Connectrix DS-7720B 64G FC SAN Switch

Overview

The Connectrix DS-7720B is a 64-port, ultra-dense 1U Fibre Channel switch designed to build high-performance fabrics that maximise flash and NVMe storage. It delivers 64G performance with a 50% latency reduction against the previous generation, and offers pay-as-you-grow scalability with Ports on Demand from 24 to 64 ports. The switch is fully licensed, and the DS-7720B is certified for mainframe environments.

Port Configuration

• Form factor: 1U, installable in a standard 19-inch EIA rack
• Fibre Channel ports: DS-7720B: 64 ports (48 x 64G SFP+ ports plus 8 x 2x64G SFP-DD ports), each supporting E_Ports, F_Ports, M_Ports, D_Ports and EX_Ports. A 24-port base configuration scales to 64 ports with three 8-port SFP+ PODs plus a 16-port SFP-DD POD (8 x 2x64G SFP-DD transceivers)
• Ports on Demand: 24 ports enabled base, scalable to 64 via three 8-port SFP+ PODs and a 16-port SFP-DD POD
• Detail: The DS-7720B provides 48 x 64G SFP+ ports and 8 x 2x64G double-density SFP-DD ports in a 1U package. Each SFP-DD transceiver provides 2 ports, making 16 ports available for device or ISL connectivity. The base configuration comes with 24 ports enabled and scales to 48 ports with three 8-port SFP+ POD licences, or to 64 ports by adding the 16-port SFP-DD POD. Each SFP-DD port can also accommodate an SFP+ transceiver

Performance

• Fibre Channel line speeds: 8.5 Gb/s, 10.53 Gb/s, 14.025 Gb/s, 28.05 Gb/s
  and 57.8 Gb/s line speed, full duplex; auto-sensing of 8, 10, 16, 32 and 64G port speeds (10G
  optionally programmable to fixed-port speed)
• Aggregate bandwidth: 4.096 Tb/s
• ISL trunking: frame-based trunking with up to eight SFP+ ports per ISL trunk
  and up to 512 Gb/s per ISL trunk; exchange-based load balancing across ISLs with Dynamic Path
  Selection (DPS) included in Fabric OS
• Port-to-port latency: 460 ns for locally switched ports (including FEC)
• Frame buffers: 15,360 dynamically allocated
• Maximum frame size: 2,112-byte payload
• Classes of service: Class 2, Class 3 and Class F (inter-switch frames)
• Port types: D_Port (ClearLink diagnostic port), E_Port, EX_Port, F_Port and
  M_Port with optional port-type control; Access Gateway mode supports F_Port and NPIV-enabled
  N_Port
• Media types: 64Gb/s: hot-pluggable SFP+, LC connector, 64Gb/s SWL
  32Gb/s: hot-pluggable SFP+, LC connector, 32Gb/s SWL, LWL 10 km, ELWL 25 km
  10Gb/s: hot-pluggable SFP+, LC connector, 10Gb/s SWL, LWL 10 km
  2x64G FC SFP-DD SN connectors: SWL
• Data traffic types: fabric switches supporting unicast
• Scalability: full-fabric architecture with a maximum of 239 switches;
  certified maximum of 4K active nodes, 56 switches and 19 hops in Fabric OS (FOS) fabrics
• USB: one standard USB port for firmware download, SupportSave and
  configuration upload or download

Fabric Services

BB Credit Recovery; Advanced Zoning (Default Zoning, Port/WWN Zoning, Peer Zoning); Congestion Signaling; Dynamic Path Selection (DPS); Extended Fabrics; Fabric Performance Impact Notification (FPIN); Fabric Vision; FDMI; FICON CUP; Flow Vision; F_Port Trunking; FSPF; Integrated Routing; ISL Trunking; Management Server; Name Server; NPIV; NTP v3; Port Decommission/Fencing; QoS; Registered State Change Notification (RSCN); Slow Drain Device Quarantine (SDDQ); Target-Driven Zoning; Traffic Optimizer; Virtual Fabrics (Logical Switch, Logical Fabric); VMID+ and AppServer

Some fabric services do not apply or are unavailable in Access Gateway mode.

Security

DH-CHAP (between switches and end devices); FCAP switch authentication; HTTPS; IP filtering; LDAP with IPv6; OpenLDAP; Port Binding; RADIUS; TACACS+; user-defined Role-Based Access Control (RBAC); Secure Boot; Secure Copy (SCP); Secure Syslog; SFTP; SSH v2; SSL; Switch Binding; Trusted Switch. AES-GCM-256 encryption on ISLs is supported on the DS-7720B

Management

• Management software: Advanced Web Tools; Brocade SANnav Management Portal and
  SANnav Global View; command-line interface (CLI); EZSwitchSetup; HTTP/HTTPS; RESTful API; SNMP
  v1/v3 (FE MIB, FC Management MIB); SSH
• Management access: the DS-7730B provides a 10/100/1000Mb/s Ethernet (RJ-45)
  port, a serial console port and a USB port; the DS-7720B provides 10/100/1000Mb/s Ethernet
  (RJ-45) and a serial console port (mini-USB); the DS-7710B provides 1000Mb/s Ethernet (RJ-45),
  in-band over Fibre Channel, an RJ45 serial console port and one USB port
• Diagnostics: Active Support Connectivity (ASC) and Brocade Support Link (BSL) on the DS-7730B and DS-7720B; built-in flow generator; ClearLink optics and cable diagnostics including electrical/optical loopback and link traffic/latency/distance; Fabric Performance Impact Monitoring (FPI) on the DS-7730B and DS-7720B; flow mirroring; Forward Error Correction (FEC); frame viewer; IO Insight for SCSI and NVMe monitoring; Monitoring and Alerting Policy Suite (MAPS); non-disruptive daemon restart; optics health monitoring; POST and embedded online/offline diagnostics including environmental monitoring, FCping and Pathinfo; power monitoring; RAStrace logging; Rolling Reboot Detection (RRD); Syslog/Audit Log; VM Insight

Features and Licensing

• Fully licensed: Fabric Vision, Extended Fabric, ISL Trunking, Integrated Routing and FICON CUP are included at no additional charge. Certified for mainframe environments
• SAN extension: Fibre Channel in-flight compression (Brocade LZO) and encryption (AES-GCM-256 on FC ISLs at the E_Port); integrated optional 10G Fibre Channel for DWDM MAN connectivity
• Mainframe: the DS-7720B is certified for mainframe environments and includes FICON CUP at no additional charge

Physical Specifications

• Enclosure: Front-to-rear airflow with non-port-side exhaust, or rear-to-front airflow with non-port-side intake, both with power from the back
• Dimensions: Width 440.00 mm (17.32 in.), height 43.90 mm (1.73 in.), depth 355.60 mm (14.00 in.)
• Weight: 7.17 kg (15.8 lb) with two power supply FRUs, without transceivers

Power and Heat Dissipation

• Power supply: Dual, hot-swappable redundant power supplies with integrated system cooling fans, 80 Plus Gold
• AC input: 90 V to 264 V, 4.5 A
• Power consumption: 349W with all 64 ports operating at 64G (48 ports populated with 64G SWL transceivers and 8 ports populated with 2x64G SFP-DD SWL transceivers); 57W for an empty chassis with no transceivers
• Heat dissipation: 64 ports at 1,192 Btu/hr
• Input line frequency: 47-63 Hz

Environmental Specifications

• Operating temperature: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
• Non-operating temperature: -25°C to 70°C (-13°F to 158°F)
• Humidity: 8% to 90% (non-condensing) operating and non-operating
• Altitude: operating up to 3,000 m (9,842 ft); storage up to 12 km (39,370 ft)
• Shock: Operating up to 20G, 6 ms half-sine; non-operating half-sine 33G, 11 ms, 3/G axis
• Vibration: Operating: 0.25 Grms sine, 0.40 Grms random, 5 Hz to 500 Hz. Non-operating: 5 Hz at 0.5 Grms; 10-500 Hz at 1.0 Grms sine; 3-500 Hz at 1.12 Grms random

Services and Warranty

Dell Technologies Services cover the full lifecycle of a SAN build-out: Consulting Services for design and planning, ProDeploy Enterprise Suite for deployment through planning, configuration and complex integrations, Residency and Managed Services for ongoing operations, and ProSupport Enterprise Suite for expert support backed by proactive and predictive AI tools.

Ordering

Configuration, availability and lead time depend on the required model, port count, optics and delivery destination. Send your requirement to receive a quotation.

Data Note

The Dell spec sheet’s overview paragraph refers to 56 SFP+ ports, but its own port table and the PoD breakdown (24 base + three 8-port SFP+ PODs = 48 SFP+, plus a 16-port SFP-DD POD) both give 48 SFP+ plus 16 = 64 ports, which is the figure used here.