Table 2. Fabric Specifications - Dell PowerEdge M1000e Technical Manual

Fabric Encoding
PCIe 1.0 8B/10B
PCIe 2.0 8B/10B
PCIe 3.0 128B/130B
SATA 3Gbps 8B/10B
SATA 6Gbps 8B/10B
SAS 3Gbps 8B/10B
SAS 6Gbps 8B/10B
FC 4Gbps 8B/10B
FC 8Gbps 8B/10B
FC 16Gbps 64B/66B
IB SDR 8B/10B
IB DDR 8B/10B
IB QDR 8B/10B
IB FDR10 64B/66B
IB FDR 64B/66B
GbE: 8B/10B
1000BASE-KX
10GbE: 8B/10B
10GBASE-KX4
10GbE: 64B/66B
10GBASE-KR
Symbol rate is defined as the maximum fabric speed with all data encoded as per its encoding
mechanism. Data rate is the maximum amount of actual data bits that can be transported on the
fabric. Some fabrics are defined as single lane only, while others are defined in various lane
increments for link to lane aggregation in order to provide increased total bandwidth.
The bandwidth growth path for Ethernet is from GE to 10GE, supported through three backplane
standards defined by the IEEE 802.3ap Committee. 1000BASE-KX supports GE through 1.25 Gbps
differential backplane signaling. 10GBASE-KX4 supports 10GE through four lanes of 3.125 Gbps
differential backplane signaling. The four lanes are aggregated to provide the sum total 10 Gbps
bandwidth requirement. 10GBASE-KR is an emerging IEEE 802.3ap standard that supports 10GE
through a single lane of 10.3125 Gbps differential backplane signaling. In terms of customer impact,
this means that today's modular systems using 10GBASE-KX4 are limited to one 10GE channel per
four lanes of internal differential signaling, while in the future those same lanes can carry multiple
lanes of 10GBASE-KR and provide a resultant increase in total system throughput. This growth path
applies to both Fabrics B and C in the M1000e.
PowerEdge M1000e Technical Guide
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Table 2. Fabric specifications
Symbol rate per Data rate per
lane (Gbps) lane (Gbps)
2.5 2
5 4
8 7.88
3 2.4
6 4.8
3 2.4
6 4.8
4.25 3.4
8.5 6.8
14.025 13.6
2.5 2
5 4
10 8
10.3125 10
14.0625 13.64
1.25 1
3.125 2.5
10.3125 10
Lanes per link per
Data rate per industry
link (Gbps) specification
8 (4 lane) 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 32
16 (4 lane) 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 32
31.51 (4 lane) 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 32
2.4 1
4.8 1
2.4 1-Any
4.8 1-Any
3.4 1
6.8 1
13.6 1
8 (4 lane) 4, 12
16 (4 lane) 4, 12
32 (4 lane) 4, 12
40 (4 lane) 4, 12
54.56 (4 lane) 4, 12
1 1
10 (4 lane) 4
10 1