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''The current portfolio of PowerConnect switches are now being offered as part of the
Dell Networking Dell Networking is the new name for the networking portfolio of Dell. In the first half of 2013, Dell started to re-brand their different existing networking product brands to Dell Networking. Dell Networking will be the new name for the networkin ...
brand: information on this page is an overview of all current and past PowerConnect switches as per August 2013, but any updates on current portfolio will be detailed on the Dell Networking page.'' PowerConnect was a
Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...
series of
network switch A network switch (also called switching hub, bridging hub, and, by the IEEE, MAC bridge) is networking hardware that connects devices on a computer network by using packet switching to receive and forward data to the destination device. A netw ...
es. The PowerConnect "classic" switches are based on
Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data center, networking, software, broadband, wirel ...
or
Marvell Technology Group Marvell Technology, Inc. is an American company, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, which develops and produces semiconductors and related technology. Founded in 1995, the company had more than 6,000 employees as of 2021, with over 10,00 ...
fabric and firmware. Dell acquired
Force10 Dell Force10 (formerly nCore Networks, Force10 Networks), was a United States company that developed and marketed 10 Gigabit and 40 Gigabit Ethernet switches for computer networking to corporate, educational, and governmental customers. It had ...
Networks in 2011 to expand its
data center A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...
switch products. Dell also offers the PowerConnect M-series which are switches for the M1000e blade-server enclosure and the PowerConnect W-series which is a
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
platform based on . Starting in 2013 Dell will re-
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
their networking portfolio to
Dell Networking Dell Networking is the new name for the networking portfolio of Dell. In the first half of 2013, Dell started to re-brand their different existing networking product brands to Dell Networking. Dell Networking will be the new name for the networkin ...
which covers both the legacy PowerConnect products as well as the Force10 products.


Product line

The Dell PowerConnect line is marketed for business
computer network A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are ...
ing. They connect computers and servers in small to medium-sized networks using
Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...
. The brand name was first announced in July 2001, as traditional
personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
sales were declining. By September 2002
Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...
cancelled a reseller agreement with Dell. Previously under storage business general manager Darren Thomas, in September 2010 Dario Zamarian was named to head networking platforms within Dell. PowerConnect switches are available in pre-configured web-managed models as well as more expensive managed models. there is not a single underlying operating system: the models with a product-number up to 5500 run on a proprietary OS made by Marvell while the
Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data center, networking, software, broadband, wirel ...
powered switches run on an OS based on
VxWorks VxWorks is a real-time operating system (or RTOS) developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptiv. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems requiring real-time, determin ...
. With the introduction of the 8100 series the switches will run on DNOS or
Dell Networking Operating System DNOS or Dell Networking Operating System is a network operating system running on switches from Dell Networking. It is derived from either the PowerConnect OS (DNOS 6.x) or Force10 OS/FTOS (DNOS 9.x) and will be made available for the 10G and faste ...
which is based on a
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
kernel for
DNOS DNOS or Dell Networking Operating System is a network operating system running on switches from Dell Networking. It is derived from either the PowerConnect OS (DNOS 6.x) or Force10 OS/FTOS (DNOS 9.x) and will be made available for the 10G and faste ...
5.x and 6.x. Via PowerConnect W-series Dell offers a range of Aruba WiFi products. The Powerconnect-J (
Juniper Networks Juniper Networks, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. The company develops and markets networking products, including routers, switches, network management software, network security products, ...
) and B (
Brocade Brocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian ''broccato'' meaning "embos ...
) series are not longer sold, except for the B8000e/ PCM8428-K full
FCoE Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a computer network technology that encapsulates Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet networks. This allows Fibre Channel to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks (or higher speeds) while preserving the Fibre Channel ...
switches. Most of these products are now replaced by
Force10 Dell Force10 (formerly nCore Networks, Force10 Networks), was a United States company that developed and marketed 10 Gigabit and 40 Gigabit Ethernet switches for computer networking to corporate, educational, and governmental customers. It had ...
models.


Legacy Devices

This page is about the legacy Dell PowerConnect switches that are no longer for sale. For the current portfolio please see the
Dell Networking Dell Networking is the new name for the networking portfolio of Dell. In the first half of 2013, Dell started to re-brand their different existing networking product brands to Dell Networking. Dell Networking will be the new name for the networkin ...
page. All Dell switches will be re-
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
-ed to Dell Networking and will then have a different naming-system based on a letter and a 4 digit number. But the current PowerConnect rack-switches will keep their current name until they reach 'end-of'sales', except for the (new) 8100 series: these will be renamed to DN N-40xx series. The existing Force10 switches will mainly keep their current name and numbering (e.g. DN S-4800 series, DN S-5000, DN-Z9000 etc.


2200 and 2300 series

Models 2216 and 2224 were unmanaged,
10/100 Ethernet over twisted-pair technologies use twisted-pair cables for the physical layer of an Ethernet computer network. They are a subset of all Ethernet physical layers. Early Ethernet used various grades of coaxial cable, but in 1984, Sta ...
Mbit/s
Ethernet over twisted pair Ethernet over twisted-pair technologies use twisted-pair cables for the physical layer of an Ethernet computer network. They are a subset of all Ethernet physical layers. Early Ethernet used various grades of coaxial cable, but in 1984, Sta ...
switches, with 16 and 24 ports each, respectively. They were discontinued. The PowerConnect 2324 was similar to 2224, but includes 2
Gigabit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented a ...
Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...
ports for
uplink In a telecommunications network, a link is a communication channel that connects two or more devices for the purpose of data transmission. The link may be a dedicated physical link or a virtual circuit that uses one or more physical links or shar ...
or
server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...
purposes.


2600 series

The PowerConnect 2600 series included the 2608, 2616 and 2624. They are un-managed
Gigabit Ethernet In computer networking, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE or 1 GigE) is the term applied to transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second. The most popular variant, 1000BASE-T, is defined by the IEEE 802.3ab standard. It came into use i ...
workgroup switches with all ports at
10/100/1000 Ethernet over twisted-pair technologies use twisted-pair cables for the physical layer of an Ethernet computer network. They are a subset of all Ethernet physical layers. Early Ethernet used various grades of coaxial cable, but in 1984, StarL ...
MBit/s. The 2624 model features an SFP port for fiber uplinks. They too are discontinued.


2700 series

The PowerConnect 27xx series of switchers were Web managed all-Gigabit workgroup switches (10/100/1000) with eight, 16, 24, or 48 ports respectively. Switches shipped in a plug-n-play un-managed mode and can be managed via a
graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
. They are discontinued.


2800 series

:see Dell Networking - PowerConnect 2800 for details PowerConnect 2808, 2816, 2824, and 2848 are dual-mode unmanaged or Web managed all-Gigabit workgroup switches (10/100/1000). 8, 16, 24, or 48 ports respectively. On the 2824 and 2848, there are an additional 2
small form-factor pluggable transceiver Small Form-factor Pluggable connected to a pair of fiber-optic cables Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) is a compact, hot-pluggable network interface module format used for both telecommunication and data communications applications. An SF ...
(SFP) modules, for fiber-optic connectivity. Switches ship in a plug-n-play un-managed mode and can be managed via a
graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
.


3400 series

PowerConnect 3424, 3424P, 3448, and 3448P were fully managed 10/100 switches with gigabit uplinks. All have four Gigabit ports, two copper and two SFP modular, all of which may be used at once. The 3424 and 3424P have 24 10/100 ports, the 3448 and 3448P have 48. The 3424P and 3448P provide
power over Ethernet Power over Ethernet, or PoE, describes any of several standards or ad hoc systems that pass electric power along with data on twisted-pair Ethernet cabling. This allows a single cable to provide both data connection and electrical power to d ...
on all 10/100 ports (PowerConnect 3448P requires EPS-470 for full 15.4W on all ports simultaneously). The switches are stackable using the copper Gigabit ports. They were discontinued.


3500 series

:see Dell Networking - PowerConnect 3500 for details PowerConnect 3524(P) and 3548(P) are managed 10/100 switches with gigabit uplinks and Power over Ethernet options for pplications such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), denoted on the models denoted with a "P" on the end of the part number. All switches in this family support resilient stacking and have management and security capabilities.


5200 series

The PowerConnect 5200 series of managed switches comprised the 5212 (12 copper Gb ports and 4 SFP ports) and the 5224 (24 copper Gb ports and 4 SFP ports)


5300 series

The PowerConnect 5316M was similar in software and function to other 53xx series switches but physically designed to fit one of the four IO bays in the 1855/1955 blade chassis. 16 ports, 10 of which are allocated to the 10 blade slots in the chassis, 6 are accessible via the back panel of the switch. It was discontinued. The PowerConnect 5324 was a 24 port, all-Gigabit, fully managed switch. The last 4 ports are SFP capable. Generally very similar to the 3400 series. It was discontinued.


5400 series

The PowerConnect 5400 series reached 'end of sales' in 2011 and are followed up with the 5500 series. Many features of the 5400 are now available on the 5500 series, but where the 5400 were certified for use with EqualLogic iSCSI arrays, the 5500 never passed the acceptance tests. The 5400 series offered 4 SFP ports for 1G fiber uplinks to a core or distribution layer and the 24 or 48 RJ45 ports are either 'normal' 1G ethernet or 1G ethernet with
PoE Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widel ...
option. * VoIP optimization and auto-configuration * iSCSI optimization and auto-configuration *
IEEE 802.1X IEEE 802.1X is an IEEE Standard for port-based Network Access Control (PNAC). It is part of the IEEE 802.1 group of networking protocols. It provides an authentication mechanism to devices wishing to attach to a LAN or WLAN. IEEE 802.1X defines t ...
(Dot1x) port-authentication *
IEEE 802.1Q IEEE 802.1Q, often referred to as Dot1q, is the networking standard that supports virtual local area networking (VLANs) on an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet network. The standard defines a system of VLAN tagging for Ethernet frames and the accompanying proce ...
(Dot1q) VLANs, trunking and -tagging.


5500 series

:see also Dell Networking - PowerConnect 5500 for details on current portfolio. PowerConnect 5500 series switches, the successor of the 5400 series, are based on Marvell technology. They offer 24 or 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports with (-P series) or without PoE. The 5500 have built-in stacking ports, using
HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controller, ...
cables and the range offers standard two 10Gb SFP+ ports for uplinks to core or distribution layer. All 5500 series models (5524, 5524P, 5548 and 5548P) can be combined in a single stack with up to 8 units per stack. The 5500 series uses standard HDMI cables (specification 1.4 category 2 or better) to stack with a total bandwidth of 40 Gbit/s per switch. The 5500 series are often used as Top Of Rack (TOR) switches and client access-switches in wiring cabinets in offices or campus networks. The 5500P series are mainly client access switches connecting VOIP phones and (daisy chained or directly connected) workstations. The -P series are also used to power other devices than phones, such as WiFi Access-points, IP camera's or thin clients. The 5500 series are stackable to combine several 5500-series switches into one virtual switch. The 5500 series switches are mainly designed to be pure layer 2 switches but it has some very basic layer 3 capabilities. Other standard features are ''enhanced VOIP support'' where the switch automatically recognizes connected VOIP devices and configure VOIP
quality of service Quality of service (QoS) is the description or measurement of the overall performance of a service, such as a telephony or computer network, or a cloud computing service, particularly the performance seen by the users of the network. To quantitat ...
and a VOIP-VLAN. This feature will only work optimally in small VOIP networks. There is also
iSCSI Internet Small Computer Systems Interface or iSCSI ( ) is an Internet Protocol-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. iSCSI provides block-level access to storage devices by carrying SCSI commands over a TCP/IP ...
optimization and auto-configuration, though Dell does not support them with their EqualLogic family of storage arrays. The switch also supports
IEEE 802.1X IEEE 802.1X is an IEEE Standard for port-based Network Access Control (PNAC). It is part of the IEEE 802.1 group of networking protocols. It provides an authentication mechanism to devices wishing to attach to a LAN or WLAN. IEEE 802.1X defines t ...
(Dot1x) port-authentication. Although they were meant as the follow-up for the EqualLogic certified 5400 switches, the 5500's never passed the acceptance tests: problems with latency -especially in stacked setups- prevented certification. Although they can work in small EQL (and other iSCSI) SAN networks they should be seen as campus-access switches and not as SAN switches.


6200 series (Kinnick and Kinnick 2)

:see also Dell Networking - Managed Multi-layer gigabit ethernet switches for details on current portfolio. The PowerConnect 6024 with 24 Gigabit Ethernet over twisted pair ports was announced in early 2004. The PowerConnect 6024F was a 24 port, layer 3, all-Gigabit, fiber-optimized switch. It had 24 SFP ports, eight of which doubled as copper ports. This switch was capable of
routing Routing is the process of selecting a path for traffic in a network or between or across multiple networks. Broadly, routing is performed in many types of networks, including circuit-switched networks, such as the public switched telephone netw ...
, with static routes,
Routing Information Protocol The Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is one of the oldest distance-vector routing protocols which employs the hop count as a routing metric. RIP prevents routing loops by implementing a limit on the number of hops allowed in a path from sourc ...
(RIP), and
Open Shortest Path First Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is a routing protocol for Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It uses a link state routing (LSR) algorithm and falls into the group of interior gateway protocols (IGPs), operating within a single autonomous sys ...
(OSPF). It was replaced by the PowerConnect 6224/6248 models. The 6224 and 6248 switch was introduced in early 2007 as the logical follow-up of the 6024 switch. It had 24 (6224) or 48 (6248) Gigabit Ethernet ports and two sockets for
10 Gigabit Ethernet 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GE, 10GbE, or 10 GigE) is a group of computer networking technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of 10 gigabits per second. It was first defined by the IEEE 802.3ae-2002 standard. Unlike previous Eth ...
modules (with two ports per module) or stacking. Many of the Dell PowerConnect offered "combination" ports: the last 4 ports on the switch are either copper (UTP/RJ-45) or fiber (SFP) ports: for example the PC6224 offers 20 copper only interfaces while ports 21-24 can be found twice on the front of the switch: as standard UTP ports and also as SFP slots, but one can only use one of them: by default the UTP port is enabled but when one inserts a SFP module in port 21-24 it switches over to fibre mode and the UTP link goes down. Any combo ports are always the highest 4 standard ports (21-24 on the PCxx24 models and 45–48 on PCxx48 models) Features include 24/48 ports, Layer 3 routing, all-gigabit, fully managed (web+cli), stackable switch with up to 4 10Gb ports. High availability routing, edge connectivity, traffic aggregation and VOIP applications all supported in the 62xx series. Flexible, high-speed stacking, fiber support, and MS NSP Certification included. The 6224 (P and F) and 6248P series switches are end of development: new firmware versions will only repair bugs, no new features are being developed for these switches. While other PowerConnect switches based on
Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data center, networking, software, broadband, wirel ...
hardware have firmware versions 4.x, the 6200 series continue to run on version 3.x and features introduced in the 4.x firmware are not available for the 6200 series switches.(note: this does NOT apply to the PCM 6220 blade-switch)


7000 series

:see also Dell Networking - Managed Multi-layer gigabit ethernet switches for details on current portfolio. The PowerConnect 7024 and 7048 were introduced April 1, 2011. They had the same ports as the 6224/6248, QoS features for iSCSI, and incorporate 802.3az
Energy Efficient Ethernet In computer networking, Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) is a set of enhancements to twisted-pair, twinaxial, backplane, and optical fiber Ethernet physical-layer variants that reduce power consumption during periods of low data activity. The i ...
. The 7000-series offer the same type of ports: both the 1G on the front as optional 10G and stacking modules on the rear-side. Unlike the 6200 series, firmware for the 7000 series does support new functionality via version 4.x and 5.x like their 10G brothers in the 8024 and 8100 series. A variant with reversible air flow is available for top of rack data center applications. The 6000 series remained on the market. The PCT7000 series also offer an
out-of-band management In systems management, out-of-band management involves the use of management interfaces (or serial ports) for managing networking equipment. Out-of-band (''OOB'') management is a networking term which refers to accessing and managing network infras ...
ethernet interface. One can configure the switch to allow both in-band as out-of-band management. By default the oob interface allows management per webgui

) and telnet, but also HTTP Secure, https and
ssh The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network. Its most notable applications are remote login and command-line execution. SSH applications are based on a ...
can be enabled on both in-band as out-of-band management. The PCT7000 series can be stacked with other PCT7000's but also with the PCM6348 blade switch


8000 series

The PowerConnect 8024 and 8024F were rack-mounted switches offering
10 Gigabit Ethernet 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GE, 10GbE, or 10 GigE) is a group of computer networking technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of 10 gigabits per second. It was first defined by the IEEE 802.3ae-2002 standard. Unlike previous Eth ...
on copper or optical fiber using
enhanced small form-factor pluggable transceiver Small Form-factor Pluggable connected to a pair of fiber-optic cables Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) is a compact, hot-pluggable network interface module format used for both telecommunication and data communications applications. An SFP ...
(SFP+) modules on the 8024F. On the 8024 the last 4 ports (21-24) are combo-ports with the option to use the 4 SFP+ slots to use fiber optic connections for longer-distance uplinks to core switches. On the 8024F the 4 combo ports offer 10GBASE-T copper-ports. The PCT8024 series also offers
out-of-band management In systems management, out-of-band management involves the use of management interfaces (or serial ports) for managing networking equipment. Out-of-band (''OOB'') management is a networking term which refers to accessing and managing network infras ...
via an extra ethernet-port. This port only gives access to the management of the switch: it doesn't allow to route or switch (other) traffic over this connection. It is possible to configure a switch so that it allows both oob as 'in band' management when one assigns an IP address to a vlan interface one can manage the switch via that address. The oob interface allows http, https, telnet or ssh accessDell manual website
Powerconnect 8024(f) CLI reference
October, 2011. Retrieved: 8 March 2012
The 8024 can be used as pure layer-2 switch or as a
layer-3 switch A multilayer switch (MLS) is a computer networking device that switches on OSI layer 2 like an ordinary network switch and provides extra functions on higher OSI layers. The MLS was invented by engineers at Digital Equipment Corporation. Switc ...
. These switches were introduced in early 2010, in the same single
rack unit A rack unit (abbreviated U or RU) is a unit of measure defined as . It is most frequently used as a measurement of the overall height of 19-inch and 23-inch rack frames, as well as the height of equipment that mounts in these frames, whereby th ...
(1U) size. The rack-models reached end-of-sale in January, 2013.. With the firmware 4.2.0.4 and later available from December 2011, the Powerconnect 8024(-F) and the blade-versions PCM8024-k (thus NOT the discontinued PCM8024) can be stacked. Stacking is done by assigning (multiple) 10Gb ethernet ports as stacking-ports. Up to six 80xx series switches can be stacked. Note that stacking is not supported using the 10GBASE-T combo ports on PCT8024F. One can mix PCT8024 and PCT8024-F in one stack, but it can't be combined with a PCM8024-k blade. The original PCM8024 did not support stackingRelease notes page 6 and further included in firmware packag
PC 4.2.1.3
release-date 2 February 2012, downloaded: 16 February 2012
Also with the introduction of that firmware the switches now also support
Fibre Channel over Ethernet Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a computer network technology that encapsulates Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet networks. This allows Fibre Channel to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks (or higher speeds) while preserving the Fibre Channel ...
via the added functionality FIP Snooping.


8100 series

:see also Dell Networking - PowerConnect 8100 for details on current portfolio. The PowerConnect 8100 series switches announced in 2012 offered 24 or 48 ports on 10Gb and 0 or 2 built-in ports for 40 Gb QSFP ports. All models also have one extension-module slot with either two QSFP 40Gb ports, 4 SFP+ 10Gb ports or 4 10GbaseT ports. It is a small (1U) switch with a high port-density and can be used as distribution or (collapsed)core switch for campus networks and for use in the datacenter it offers features such as loss-less ethernet for iSCSI and FCoE,
data center bridging Data center bridging (DCB) is a set of enhancements to the Ethernet local area network communication protocol for use in data center environments, in particular for use with clustering and storage area networks. Motivation Ethernet is the primary ...
(DCB) and
iSCSI Internet Small Computer Systems Interface or iSCSI ( ) is an Internet Protocol-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. iSCSI provides block-level access to storage devices by carrying SCSI commands over a TCP/IP ...
Auto-configureDel
PowerConnect 8100 spec sheet
July 2012. Downloaded: 29 August 2012
The PCT8100 series is a "multi-layer" switch which can be used as either a "pure" layer-2 ethernet-switch or as a "layer-3" switch with extensive IP routing functions. Most routing is done in hardware and can be done at (near) wire-speed. Management can be done via the "out-of-band" ethernet interface or "in-band" by connecting to one of the vlan-ip addresses. Management is possible via HTTP(s), telnet, SSH or even serial console cable. Up to 6 units in the 8100 series can be stacked to form one logical switch and any type of interface (10Gb or 40Gb, fiber-optical or utp copper) can be used for stacking. Similar to the rack-switches PCT7000 and PCT8024 series the switch offers an ''out-of-band'' fast-ethernet port for management as well as a serial console connection, required for initial configuration. The switch is built around the Broadcom Trident+ ASIC: the same ASIC as can be found in Cisco Nexus 5000 switches or
Force10 Dell Force10 (formerly nCore Networks, Force10 Networks), was a United States company that developed and marketed 10 Gigabit and 40 Gigabit Ethernet switches for computer networking to corporate, educational, and governmental customers. It had ...
models. The PowerConnect 8100 is initially released with
firmware In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...
5.0 of the switch-firmware which offers the same features as the PowerConnect 7000 and 8024 rack-switches and the different M-series ethernet switches. The underlying operating system of the PCT8100 is based on
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
2.6 where all other 'Broadcom powered' PowerConnects run on
VxWorks VxWorks is a real-time operating system (or RTOS) developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptiv. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems requiring real-time, determin ...
.


M-series

The PowerConnect M-series switches are ''classic'' Ethernet switches based on
Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data center, networking, software, broadband, wirel ...
fabric for use in the
blade server A blade server is a stripped-down server computer with a modular design optimized to minimize the use of physical space and energy. Blade servers have many components removed to save space, minimize power consumption and other considerations, whil ...
enclosure M1000e. All M-series switches offer a combination of ''internal'' interfaces and ''external'' interfaces. The internal interfaces connect to the mezzanine card of the blade-servers in the M1000e enclosure. These internal interfaces can be one or 10 Gbit/s. The M6220 offers a total of 20 interfaces: 16 internal 1 Gbit/s interfaces and 4 external 1 Gbit/s ports. Optionally two extension-modules can be installed that offers 10 Gbit/s ethernet or stacking-interfaces to stack multiple M6220 switches together as one virtual switch.Del
M-series IO guide
visited 31 July 2011
The M6348 has 32 internal ports (2 per blade) and 16 external 1 Gbit/s ports. The M6348 can be stacked via CX4 modules and/or create 10 Gbit/s SFP+ uplinks. The M8024 series offer 10Gb on all interfaces: the M8024-k has 16 internal 10Gb ports, 4
SFP+ Small Form-factor Pluggable connected to a pair of fiber-optic cables Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) is a compact, hot-pluggable network interface module format used for both telecommunication and data communications applications. An SF ...
slots and the option to install a FlexIO module that can offer 4 SFP+ ports, 3 CX-4 or 2 10GBaseT copper interfaces. The M8024-k was announced in May 2011. With the firmware upgrade announced in December 2011, the M8024-k is also a
Fibre Channel over Ethernet Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a computer network technology that encapsulates Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet networks. This allows Fibre Channel to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks (or higher speeds) while preserving the Fibre Channel ...
(FCoE) transit switch that can extend an available FCoE fabric. The M8024-k uses FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) to perform functions of FC_BB_E device discovery, initialization and maintenance. The FIP snooping feature enables the M8024-k to link Dell M-Series blades to an external top-of-rack or end-of-row FCoE forwarding switch and provides FCoE connectivity to the servers. This feature, along with Internet SCSI optimization, iSCSI TLV, and DCBx discovery and monitoring, enables seamless 10GbE performance in an end-to-end data center solution. In addition, with the recent firmware release, up to 6 M8024-k switches can now be stacked and managed through a single IP. Stacking is done by assigning (multiple) 10Gb Ethernet ports as stacking-ports. Also under the M-series name Dell offers the
Brocade Communications Systems Brocade is an American technology company specializing in storage networking products, now a subsidiary of Broadcom Inc. The company is known for its Fibre Channel storage networking products and technology. Prior to the acquisition, the comp ...
M5424 8Gb
Fibre Channel Fibre Channel (FC) is a high-speed data transfer protocol providing in-order, lossless delivery of raw block data. Fibre Channel is primarily used to connect computer data storage to servers in storage area networks (SAN) in commercial data cen ...
switch and the M8428-k Converged 10GbE Switch which offers 10GbE performance, FCoE switching, and low-latency 8 Gb Fibre Channel (FC) switching and connectivity. Other switches and I/O modules for the M1000e blade-enclosure are the
Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...
3032 and 3130 switches and several ''pass-through'' modules that bring the ''internal'' interfaces from the midplane to the exterior to connect these server-NIC's to external switches


Firmware

Dell PowerConnect switches are based on Marvell technologies or Broadcom hardware and each of them offer entirely different firmware-types. All layer-2 ethernet switches have a family or model-number below the 6000 and are based on Marvell hardware. Each model has its own family of firmware with different CLI and GUI (the PCT5500 series offer very limited layer-3 options, but is mainly a layer-2 switch). The switches with a model-number above 6000 are based on Broadcom hardware. Although each switch has its own firmware images; the options and capabilities on these switches are the same or similar. The PCT6200 (rack) series continue to run in the major-release number 3: new features or capabilities released in the other switches under firmware 4 or 5 are not available for the PCT6200 series. All other switches that are based on Broadcom hardware run on major release 4 or 5.


Bootcode

All Powerconnect switches, including the 8100 series, have both bootcode and operational code where one can run older firmware versions on later bootcode. Bootcode is generally backwards compatible: one can run firmware of a lower version then the boot-code version; when upgrading firmware one do NOT need to upgrade the boot-code unless specifically directed in the release note or by Dell support, but when downgrading one leave the newer boot-code in place. On the level2 switches (Marvell based) the bootcode is delivered as a separate file that needs to be copied to one's switch. The multi-layer switches however have the bootcode and operational code distributed in one file: one download and (prepare to) activate the newer firmware and with a special command (update bootcode) the switch builds the new bootcode from the operational code information. It is always possible to run a newer firmware operational code on a previous bootcode unless specifically noted in the release notes. In this case, the upgrade will automatically update the boot code during upgrade. When updating a stack, it is a best practice to individually update the stack members using the update bootcode command. Letting the unit completely rejoin the stack before updating any other unit is strongly advised, although updating the units individually (not as part of a stack) is always the safest route. Firmware releases are backwards compatible and one can have switches of the same model in one's network running on different firmware levels. Configuration files of older firmware can be used on the newest switches except for some small changes in configuration behavior that was introduced with introduction of firmware 4.0 and later versions.


Features

The Broadcom-based multi-layer switches offer a wide range of layer-2 and layer-3 options, and new features are added all the time. Until version 4.2 it wasn't possible to stack multiple 10Gb switches and converged ethernet (FCoE) capabilities for the 10Gb switches was added in firmware version 4.1 In release 5.0 the switches will start to support private vlan's and Unidirectional Link Detection. On the management level
Tacacs Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System (TACACS, ) refers to a family of related Authentication protocol, protocols handling remote authentication and related services for network access control through a centralized server. The original T ...
+ accounting was added.


Management

All Powerconnect switches can be configured via either a built-in web-
GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
or the
command line interface A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...
or CLI (except for the entry-level layer 2 Powerconnects that only offer web-based configuration or can run in the un-managed mode). The Web GUI uses by default
HTTP The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, ...
on port 80, but one can configure them to support
HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protocol is enc ...
and/or change the HTTP port-number. For the CLI one can use the serial console cable and -for the M series blade switches- a virtual console via the CMC. By default one can also access the CLI via telnet with an option to support
SSH The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network. Its most notable applications are remote login and command-line execution. SSH applications are based on a ...
. Authentication can be done via either the local user-database,
RADIUS In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...
or
TACACS Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System (TACACS, ) refers to a family of related Authentication protocol, protocols handling remote authentication and related services for network access control through a centralized server. The original T ...
. All switches do also support
SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Internet Standard protocol for collecting and organizing information about managed devices on IP networks and for modifying that information to change device behaviour. Devices that typically ...
, and with each firmware release an up-to-date MIB is also released. Any SNMP based management tool can be used, but the company also releases their own management-platform Open Manage Network Manager, which is a limited edition of Dorado's RedCell application. A free version, which only allows the user to manage up to 10 network devices, is available on the firmware page of the respective switches.


B-, J- and W-series

The B-series and J-series were Dell branded versions of switches from
Brocade Communications Systems Brocade is an American technology company specializing in storage networking products, now a subsidiary of Broadcom Inc. The company is known for its Fibre Channel storage networking products and technology. Prior to the acquisition, the comp ...
and
Juniper Networks Juniper Networks, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. The company develops and markets networking products, including routers, switches, network management software, network security products, ...
respectively. The W-series is the wireless range from
Aruba Networks Aruba Networks, formerly known as Aruba Wireless Networks, is a Santa Clara, California-based wireless networking subsidiary of Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. The company was founded in Sunnyvale, California in 2002 by Keerti Melkote and ...
Due to the acquisition of Force10 all the PowerConnect-J series and nearly all of the PowerConnect B-series have been discontinued. Only the Brocade-based PC-B8000e and the blade version PCM 8428-k) full
FCoE Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a computer network technology that encapsulates Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet networks. This allows Fibre Channel to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks (or higher speeds) while preserving the Fibre Channel ...
switches are still available (as are pure
Fibre Channel Fibre Channel (FC) is a high-speed data transfer protocol providing in-order, lossless delivery of raw block data. Fibre Channel is primarily used to connect computer data storage to servers in storage area networks (SAN) in commercial data cen ...
switches). Also the Cisco Catalyst 3xxx switches for the M1000e enclosure are still available. The ''normal'' (datacenter) ethernet switches from Juniper and Brocade are now replaced by Dell Force10 models `` The W-series, which is the
Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...
product line for enterprise class
WiFi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...
switches will continue to be available and the available models are extended in the near future.


Force10

In July 2011 Dell announced the acquisition of
Force10 Networks Dell Force10 (formerly nCore Networks, Force10 Networks), was a United States company that developed and marketed 10 Gigabit and 40 Gigabit Ethernet switches for computer networking to corporate, educational, and governmental customers. It had ...
, another company that designed and marketed Ethernet switches. The deal completed on August 26, 2011. This led to speculation that relationships with other vendors such as Cisco and Brocade would change because they overlap the data center market. In September 2011 Dell announced plans to expand the staff from Force10 in
San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
and
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.


References


External links


Networking on the Dell official website

Dell Tech Center
{{Dell Inc Computer networking PowerConnect PowerConnect