The Dell 00K3M is an 8-port 16 Gb Fibre Channel switch I/O module for the PowerEdge M1000e blade enclosure. It installs in an M1000e fabric bay and provides Fibre Channel connectivity for the blade servers in the chassis.
How M1000e fabrics work
The M1000e carries three fabrics - A, B and C - each with two I/O bays at the back of the chassis. Fabric A is normally Ethernet for LAN traffic; fabrics B and C take whatever the blades' mezzanine cards present, which for storage means Fibre Channel. Each blade's mezzanine card connects internally to the matching bay, so no external cabling is needed between the servers and the module.
The two bays in a fabric exist so the fabric can be redundant. A module in each bay gives every blade two independent paths to the SAN; multipathing on the host then survives the loss of a module, a cable or an upstream switch port. Populating only one bay works, but it makes the blade chassis a single point of failure for storage - and storage is the one thing a blade server cannot ride out.
Where it fits in a build
16 Gb Fibre Channel is the generation that pairs naturally with M1000e-era blades running virtualised workloads against a mid-range array. Modules like this are typically bought as spares for an existing chassis rather than as new capacity: they are hot-pluggable, so replacing a failed one is a bay swap rather than a maintenance window.
Before you order
Check the mezzanine cards in the blades themselves. A Fibre Channel I/O module is only useful if the servers carry matching FC mezzanine adapters in the same fabric slot - the module and the mezzanine have to agree on both fabric and protocol.
Condition
Refurbished, tested and covered with warranty.
Related models
Specifications
| Ports | 8 x 16 Gb Fibre Channel |
|---|---|
| Host platform | Dell PowerEdge M1000e blade enclosure |
| Form factor | M1000e fabric I/O module |
| Serviceability | Hot-pluggable; deploy in pairs for redundant fabric |
| Shipping weight | 5.0 lbs |
