The Dell 1K4W5 is a Brocade M6505 16 Gb Fibre Channel blade switch module for the PowerEdge M1000e enclosure. It installs in an M1000e fabric bay and switches Fibre Channel traffic for the blades in the chassis. It is interchangeable with Dell part number T6RG7.
A switch, not a pass-through
The distinction matters when specifying an M1000e fabric. A pass-through module gives each blade a dedicated external port and pushes all the switching upstream, which means one SAN switch port per blade. A switch module such as the M6505 does the switching inside the chassis and presents a much smaller number of external uplinks - so a fully populated enclosure consumes a handful of SAN ports instead of sixteen. On a SAN where port licences are the expensive part, that is the entire argument.
Ports on Demand
The M6505 ships under Brocade's Ports-on-Demand licensing, so the number of active ports is a property of the individual unit rather than of the model. Check the licence state of the switch you are buying, and check it again against what your fabric needs, before assuming a port count. This is the single most common surprise when buying these modules second-hand.
Fabric redundancy
The M1000e gives each fabric two I/O bays. Populating both with M6505 modules gives every blade two independent paths into the SAN, so host multipathing survives the loss of a module or an upstream link. A single module works and is common in lab and test chassis, but it leaves storage - the one thing a blade cannot tolerate losing - without a second path.
Before you order
Confirm that the blades carry 16 Gb Fibre Channel mezzanine adapters in the matching fabric slot, and confirm the firmware level your fabric expects. An M6505 joining an existing Brocade fabric has to be at a compatible Fabric OS revision.
Condition
Refurbished, tested and covered with warranty.
Related models
Specifications
| Model | Brocade M6505 |
|---|---|
| Port speed | 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 |
| Interchangeable Dell part numbers | T6RG7 |
| Shipping weight | 5.0 lbs |
