The MXS824 is Dolphin's fourth generation PCIe switch product and enables users the ability to create a scalable PCIe fabric solution using standard PCIe copper or fiber cables. PCIe solutions running over back planes can now easily be enabled to run over external cables. Larger PCIe configurations can be realized by interconnecting multiple MXS824 switches. By loading the appropriate firmware, the MXS824 supports both transparent and non transparent bridging (NTB) use cases for clustering and I/O expansion applications.

The MXS824 is the high-end switching component in Dolphin's new PCI Express Gen3 product family. This 24 port 1U cluster switch delivers 32 GT/s of non-blocking bandwidth per port at ultra low latency. Up to 4 ports can be combined into a single x16 / 128 GT/s port if higher bandwidth is required. Each connection is fully compliant with PCI Express Gen1, Gen2 and Gen3 I/O specifications.

Applications that does not need PCIe x16 speed can alternatively use the 8 port x16 PCIe Gen3 IXS600 switch.

PCIe IO Expansion

The MXS824 switch used in combination with the MXH832 or the PXH832 will support standard IO expansion, connecting one server to many PCIe Devices or PCIe Expansion chassis. Additional configurations supporting multiple hosts and switch partitioning, fail-over configurations will be supported in the future. Management and configuration of the PCIe fabric will be done through the Ethernet port.

PCIe Clustering / Networking

For host to host communication, the MXS824 can be combined with Dolphin’s PXH830 or MXH830 Host Adapters. Operating in Non Transparent Bridging mode, Dolphin has solved the strict power on requirements normally associated with PCI Express. Hosts, cables, and the switch can be hot-swapped and power cycled in any order, providing real plug and play as normally expected from networking components.

The MXS824 supports Dolphin’s extensive PCI Express Software libraries to create a powerful and reliable communication solution for applications that benefit from an ultra-low latency, high performance cluster interconnect. Dolphin’s PCI Express Software enables standard and embedded Linux, Windows, RTX and VxWorks network applications to benefit from PCI Express performance without modification. This comprehensive solution is ideal for real-time, technical and high performance computing, cloud computing, and enterprise business applications.

Composable Hardware Infrastructures

The MXS824 can be used to develop composable hardware infrastructures. In this environment, it functions as a top of rack switch which connects both I/O and processing.

Reflective Memory

The MXS824 supports large reflective memory configurations and multiple multicast groups. Customers using older reflective memory solutions from Dolphin will have en easy migration to the new platform.

Cables and ports

The MXS824 switch has six quad SFF-8644 cable connectors and supports MiniSAS-HD cables as well as the new PCIe 3.0 cables. Each quad port can be used as four independent x4 links, two independent x8 links or one x16 link (in total up to 24 x4 links). The MXS824 is carefully designed for maximum cable lengths. Fiber optics extends this distance to 100 meters. More info on cable alternatives for the MXS824 switch.

Management

The MXS824 comes with a built in management processor. The processor enables Ethernet based firmware upgrade, switch re-configuration and monitoring. All configuration data is stored in non volatile memory so the processor is not required to bring up a configured product.

Scalability

Configurations up to 60 nodes using seven MXS824 switches are supported. Please contact Dolphin for details.