IBM BNT RackSwitch G8124-EF, 7309BF7 Switch

The IBM BNT RackSwitch G8124-EF (7309BF7) is a premium line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch designed for low-latency, high-performance data center workloads. The "EF" version is specifically engineered with Front-to-Rear airflow, drawing cool air from the port side to maintain optimal temperatures in enterprise rack configurations.

Featuring 24 SFP+ ports, the G8124-EF is a leader in 10 GbE switching for IBM System x environments. It fully supports IBM Virtual Fabric, enabling organizations to reduce cabling complexity and cost by virtualizing a single 10 Gb physical link into eight virtual NICs (vNICs) with dynamic bandwidth allocation. Furthermore, it supports Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE/DCB), allowing for lossless FCoE and iSCSI storage traffic consolidation. With VMready technology, the network becomes virtualization-aware, automatically reconfiguring network policies as virtual machines move across servers, ensuring high availability and robust security.

Key Specifications:

• Throughput: 480 Gbps non-blocking switching fabric with sub-microsecond latency.

• Port Density: 24 x 1/10 GbE SFP+ ports.

• Airflow: Front-to-Rear cooling design.

• Advanced Networking: Full support for L2/L3 features, IPv4/IPv6, and Data Center Bridging (DCB).

• Consolidation: Replaces multiple I/O adapters with high-speed virtual pipes.