UCS-FI-6332 Cisco 16 Ports Fabric Interconnect Switch

Product Overview

The Cisco UCS-FI-6332 Fabric Interconnect Switch is a powerful and dependable networking solution engineered to support modern IT environments. With optimized performance and flexible connectivity, this switch helps organizations build a resilient and scalable network backbone.

Product Identification Details

Brand Information

• Manufacturer: Cisco
• Model Number: UCS-FI-6332
• Product Category: Enterprise-Class Networking Switch

Switch Technical Specifications

Port Configuration

Featuring a total of 16 high-performance ports, this fabric interconnect enables efficient data flow and seamless integration across multiple network components.

• 16-port architecture for versatile connectivity
• Optimized for unified computing environments
• Supports high-density network deployments

Performance and Throughput

High-Speed Data Handling

The Cisco UCS-FI-6332 is designed to deliver fast and reliable data transmission, ensuring smooth communication between servers, storage, and network devices.

• Low-latency data transfer
• Consistent performance under heavy workloads
• Ideal for mission-critical applications

Key Features and Capabilities

Advanced Networking Functions

Layer 2 and Layer 3 Support

This switch includes advanced Layer 2 and Layer 3 functionalities, enabling efficient traffic management and intelligent routing across the network.

Enhanced Security Measures

Built-in security mechanisms help safeguard network infrastructure by protecting data integrity and preventing unauthorized access.

Future-Ready Scalability

Expandable Design

The scalable architecture allows organizations to grow their network seamlessly as business requirements evolve.

• Supports network expansion
• Designed for long-term infrastructure planning
• Adaptable to changing enterprise needs

Common Use Cases

Ideal Applications

The Cisco UCS-FI-6332 16-Port Fabric Interconnect Switch is well-suited for a wide range of professional environments, including:

• Enterprise networks requiring stable and high-performance switching
• Data centers demanding high-density and reliable connectivity
• Organizations looking to modernize and optimize their network infrastructure

Understanding the Fabric Interconnect Role in UCS Architecture

Unlike traditional standalone switches, a Fabric Interconnect is a converged system controller. It serves a dual, critical purpose: as a high-bandwidth, low-latency Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and IP network switch, and as the central point of management for all connected UCS B-Series Blade Servers and C-Series Rack Servers. This unification eliminates the need for separate management modules for servers, networking, and storage access, collapsing multiple layers of infrastructure into a coherent, policy-driven system.

Key Architectural Paradigms Enabled by the UCS 6332 Fabric Interconnect

Unified Fabric and I/O Consolidation

The UCS-FI-6332-16UP supports Unified Fabric, allowing LAN and SAN traffic to traverse a single set of cables and adapters. This is achieved through standards-based technologies like Data Center Bridging (DCB) for lossless Ethernet and FCoE. By consolidating network and storage I/O, organizations drastically reduce interface card counts, cable sprawl, and switch port requirements, leading to lower capital expenditure (CapEx), power consumption, and complexity.

Stateless Computing and Service Profiles

This is the cornerstone of UCS innovation. The Fabric Interconnect's embedded UCS Manager software abstracts server identity (UUID, MAC addresses, WWNs) and configuration (firmware, BIOS settings) from the physical hardware. These abstracted identities are encapsulated into Service Profiles—portable software definitions that can be applied to any compatible server in the fabric. This enables rapid, error-free provisioning, reprovisioning for workload shifts, and consistent compliance across the data center.

Centralized Management with UCS Manager

Every UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnect, including the 6332, runs Cisco UCS Manager. This embedded, device-based management software provides a single pane of glass for the entire UCS domain—spanning multiple chassis and hundreds of servers. Management can be performed via GUI, CLI, or a robust XML API for integration with third-party tools and orchestration platforms like Cisco Intersight, VMware vCenter, or Microsoft System Center.

Deep Dive: Cisco UCS-FI-6332 Hardware Specifications

The UCS-FI-6332-16UP is a 2-Rack-Unit (2RU) appliance with 16 fixed 10/25-Gbps Enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP28) ports and one 10/100/1000 management port. It is designed to be deployed in redundant pairs for high availability. Its specifications define its capabilities and ideal use cases.

Port Configuration and Scalability

The 16 fixed SFP28 ports provide a total of 400 Gbps of full-duplex bandwidth per interconnect. These ports are universally configurable, meaning any port can carry Ethernet, FCoE, or native Fibre Channel traffic (with appropriate SFPs and licensing). This universality offers unparalleled flexibility in connecting to LAN switches (via Ethernet/FCoE) and SAN switches (via FCoE or FC uplinks). For scalability, server-facing ports connect directly to UCS Blade Server Chassis I/O Modules (IOMs) or to rack servers via Virtual Interface Cards (VICs).

Performance and Throughput Metrics

With a switching capacity of 1.44 Tbps and a forwarding rate of over 1 billion packets per second (bps), the 6332 is built for high-performance workloads. Its cut-through switching architecture ensures consistently low latency, which is critical for clustered applications, high-frequency trading, and virtualized environments. The hardware is also designed for wire-speed performance regardless of whether traffic is switched at Layer 2, Layer 3, or as FCoE.

High Availability and Redundancy Design

A critical best practice is deploying Fabric Interconnects in an active/active redundant pair. The two interconnects operate as a single, fault-tolerant management domain.

Fabric Failover and Path Resilience

Connected servers, typically equipped with dual-port Cisco VICs, have active-active paths to both fabric interconnects. In the event of a link, port, or entire fabric interconnect failure, traffic and server connectivity automatically fail over to the surviving path with minimal disruption. This extends to storage connectivity, ensuring multipathed SAN access remains intact.

Management and Configuration Synchronization

UCS Manager automatically synchronizes all configuration and operational state between the paired fabric interconnects. This means any change made to one is instantly replicated to its peer. This stateful synchronization simplifies operations and guarantees that the standby fabric interconnect is always ready to assume full responsibilities without configuration drift.

Deployment Models and Use Case Scenarios

The Cisco UCS 6332 Fabric Interconnect is versatile, supporting multiple deployment models to align with different organizational needs, from private cloud infrastructure to specific application hosting.

Standard Blade Server Deployment

The most common deployment involves connecting one or more UCS 5108 Blade Server Chassis to the fabric interconnects. Each chassis uses 2200 Series I/O Modules (IOMs) that uplink to designated ports on the 6332. In this model, all blade servers within the chassis become part of the UCS domain, managed entirely through UCS Manager on the Fabric Interconnects. This is ideal for consolidating virtualized workloads, running private clouds, or hosting large-scale databases.

Integrated Rack Server Deployment (Unified Rack)

In a Unified Rack deployment, standalone UCS C-Series Rack Servers are equipped with Cisco VICs and connected directly to the Fabric Interconnect ports. Once connected, these rack servers are "fabric integrated," coming under the same centralized management and gaining the benefits of service profiles and unified fabric. This model offers the blade-like management benefits while leveraging the density and flexibility of rack-mounted hardware, perfect for mixed workloads or high-performance computing (HPC) clusters.

Storage Connectivity Options

The UCS-FI-6332 provides flexible storage access, a key consideration for infrastructure design.

Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Convergence

By converging SAN traffic onto the Unified Fabric, FCoE simplifies cabling and adapter infrastructure. The 6332 acts as an FCoE Forwarder (FCF), bridging FCoE traffic from servers to native Fibre Channel SANs via dedicated FC uplink ports.

Direct-Attached Storage with UCS Invicta

While less common, the Fabric Interconnect can also facilitate high-speed connectivity to directly attached scalable all-flash storage solutions designed for the UCS platform, though this typically involves specific integrated solutions.

Advanced Software Features

Quality of Service (QoS) and Traffic Management

UCS Manager provides granular QoS controls to prioritize critical traffic (like vMotion, storage, or voice) over standard data traffic. This ensures predictable performance in consolidated I/O environments.

Network Virtualization and Segmentation

The Fabric Interconnect supports VLANs, PVLANs, and VSANs for logical segmentation of LAN and SAN traffic. It integrates seamlessly with VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS) policies, allowing network definitions in UCS Manager to be automatically applied to virtual switches.

Security and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Comprehensive security features include ACLs, fabric port security, and integration with LDAP, RADIUS, and TACACS+ for authentication. Fine-grained RBAC allows different IT teams (server, network, storage) to have controlled access to only their relevant portions of the UCS configuration.