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I have an old CX300 I'm messing with and I cant determine what kind of HBA\fiber cables I need to connect a server to the front end ports on the DPE2.

The hardware reference doesn't give me any details and being new to FC-SAN all of the options are pretty overwhelming. I don't know if the ports are SC or LC or if it requires singlemode or multimode. Googling hasn't turned up anything for me either. All I know is that it supports 2GB Fiber.

Here is a pic of one the modules. You can clearly see the front-end ports (FE)

Basil
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red888
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2 Answers2

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It typically is an LC to LC multimode cable. If you had a pic of the front end ports we would know for sure, but the CX300 uses LC-LC multimode cables from what I recall.

TheCleaner
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  • Arg I just bought an old cheapo Emulex LPe1150 HP A8002A 397739-00 that's LC singlemode. Can it support singlemode or multimode and if so is it common for SAN devices to support both? I'll see if I can add a pic to my post. – red888 Oct 17 '13 at 19:50
  • "If you had a pic of the front end ports we would know for sure" Really? When looking at various HBA cards I've found the ports of single and multimode cards look identical, but I bet my newb eyes are missing something. – red888 Oct 17 '13 at 20:07
  • I never meant to get a pic to differentiate between single and multimode, but between SC and LC. – TheCleaner Oct 17 '13 at 20:26
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That picture is of an LC port. As TheCleaner said, the vast majority of fibre storage will be LC/LC, which means you want to get LC/LC cables and ensure than any servers you plug in use LC HBAs (interface card). You probably can't find 2Gb HBAs these days, but a 4Gb or 8Gb HBA will be able to negotiate down to 2Gb. A 16Gb HBA won't.

You can direct connect a server into your CX300, but the best practice is to use a switch.

Basil
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  • But do I want singlemode, multimode or does the CX300 support both? – red888 Oct 17 '13 at 20:09
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    Singlemode is for long distance or mainframes, usually. Multimode is much more common. The CX300 probably does support both, but it'll be configured already. – Basil Oct 17 '13 at 20:18
  • What do you mean "but it'll be configured already". Do you mean I can just plug in the cable and it will figure it out for itself? – red888 Oct 17 '13 at 20:24
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    Correct, each mode requires a different SFP. An SFP is a little plastic/metal looking thingie that plugs into a square hole in the back of the storage equipment. They are interchangable, in principle. I don't know for a fact that the CX300 supported anything but the standard multi-mode 2Gb SFPs, but most storage can be configured with SFPs for single mode. – Basil Oct 17 '13 at 20:33
  • Awesome, thanks for all the great info. I also I'm finding some conflicting info for the card I just bought so it might actually be multimode after all. – red888 Oct 17 '13 at 20:47