UCS-SP-FI48P Cisco 6248UP Layer 2 48 Ports Managed Switch

Core Architectural Philosophy: Unified Fabric and Management

The defining characteristic of this category is its dual role. Unlike standalone top-of-rack (ToR) switches, the UCS 6200 Series Fabric Interconnects perform two critical, integrated functions:

Unified Network Fabric

The device provides a lossless, low-latency 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) fabric. It consolidates LAN and SAN traffic onto a single set of cables and adapters, radically simplifying data center cabling, reducing adapter count in servers, and lowering both capital and operational expenditures. This unified fabric is the transport layer that enables the stateless computing model of UCS.

Unified Management

Embedded within the Fabric Interconnect is the Cisco UCS Manager. This centralized management software controls the entire UCS domain—all connected blade and rack servers, their virtual network interfaces (vNICs), virtual host bus adapters (vHBAs), and associated network policies—as a single, logical entity. This "single pane of glass" management is the operational heart of the system.

Implications for Data Center Design

This architectural approach eliminates the traditional silos between server, network, and storage teams. Provisioning a new server becomes a software-based policy assignment, not a physical rewiring and configuration exercise across multiple discrete devices.

Detailed Specifications: Deconstructing the UCS 6248UP 48-Port Model

The UCS-SP-FI48P (6248UP) is a specific, highly capable instantiation within this category. Its specifications reveal its purpose-built design for medium to large-scale UCS deployments.

Port Configuration and Capabilities

The switch features 48 fixed 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet ports. These ports are universally configurable, meaning any port can carry LAN, SAN (FCoE), or management traffic. This universality provides unparalleled flexibility in how server connections and uplinks are assigned.

Expansion via Fabric Extender (FEX) Technology

A critical capability is its native support for Cisco's Fabric Extender technology, such as the UCS 2200 Series Fabric Extenders embedded in UCS chassis. This allows the 6248UP to logically extend its fabric and management plane to hundreds of server ports downstream while maintaining a single management point. It appears as a single, logical switch, not a multi-tiered network.

Performance and Scalability Metrics

With an aggregate throughput of up to 960 Gbps and switching capacity of 1.28 Tbps, the 6248UP is designed to handle the intense, east-west traffic patterns of virtualized and cloud environments. It supports thousands of MAC addresses, VLANs, and ACL entries, scaling to support large server farms.

High-Availability Features

This category is designed for mission-critical operation. Key high-availability features include:

Active/Active Fabric Failover: Dual fabric interconnects operate in an active-active mode for both LAN and SAN traffic, with sub-second failover.
Redundant Hardware Components: Hot-swappable power supplies and fans ensure continuous operation.
In-Service Software Upgrades (ISSU): Allows firmware upgrades with minimal to no service disruption.

Primary Use Cases and Applications

The Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnect category is not a general-purpose switch; it is targeted at specific, transformative data center scenarios.

Server Virtualization and Consolidation Platforms

It is the ideal foundation for large-scale VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, or Citrix XenServer deployments. The unified fabric provides the consistent, high-bandwidth, low-latency network required for vMotion, live migration, and the dense virtual machine per-host ratios that define modern virtualization.

Deep Integration with VMware

Cisco UCS Manager integrates directly with VMware vCenter via the UCS Manager VMware vSphere Plugin. This allows network and storage policies (port groups, VLANs, VSANs) to be created in UCS Manager and presented directly to vCenter, enabling true infrastructure-as-code provisioning for virtual workloads.

Private Cloud and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

Organizations building private clouds require automation, agility, and a programmable infrastructure. The UCS 6248UP, under the control of UCS Manager, provides open XML API interfaces that allow integration with higher-level cloud orchestration platforms like Cisco UCS Director, OpenStack, or custom scripts, enabling automated, policy-based server provisioning.

Business-Critical Applications and Databases

For tier-1 applications like SAP HANA, Oracle RAC, and large Microsoft SQL Server deployments, the predictable performance, low latency, and high availability of the UCS fabric are essential. The ability to provision servers with consistent, SLA-bound network and storage policies ensures application performance is reliable and repeatable.

Advanced Management and Policy-Based Provisioning

The true power of this category lies in its software and policy-driven operational model, which revolutionizes data center operations.

Cisco UCS Manager: The Command Center

UCS Manager is a embedded, device-based management controller that provides a graphical user interface (GUI), a command-line interface (CLI), and an XML API. It manages all components in the UCS domain as a single entity, using a model-based approach where desired state configuration is pushed to all elements simultaneously.

The Revolutionary Service Profile Concept

This is the cornerstone innovation. A Service Profile is a software container that defines a server's entire identity and configuration: firmware versions, UUID, MAC addresses, WWNs, boot policies, network VLANs, and storage VSANs. This profile is abstracted from the physical hardware.

Profile Mobility and Stateless Computing

A service profile can be associated with any compatible physical server in the domain in minutes. If a server fails, the profile can be disassociated and reassociated to a replacement server, effectively transferring the server's "identity" and configuration. This enables true stateless computing, rapid recovery, and lifecycle management independence between hardware and software.

Templates for Consistency and Scale

UCS Manager allows the creation of Service Profile Templates and updating templates—ensuring hundreds of servers can be provisioned identically and updated from a single, master configuration. This eliminates configuration drift, a major source of operational errors and security vulnerabilities.

Technical Deep Dive: Key Protocols and Technologies

The operation of the UCS 6248UP relies on a suite of sophisticated protocols that enable its unified capabilities.

Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and Data Center Bridging (DCB)

FCoE allows FC frames to be encapsulated within Ethernet frames. To make Ethernet lossless—a requirement for storage traffic—the 6248UP implements the full suite of IEEE Data Center Bridging standards: Priority Flow Control (PFC, 802.1Qbb), Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS, 802.1Qaz), and Datacenter Bridging Exchange (DCBX). This ensures storage and network traffic can coexist without performance degradation.

Cisco Virtual Network Tag (VN-Tag)

VN-Tag is a Cisco technology that creates virtual interfaces within the fabric interconnect. Each physical port connecting to a server (or Fabric Extender) can carry multiple VN-Tags, each representing a logical vNIC or vHBA on the server. This is how the fabric interconnect presents dozens of logical adapters to a single server, all multiplexed over a few physical links.

Server PINNING Algorithms

For connectivity to Fabric Extenders in blade chassis, the 6248UP uses intelligent pinning algorithms (like "Port-Channel" or "Disjoint") to distribute server traffic across the available uplinks from the chassis to the fabric interconnect, optimizing bandwidth and providing automatic load balancing and failover.