UCS-HX-FI48P Cisco UCS FI48P Fibre Channel Switch

Product Overview

The Cisco UCS-HX-FI48P Fibre Channel Switch is a high-performance networking component designed for modern data centers. Built by Cisco Systems, Inc., this switch delivers reliable connectivity, scalable expansion, and efficient data transfer for enterprise-grade environments.

General Details

• Manufacturer: Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Model / Part Number: UCS-HX-FI48P
• Product Type: Fibre Channel Switch

Technical Specifications

Port Configuration

This Cisco Fibre Channel switch is engineered to support flexible connectivity and efficient network management.

• Fibre Channel Ports: 12 ports for high-speed storage networking
• RJ-45 Network Port: 1 management interface

Performance Capabilities

Optimized for demanding workloads, the switch ensures fast and stable data transmission across enterprise networks.

• Maximum Data Throughput: Up to 960 Gbit/s
• Supported Ethernet Standard: 10 Gigabit Ethernet

Expansion and Scalability

I/O Expansion Options

Designed with scalability in mind, the UCS-HX-FI48P allows future growth through multiple expansion slots.

Total Expansion Capacity

• Available Expansion Slots: 32 slots

Supported Expansion Slot Types

• SFP modules
• SFP+ modules

Management and Control

Administrative Features

This Cisco switch includes built-in manageability features that simplify monitoring, configuration, and ongoing maintenance.

• Centralized management support
• Enhanced visibility and control

Architectural Role in Modern Data Centers

The UCS-HX-FI48P is not a standalone switch; it is designed as a Fabric Interconnect (FI) module, specifically the "HX" variant for HyperFlex systems. This design philosophy integrates storage networking directly into the compute and hyper-converged fabric, collapsing traditional silos and simplifying management. Its architecture is built to support the rigorous requirements of both traditional SANs and next-generation hyper-converged infrastructures.

Integration with Cisco UCS and HyperFlex

The switch is a foundational element in the Cisco Integrated Infrastructure approach. In a Cisco HyperFlex HX Data Platform cluster, the UCS-HX-FI48P provides the high-performance, predictable storage network that connects HyperFlex nodes to each other and to external Fibre Channel SAN storage. This enables hybrid hyper-converged scenarios where local HX storage is complemented by enterprise SAN arrays for tiering, data mobility, or specific application needs.

Fabric Interconnect Mode Operation

Operating in Fabric Interconnect mode, the HX-FI48P unifies LAN and SAN traffic. It presents a single point of management and a unified fabric for all connected servers (UCS B-Series Blades via Fabric Extenders or connected C-Series Rack Servers). This convergence reduces cabling complexity, power consumption, and switch sprawl while providing consistent policy enforcement across network and storage domains.

Unified Ports and Flexibility

A key feature is its Unified Ports capability. Each of the 48 ports can be individually configured as either standard Fibre Channel (8/16/32G auto-negotiating) or as FCoE (10/25G). This allows data center architects to design a fabric that matches exact connectivity requirements, supporting direct connections to Fibre Channel SANs and FCoE uplinks to blade servers or upstream switches simultaneously, all from the same hardware platform.

Technical Specifications and Performance Capabilities

At its core, the UCS-HX-FI48P is built for performance and scale. It delivers the robust, predictable throughput necessary for I/O-intensive operations, ensuring that storage never becomes a bottleneck for virtual machines, databases, or analytics workloads.

Port Density and Speed

With 48 auto-sensing ports supporting speeds from 8Gbps to 32Gbps Fibre Channel and 10/25Gb FCoE, the switch offers exceptional density in a compact form factor. This high port count is essential for connecting multiple hyper-converged nodes, each requiring multiple storage paths for redundancy and performance, without requiring multiple physical switches.

Low Latency and Lossless Fabric

Fibre Channel's inherent advantage is its lossless, deterministic nature. The HX-FI48P leverages this with cut-through switching architecture, which minimizes latency—a critical factor for transactional databases (like Oracle RAC, SAP HANA) and latency-sensitive virtualized applications. Buffer credits are optimally managed to prevent congestion and frame drops over long-distance ISLs (Inter-Switch Links).

Scalability and ISL Performance

The switch supports high-performance ISL trunking, allowing multiple inter-switch links to be combined into a single logical trunk. This maximizes bandwidth for backbone connections between switches in a fabric or for connecting to core SAN directors, ensuring efficient scaling of the storage network as the HX cluster or connected server farm grows.

Advanced Features for Enterprise Reliability and Management

Beyond raw connectivity, the UCS-HX-FI48P is imbued with Cisco's enterprise features that enhance reliability, security, and operational simplicity, making it suitable for the most demanding production environments.

Virtual SAN (VSAN) Technology

The switch supports extensive VSAN capabilities, enabling logical segmentation of a single physical fabric into multiple isolated storage networks. This is crucial for multi-tenant environments, security zoning, or isolating development/test traffic from production SAN traffic, all while maximizing hardware utilization.

Comprehensive Security and Zoning

Security is enforced through robust fabric-based zoning (soft zoning, hard zoning) and worldwide name (WWN) zoning. Integration with Cisco's Fibre Channel SAN Analytics and monitoring tools provides deep visibility into traffic patterns, helping to detect anomalies, plan capacity, and troubleshoot performance issues proactively.

Unified Management with Cisco UCS Manager

Perhaps its most powerful feature is its integration with Cisco UCS Manager. The HX-FI48P is managed not as an isolated device but as an integral part of the broader UCS domain. This allows for:

Server Profile Integration: Storage connectivity policies, including VSAN membership and adapter settings, are defined in server profiles and applied automatically when a server is deployed or migrated.
Centralized Control: All fabric, server, and storage connectivity can be managed from a single pane of glass, drastically reducing provisioning time and configuration errors.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Fine-grained administrative roles ensure secure, auditable operations.

Use Cases and Deployment Scenarios

The versatility of the UCS-HX-FI48P makes it suitable for a range of strategic IT initiatives, from infrastructure modernization to supporting specific high-performance workloads.

HyperFlex Edge and Core Deployments

In Cisco HyperFlex Edge deployments for remote offices or space-constrained environments, the HX-FI48P provides the robust storage fabric in a compact, integrated system. For core data center HyperFlex clusters, it delivers the scalable, high-bandwidth fabric needed for data-intensive workloads like VDI, private cloud, and development/test environments.

Consolidating SAN Connectivity for UCS Blades

In a traditional UCS Blade chassis environment, the HX-FI48P (when used as a Fabric Interconnect) consolidates Fibre Channel SAN connectivity for all blades in the chassis. Each blade server's virtual HBAs (vHBAs) connect through the unified fabric to the configured FC ports, eliminating the need for individual FC mezzanine cards per server and simplifying cable management.

Building High-Availability Fabrics

The switch is designed to be deployed in redundant pairs, forming a highly available fabric with no single point of failure. This supports dual-fabric best practices (Fabric A and Fabric B), ensuring continuous storage access even in the event of a switch failure, path failure, or maintenance event. N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) allows multiple virtual machine hosts to share physical ports securely and efficiently.