blades come standard with all ports activated. They also include a specific number and type of transceivers, as indicated in the description of each part number. Additional transceivers and cables can be ordered. See Transceivers and cables for details.

In this section:

• Connectivity choices
• Transceivers
• Cables
• Cabling requirements

Connectivity choices

With the flexibility of the X7-4 and X7-8 Directors, customers can choose the following connectivity technologies:

• SFP+ ports on the 48-port blades and SX6 extension blade
  • For 64 Gb FC links, customers can use 64 Gb FC SFP+ SWL optical transceivers for distances up to 100 meters on OM4/OM5 or up to 70 meters on OM3 50 µ multimode fiber (MMF) optic cables. For longer distances, the 64 Gb FC LW SFP+ optical transceivers can support up to 10 kilometers on 9 µ single-mode fiber (SMF) optic cables. For extended distances, the 64 Gb FC ELW SFP+ optical transceivers can support up to 25 kilometers on 9 µ SMF cables. (These transceivers are only available on Brocade FC64-48 Port Blade)
  • For 32 Gb FC links, customers can use 32 Gb FC SFP+ SW optical transceivers for distances up to 100 meters on OM4 or up to 70 meters on OM3 50 µ multimode fiber (MMF) optic cables. For longer distances, the 32 Gb FC LW SFP+ optical transceivers can support up to 10 kilometers on 9 µ single-mode fiber (SMF) optic cables. For extended distances, the 32 Gb FC ELW SFP+ optical transceivers can support up to 25 kilometers on 9 µ SMF cables.
  • For 16 Gb FC links, customers can use 16 Gb FC SFP+ SW optical transceivers for distances up to 125 meters on OM4 or up to 100 meters on OM3 50 µ MMF cables. For longer distances, the 16 Gb FC LW SFP+ optical transceivers can support up to 10 kilometers on 9 µ SMF cables. For extended distances, the 16 Gb FC ELW SFP+ optical transceivers can support up to 25 kilometers on 9 µ SMF cables. (These transceivers are NOT supported on Brocade FC64-48 Port Blade)
  • For 10 Gb FC links, customers can use 10 Gb FC SFP+ SW transceivers for distances up to 550 meters on OM4 or up to 300 meters on OM3 50 µ MMF cables, or 10 Gb FC SFP+ LW transceivers for distances up to 10 km on 9 µ SMF cables. 10 Gb FC operations allow metro connectivity by directly utilizing a fiber optic cable between sites or by creating multiple channels on an optical cable between sites, utilizing Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology.
• SFP-DD ports
  • For 64G FC links, customers can use 64G FC SFP-DD SWL optical transceivers for distances up to 100 meters on OM4 or up to 70 meters on OM3 50 µ MMF cables. These transceivers can operate at 64G, 32G, or 16G speeds.
• QSFP+ ports on the core routing blades:
  • For 128 Gb FC inter-chassis links for connectivity between the X7-4 or X7-8 FC Directors, customers can use 128 Gb (4x 32 Gb) FC QSFP+ SW optical transceivers for distances up to 100 meters on OM4 or up to 70 meters on OM3 50 µ MMF cables.
    Note: ICL trunks are formed automatically with corresponding 32 Gbps ports on different QSFP+ transceivers (ICL trunks cannot be formed with the 4x 32 Gbps ports on the same QSFP+ transceiver), and the trunking license is not required.
  • For 64 Gb FC inter-chassis links for connectivity between the X7-4 or X7-8 FC Directors and Brocade DCX 8510 Backbones, customers can use the following transceivers:
    Note: ICL trunks are formed automatically with corresponding 16 Gbps ports on different QSFP+ transceivers (ICL trunks cannot be formed with the 4x 16 Gbps ports on the same QSFP+ transceiver), and the trunking license is not required.
    • 128 Gb (4x 32 Gb) QSFP+ SWL v2 optical transceivers running at 4x 16 Gb speeds for distances up to 125 meters on OM4 or up to 100 meters on OM3 50 µ MMF cables.
    • 4x 16 Gb FC QSFP+ SWL optical transceivers for distances up to 100 meters on OM4 or up to 66 meters on OM3 50 µ MMF cables.
    • 4x 16 Gb FC QSFP+ LWL optical transceivers for distances up to 2 kilometers on parallel 9 µ SMF cables.
  • 1/10 GbE SFP+ and 40 GbE QSFP+ ports on extension blades allow connection to IP WANs and allow Fibre Channel and IP I/O traffic to pass through the IP WAN through extension tunnels.
    • For 1 GbE links, customers can use RJ-45 SFP transceivers with UTP cables up to 100 meters. Customers that need longer distances can use a 1000BASE-SX transceiver, which can drive distances up to 220 meters with 62.5 µ OM1 and up to 550 meters on 50 µ OM2 MMF cables, or the 1000BASE-LX transceivers that support distances up to 10 kilometers on 9 µ SMF cables.
    • For 10 GbE links, customers can use a 10GBASE-SR transceiver that supports distances up to 300 meters on OM3 or up to 400 meters on OM4 50 µ MMF cables. For longer distances, the 10GBASE-LR transceivers can support distances up to 10 kilometers on 9 µ SMF cables.
    • For 40 GbE links, customers can use the 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceivers for distances up to 100 meters on OM3 or up to 150 meters on OM4 50 µ MMF cables. For longer distances, the 40GBASE-LR4 transceivers can support distances up to 10 kilometers on 9 µ SMF cables. For extended distances, the 40GBASE-ER4 transceivers can support distances up to 40 kilometers on 9 µ SMF cables.
    • 1 GbE RJ-45 management ports on control processor blades: Customers can use UTP cables for distances up to 100 meters.

All port-blades come standard with transceivers that you see reflected in the descriptions. The SX6 extension blades come standard with 16x 32 Gb FC SWL or LWL SFP+ transceivers. The optional ICL bundles include eight Gen 7 FC QSFP+ or eight 4x32G SWL FC QSFP+ transceivers. Additional or different Fibre Channel or Ethernet SFP+, SFP-DD and QSFP+/QSFP28 transceivers can be ordered, if required.

Transceivers

The following table lists the supported transceiver options and optical cables.

The SFP-DD Cables specific for the FC64-64 port blade are listed in the following table.

Cabling requirements

The following table lists the cabling requirements for the directors.

For details on the latest features supported with the X7-4 & X7-8 FC SAN Directors, see the Administration Guide for the latest available Fabric OS version 9.0 and above:
https://www.broadcom.com/products/fibre-channel-networking/software/fabric-operating-system

UltraScale Inter-Chassis Link (ICL) are optional features for the X7 Directors. ICLs allow the interconnect of up to 9 (full-mesh) or 12 (core-edge) X7-4 or X7-8, or a combination of both, or to connect to X6-4 (Lenovo DB400D) or X6-8 (Lenovo DB800D) Backbones by using the QSFP+ ports on the core routing blades.

The following table lists ordering information for the optional features and bundles for the X7-4 and X7-8 FC SAN Directors Models HC1.

Each Inter-Chassis Link (ICL) bundle includes Port on Demand (POD) licenses to activate four available QSFP+ ports on both CR blades in the chassis. On the X7-8 clients can are required to have a minimum of 2 licenses and can upgrade to 3 or the max of 4 licenses per chassis.

Each ICL bundle also includes eight QSFP+ transceivers to populate the activated ports.

Lenovo offers optional Brocade SANnav™ Management Portal and SANnav Global View software license subscriptions that provide comprehensive visibility into the SAN environment, allow administrators to quickly identify, isolate, and correct problems, and accelerate administrative tasks by simplifying and automating workflows.

SANnav Management Portal is a next-generation SAN management application with a simple browser-based user interface (UI) and with a focus on streamlining common workflows, such as configuration, zoning, deployment, monitoring, troubleshooting, reporting, and analytics.

SANnav Management Portal supports all Brocade SAN switches and platforms that run the Fabric OS® version 7.4 or above, including Lenovo B300, B6505, B6510, DB610S, DB620S, DB400D, DB720S, DB800D, Brocade Directors, and FC5022.

With SANnav Global View, administrators can quickly visualize the health, performance, and inventory of multiple SANnav Management Portal instances using a simple, intelligent dashboard and can easily navigate from a global view down to local environments to investigate points of interest. SANnav Global View is designed to manage up to 20 SANnav Management Portal instances.

For more information, refer to the SANnav Management Portal documentation:
http://www.broadcom.com/products/fibre-channel-networking/software/sannav-management-portal#documentation

The following table lists ordering information for the optional SANnav Management Portal and SANnav Global View management tools. After a client has an active SANnav license, Lenovo offers a “license extension/renewal”. This offering provides our clients the flexible to extend their subscription down to a specific end date. This allows clients the ability to align to your company’s budget or align with warranty of your FC SAN switches/directors. Please engage directly with your Lenovo sales representative for more details.

The SAN Directors supports the standards listed at the following web page:

https://www.broadcom.com/support/fibre-channel-networking/san-standards/standards-compliance

The X7 Directors support the following Ethernet standards:

• IEEE 802.1AB Data Center Bridging Capability Exchange Protocol (DCBX)
• IEEE 802.1p Class of Service (CoS) prioritization
• IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Tagging
• IEEE 802.1Qbb Priority-Based Flow Control (PFC)
• IEEE 802.1Qaz Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS)
• IEEE 802.3 10BASE-T Ethernet (CP management interfaces)
• IEEE 802.3u 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet (CP management interfaces)
• IEEE 802.3z 1000BASE-SX short range fiber optics Gigabit Ethernet
• IEEE 802.3z 1000BASE-LX long range fiber optics Gigabit Ethernet
• IEEE 802.3ab 1000BASE-T copper twisted pair Gigabit Ethernet
• 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 802.3ba 40GBASE-SR4 short range fiber optics 40 Gb Ethernet
• IEEE 802.3ba 40GBASE-LR4 long range fiber optics 40 Gb Ethernet
• IEEE 802.3bm 40GBASE-ER4 extended range fiber optics 40 Gb Ethernet
• IEEE 802.3bm 100GBASE-SR4 short range fiber optics 100 Gb Ethernet
• 10GBASE-ZRD DWDM fiber optics 10 Gb Ethernet

Models of the X7 Directors do not  include cooling modules (fan assemblies) - the cooling modules must be ordered as well. Each cooling module has two integrated fans.

Two matching cooling modules are required for the X7-4, and three cooling modules are required for the X7-8. Cooling modules provide N+1 fan redundancy (3+1 for the X7-4; 5+1 for the X7-8), and the device can continue operation while one fan assembly is replaced if the fan assembly is replaced immediately. 

The following table lists the supported cooling modules.

Models of the X7 Directors do not include power supplies - the power supplies must be ordered separately.

The AC power supplies are hot-swap 1450 W (100-120 V AC) / 2870 W (200-240 V AC), and each power supply has an IEC 320-C20 connector. Each power supply has two integrated fans that provide non-port side air intake that matches the airflow of the cooling modules.

The High Voltage (HV) Power Supplies has a HVAC/HVDC power cable receptacle connector. The unique power cords is available from Lenovo and is 6m (19.7 ft.) long and contain three colored 14 AWG unterminated wires.

The following table lists the supported power supplies.

The X7 Directors do not include power cords by default. Up to four rack power cables or line cords should be ordered for the FC SAN Directors depending on the quantity of power supplies.

The following table lists the available power cords.

The X7 Directors come standard with the adjustable 27" to 31" rack mount kits that can be used for 4-post rack installations. The X7-4 also comes standard with the 27” to 31” Airflow Diversion Kit that allow to divert the airflow from the side air vent to the port side. In addition, the X7-8 supports 22" rack mount kit for specific racks and the X7-4 offers an optional 18”to 24” Airflow Diversion Kit.

If required, the Brocade FC SAN Directors can be mounted in a 2-post rack cabinet by using the optional mid-mount rack kits.

The following table lists rack-mount options.

The optional mid-mount rack kits for the X7-4 and X7-8 Directors are shown in the following figure.

Figure 10. X7-4 (left) and X7-8 (right) Mid-mount Rack Kits

In addition, in order for the X7-4 and X7-8 FC SAN Directors to meet FIPS 140-2 Level 2 Physical Security requirements the tamper-evident seals must be installed (see the following table for ordering information).

The X7 Directors have the following dimensions and weight:

Dimensions:

• X7-8 Director
  • Height: 61.23 cm (24.11 in., 14U)
  • Width: 43.74 cm (17.23 in.)
  • Depth: 61.04 cm (24.04 in.)
• X7-4 Director
  • Height: 34.45 cm (13.56 in., 8U)
  • Width: 43.74 cm (17.23 in.)
  • Depth: 61.04 cm (24.04 in.)
• X7-4 with airflow diversion rack-mount kit
  • Height: 40.00 cm (15.75 in., 9U)
  • Width: 43.74 cm (17.23 in.)
  • Depth: 61.29 cm (24.09 in.)

Temperature and humidity, Electrical requirements, and Heat output Information can be found in the Brocade X7-4 and X7-8 Director Hardware Installation Guide. https://www.broadcom.com/roducts/fibre-channel-networking/directors/x7-directors

The X7 Directors have a three-year warranty.

The standard warranty terms are customer-replaceable unit (CRU) and onsite (for field-replaceable units FRUs only) with standard call center support during normal business hours and 9x5 Next Business Day Parts Delivered.

Lenovo’s additional support services provide a sophisticated, unified support structure for your data center, with an experience consistently ranked number one in customer satisfaction worldwide. Available offerings include:

• Premier Support

  Premier Support provides a Lenovo-owned customer experience and delivers direct access to technicians skilled in hardware, software, and advanced troubleshooting, in addition to the following:

  • Direct technician-to-technician access through a dedicated phone line
  • 24x7x365 remote support
  • Single point of contact service
  • End to end case management
  • Third-party collaborative software support
  • Online case tools and live chat support
  • On-demand remote system analysis

• Warranty Upgrade (Preconfigured Support)

  Services are available to meet the on-site response time targets that match the criticality of your systems.

  • 3, 4, or 5 years of service coverage
  • 1-year or 2-year post-warranty extensions
  • Foundation Service: 9x5 service coverage with next business day onsite response
  • Essential Service: 24x7 service coverage with 4-hour onsite response or 24-hour committed repair (available only in select markets)
  • Advanced Service: 24x7 service coverage with 2-hour onsite response or 6-hour committed repair (available only in select markets)
• Managed Services

  Lenovo Managed Services provides continuous 24x7 remote monitoring (plus 24x7 call center availability) and proactive management of your data center using state-of-the-art tools, systems, and practices by a team of highly skilled and experienced Lenovo services professionals.

  Quarterly reviews check error logs, verify firmware & OS device driver levels, and software as needed. We’ll also maintain records of latest patches, critical updates, and firmware levels, to ensure you systems are providing business value through optimized performance.

• Technical Account Management (TAM)

  A Lenovo Technical Account Manager helps you optimize the operation of your data center based on a deep understanding of your business. You gain direct access to your Lenovo TAM, who serves as your single point of contact to expedite service requests, provide status updates, and furnish reports to track incidents over time. In addition, your TAM will help proactively make service recommendations and manage your service relationship with Lenovo to make certain your needs are met.

• Enterprise Server Software Support

  Enterprise Software Support is an additional support service providing customers with software support on Microsoft, Red Hat, SUSE, and VMware applications and systems. Around the clock availability for critical problems plus unlimited calls and incidents helps customers address challenges fast, without incremental costs. Support staff can answer troubleshooting and diagnostic questions, address product comparability and interoperability issues, isolate causes of problems, report defects to software vendors, and more.

• Health Check

  Having a trusted partner who can perform regular and detailed health checks is central to maintaining efficiency and ensuring that your systems and business are always running at their best. Health Check supports Lenovo-branded server, storage, and networking devices, as well as select Lenovo-supported products from other vendors that are sold by Lenovo or a Lenovo-Authorized Reseller.

Examples of region-specific warranty terms are second or longer business day parts delivery or parts-only base warranty.

If warranty terms and conditions include onsite labor for repair or replacement of parts, Lenovo will dispatch a service technician to the customer site to perform the replacement. Onsite labor under base warranty is limited to labor for replacement of parts that have been determined to be field-replaceable units (FRUs). Parts that are determined to be customer-replaceable units (CRUs) do not include onsite labor under base warranty.

If warranty terms include parts-only base warranty, Lenovo is responsible for delivering only replacement parts that are under base warranty (including FRUs) that will be sent to a requested location for self-service. Parts-only service does not include a service technician being dispatched onsite. Parts must be changed at customer’s own cost and labor and defective parts must be returned following the instructions supplied with the spare parts.

Lenovo Services is a dedicated partner to your success. Our goal is to reduce your capital outlays, mitigate your IT risks, and accelerate your time to productivity.

Here’s a more in-depth look at what we can do for you:

• Asset Recovery Services

  Asset Recovery Services (ARS) helps customers recover the maximum value from their end-of-life equipment in a cost-effective and secure way. On top of simplifying the transition from old to new equipment, ARS mitigates environmental and data security risks associated with data center equipment disposal. Lenovo ARS is a cash-back solution for equipment based on its remaining market value, yielding maximum value from aging assets and lowering total cost of ownership for your customers. For more information, see the ARS page, https://lenovopress.com/lp1266-reduce-e-waste-and-grow-your-bottom-line-with-lenovo-ars.

• Assessment Services

  An Assessment helps solve your IT challenges through an onsite, multi-day session with a Lenovo technology expert. We perform a tools-based assessment which provides a comprehensive and thorough review of a company's environment and technology systems. In addition to the technology based functional requirements, the consultant also discusses and records the non-functional business requirements, challenges, and constraints. Assessments help organizations like yours, no matter how large or small, get a better return on your IT investment and overcome challenges in the ever-changing technology landscape.

• Design Services

  Professional Services consultants perform infrastructure design and implementation planning to support your strategy. The high-level architectures provided by the assessment service are turned into low level designs and wiring diagrams, which are reviewed and approved prior to implementation. The implementation plan will demonstrate an outcome-based proposal to provide business capabilities through infrastructure with a risk-mitigated project plan.

• Basic Hardware Installation

  Lenovo experts can seamlessly manage the physical installation of your server, storage, or networking hardware. Working at a time convenient for you (business hours or off shift), the technician will unpack and inspect the systems on your site, install options, mount in a rack cabinet, connect to power and network, check and update firmware to the latest levels, verify operation, and dispose of the packaging, allowing your team to focus on other priorities.

• Deployment Services

  When investing in new IT infrastructures, you need to ensure your business will see quick time to value with little to no disruption. Lenovo deployments are designed by development and engineering teams who know our Products & Solutions better than anyone else, and our technicians own the process from delivery to completion. Lenovo will conduct remote preparation and planning, configure & integrate systems, validate systems, verify and update appliance firmware, train on administrative tasks, and provide post-deployment documentation. Customer’s IT teams leverage our skills to enable IT staff to transform with higher level roles and tasks.

• Integration, Migration, and Expansion Services

  Move existing physical & virtual workloads easily, or determine technical requirements to support increased workloads while maximizing performance. Includes tuning, validation, and documenting ongoing run processes. Leverage migration assessment planning documents to perform necessary migrations.

The X7 Directors conform to the following regulations which can be found in the Hardware Installation Guide, available from the following web page:
https://www.broadcom.com/products/fibre-channel-networking/directors/x7-directors

For end-to-end storage configuration support, refer to the Lenovo Storage Interoperation Center (LSIC):
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/lsic

Use the LSIC to select the known components of your configuration and then get a list all other supported combinations, with details about supported hardware, firmware, operating systems, and drivers, plus any additional configuration notes. View results on screen or export them to Excel.

Lenovo offers the ThinkSystem DE Series and ThinkSystem DM Series external storage systems for high-performance storage. See the DE Series and DM Series product guides for specific controller models, expansion enclosures and configuration options:

• ThinkSystem DE Series Storage
  https://lenovopress.com/storage/thinksystem/de-series#rt=product-guide
• ThinkSystem DM Series Storage
  https://lenovopress.com/storage/thinksystem/dm-series#rt=product-guide
• ThinkSystem DG Series Storage
  https://lenovopress.com/storage/thinksystem/dg-series#rt=product-guide

The following table lists the external backup options that are offered by Lenovo that can be used in Lenovo FC SAN solutions.

Note: Information provided in this section is for ordering reference purposes only. End-to-end LTO Ultrium configuration support for a particular tape backup unit must be verified through the System Storage Interoperation Center (SSIC):
http://www.ibm.com/systems/support/storage/ssic

For more information, see the list of Product Guides in the Tape Autoloaders and Libraries category:
https://lenovopress.com/storage/tape/library

The following table lists the supported rack cabinets.

For specifications about these racks, see the Lenovo Rack Cabinet Reference, available from:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1287-lenovo-rack-cabinet-reference

For more information, see the list of Product Guides in the Rack cabinets category:
https://lenovopress.com/servers/options/racks

The following table lists the power distribution units (PDUs) that are offered by Lenovo.

For more information, see the Lenovo Press documents in the PDU category:
https://lenovopress.com/servers/options/pdu

The following table lists the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units that are offered by Lenovo.

† Only available in China and the Asia Pacific market.

For more information, see the list of Product Guides in the UPS category:
https://lenovopress.com/servers/options/ups

The following sales training courses are offered for employees and partners (login required). Courses are listed in date order.

1. Lenovo Data Center Product Portfolio
   2024-04-22 | 20 minutes | Employees and Partners
   Details
   Lenovo Data Center Product Portfolio
   
   

   This course introduces the Lenovo data center portfolio, and covers servers, storage, storage networking, and software-defined infrastructure products. After completing this course about Lenovo data center products, you will be able to identify product types within each data center family, describe Lenovo innovations that this product family or category uses, and recognize when a specific product should be selected.

   Published: 2024-04-22
   Length: 20 minutes
   Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
   Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
   Course code: SXXW1110r7
2. The Inherent Security of Fibre Channel SAN
   2024-03-08 | 20 minutes | Employees and Partners
   Details
   The Inherent Security of Fibre Channel SAN
   
   

   In this course, you will learn the security benefits of dedicated FC Storage Area Networks.
   Course objectives:
   1. Be able to articulate some of the high level benefits of Fibre Channel SAN
   2. Understand the difference between Fibre Channel vs. IP Networks
   3. Learn about some of the security benefits in the Lenovo DB series hardware and software SAN offerings

   Published: 2024-03-08
   Length: 20 minutes
   Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
   Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
   Course code: DDBS209
3. Selling and Configuring Gen 7 Fibre Channel Directors
   2023-11-03 | 25 minutes | Employees and Partners
   Details
   Selling and Configuring Gen 7 Fibre Channel Directors
   
   

   In this course we will be discussing what Lenovo’s Gen 7 portfolio of offerings and specifically dive into a deeper understanding on how and where to position Gen 7 Directors. We will review how clients are likely to use Directors, plus look at all the different components that go into a director and the decisions required to help build a valid configuration.
   Another objective will be to make sure you can communicate high level some of the benefits of directors and also the advantage of Gen 7 Directors.
   Course objectives:
   1. Understand Lenovo’s full Gen 7 Fibre Channel product portfolio
   2. Understand how and where to position Gen 7 Directors
   3. Communicate the benefits to your clients
   4. Help clients build Director configurations based on their requirements

   Published: 2023-11-03
   Length: 25 minutes
   Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
   Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
   Course code: DDBS212r2
4. Family Portfolio: Storage Networking
   2023-10-27 | 15 minutes | Employees and Partners
   Details
   Family Portfolio: Storage Networking
   
   

   This course will provide you an overview of the Storage Networking family. After completing this course, you should be able to identify the products in the Storage Networking portfolio and their features, describe product family benefits, and recognize when a specific product should be used.

   Published: 2023-10-27
   Length: 15 minutes
   Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
   Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
   Course code: SXXW1113r7
5. Lenovo Data Center Product Portfolio
   2023-07-21 | 15 minutes | Employees and Partners
   Details
   Lenovo Data Center Product Portfolio
   
   

   This course introduces the Lenovo data center portfolio, and covers servers, storage, storage networking, and software-defined infrastructure products. After completing this course about Lenovo data center products, you will be able to identify product types within each data center family, describe Lenovo innovations that this product family or category uses, and recognize when a specific product should be selected.

   Published: 2023-07-21
   Length: 15 minutes
   Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
   Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
   Course code: SXXW1110r6

For more information, see the following resources:

• Lenovo FC SAN Switches product page:
  https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/data-center/storage/storage-area-network/fibre-channel-switches/c/san-fibre-channel-switches
• Brocade X7-4 and X7-8 FC Director product publications:
  https://www.broadcom.com/products/fibre-channel-networking/directors/x7-directors
  • Hardware Installation Guide
  • Fabric OS Administration Guide
  • Fabric OS Extension Configuration Guide
  • Fabric OS Command Reference
  • Fabric OS Message Reference
  • Fabric OS MIB Reference
  • Flow Vision Configuration Guide
  • FOS and SANnav Downloads - https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/TT116
  • TruFOS Certificates - https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/TT1149