Lenovo RackSwitch G8332

Key features

The RackSwitch G8332 enables customers to easily build an end-to-end, flat two-tier network that is based on industry standards by using Lenovo switches and Lenovo System x® and ThinkServer® servers.

For example, the RackSwitch G8332 is an ideal tier two switch to use when several RackSwitch switches are connected, such as the RackSwitch G8272, or embedded Ethernet offerings for Flex System™ (SI4093, EN4093R, or CN4093) with 40 Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports at the access layer.

Other customers prefer the RackSwitch G8332 for the investment protection. These customers can use this switch with their 10 Gigabit Ethernet environments today, but also use it in the future as they move to 40 Gigabit Ethernet.

The RackSwitch G8332 is considered particularly suited for the following environments:

• Customers who are deploying 10 GbE on servers or blade chassis and require 40 GbE upstream aggregation to build a POD or cluster:
  • Flex System embedded switches: SI4093, EN4093R, and CN4093
  • Also ideal for second tier networking when used with the RackSwitch G8272 or G8296
• Customers who are deploying 40 GbE server connectivity
• Customers who want to converge their SAN and LAN on to one network via NAS or iSCSI
• Customers looking for ways to reduce I/O cost (CAPEX); adapters, cables, transceivers, and upstream network
• Customers looking to reduce complexity (OPEX); less to manage and lower energy cost
• Customers looking to accelerate communications with lower latency across clustered applications and storage arrays with RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE)
• Customers who want investment protection; 40 Gb Ethernet, Cloud and SDN

The RackSwitch G8332 offers the following features and benefits:

• High performanceThis 40 Gigabit Ethernet low latency switch with 2.56 Tbps throughput provides the best combination of low latency, non-blocking switching, and ease of management. The RackSwitch G8332 is also a single ASIC design, which promises consistent lower port-to-port latency.
• Lower power and better coolingThe RackSwitch G8332 uses as little as 270 W of power, and the front-to-rear or rear-to-front cooling design reduces data center air conditioning costs by having airflow match the servers in the rack. In addition, variable speed fans help automatically reduce power consumption.
• Fault toleranceThe RackSwitch G8332 offers redundant hot-swap hardware components, learns alternate routes automatically, and performs faster convergence if there is a link, switch, or power failure.
• Layer 3 functionalityThe switch includes Layer 3 functionality, which provides security and performance benefits, as inter-VLAN traffic stays within the switch. This switch also provides the full range of Layer 3 protocols from static routes for technologies, such as Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) for enterprise customers.
• Network virtualizationThe RackSwitch G8332 switch supports VXLAN Gateway for VMware NSX integration. VMware NSX is a virtualized network software platform that offers a full set of networking services, such as logical switching, routing, firewall, load balancing, VPN, quality of service (QoS), and monitoring.
• Converged fabricThe RackSwitch G8332 switch supports Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) which helps enable customers to combine storage, messaging traffic, VoIP, video, and other data on a common data center lossless Ethernet infrastructure. As a result, clients can deploy a single server interface for multiple data types, which can simplify the deployment and management of server network connectivity while maintaining the high availability and robustness required for storage transactions.
• Seamless interoperabilityThe G8332 switch interoperates seamlessly with other vendors’ upstream switches.

The RackSwitch G8332 supports the following networking operating systems:

• Lenovo Cloud Networking Operating System (CNOS)The new Cloud NOS provides a simple, open and programmable network infrastructure designed to scale for your business needs. Its intelligent, cloud-scale performance delivers a software-defined Ethernet solution that is simple to manage and easy to deploy using common management tools. Cloud NOS is based on open, industry standards for better data center interoperability, and it enables support of automation and orchestration applications for tight integration into the data center ecosystem.With its high-performance architecture and support for an extensive set of routing protocols, Cloud NOS provides reliable, high-performance fabric for traditional, converged and hyperscale solutions. Cloud NOS can help you consolidate server and storage networks into a single fabric. Converged Enhanced Ethernet delivers value for your iSCSI and NAS enterprise storage environments.
• Lenovo Enterprise Networking Operating System (ENOS)The Lenovo ENOS is a data center-class network operating system progressively developed over the past decade to deliver highly reliable, high-performance Ethernet and converged switching and interoperability with existing network infrastructures.ENOS has a feature-rich design with virtualization, high availability, and enterprise class Layer 2 and Layer 3 functionality. ENOS supports OpenFlow which helps easily create software defined virtual networks (SDN) and enables a remote controller to modify the behavior of network devices.

  ENOS can help you consolidate server and storage networks into a single fabric. Converged Enhanced Ethernet delivers value for your iSCSI, NAS and FCoE enterprise storage environments.

The RackSwitch G8332 with Cloud NOS offers the following additional features:

• Automated VM-aware network provisioningThe Lenovo CNOS Network Policy Agent, a ThinkAgile Network Orchestrator feature, gives increased visibility of the Nutanix (AOS version 5.0.2 or higher [excluding 5.1.2]) and VMware vSphere virtual infrastructure, including VM and virtual network information. It provides automated VM-aware provisioning by automatically configuring VLANs in the physical network based on the auto-discovered virtual network topology. The agent also performs ongoing dynamic updates to the physical network configuration in response to new VMs, updated VMs, and deleted VMs and virtual networks, eliminating errors with manual configuration.
• Proactive congestion monitoringTelemetry enables continuous monitoring of networking devices to detect potential congestion problems, such as packets dropped by the switch when ports are being used close to their line rate or switch buffers are being temporarily overflown (for example, in case of microbursts).
• Zero Touch ProvisioningZero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) enables a switch to automatically provision itself using the resources available on the network, without manual intervention. ZTP automatically handles the process of upgrading the switch software image and installing configuration files.
• Python ScriptingYou can create and execute local Python scripts on switches to make small programs that allow a switch to automatically provision itself, perform fault monitoring, upgrade the image files, or auto-generate configuration files. You can implement version control systems, automatically generate alerts, create custom logging tools, and automate the management of network devices.
• REST API ProgrammingThe Lenovo REpresentational State Transfer (REST) Application Program Interface (API) enables you to remotely configure and manage a Lenovo switch using REST and HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It also allows integration into management applications, such as Lenovo XClarity.

The RackSwitch G8332 with Enterprise NOS offers the following additional features:

• Transparent networking capabilityWith a simple configuration change to Easy Connect Mode, the RackSwitch G8332 becomes a transparent network device that is invisible to the core and eliminates network administration concerns of Spanning Tree Protocol configuration and interoperability and VLAN assignments and avoids any possible loops. By emulating a host NIC to the data center core, it accelerates the provisioning of VMs by eliminating the need to configure the typical access switch parameters.
• OpenFlow enabledThe RackSwitch G8332 offers the benefits of OpenFlow. OpenFlow is an open application programming interface (API) with which the network administrator easily configures and manages virtual networks that control traffic on a “per-flow” basis. It also creates multiple independent virtual networks and related policies without dealing with the complexities of the underlying physical network and protocols. The RackSwitch G8332 is also the ideal switch to use with industry compliant OpenFlow controllers.
• Network address translationNetwork Address Translation (NAT) allows a single device, such as a router, to act as an agent between the Internet (or “public network”) and a local (or “private”) network. Therefore, only a single, unique IP address is required to represent an entire group of local IP addresses to the external network. In addition to reducing the number of public IP addresses that are required, NAT provides security by acting as a firewall between internal and external networks.

Table 1. CNOS and ENOS high level feature comparison

• Components and connectors

  The front panel of the G8332 includes the following components:

  • LEDs that display the status of the switch and the network.
  • One Mini-USB RS-232 console port that provides another means to configure the switch.
  • One USB port for mass storage devices.
  • 32x QSFP+ ports to attach QSFP+ transceivers or DAC cables for 40 Gb or 4x 10 Gb Ethernet connections. Breakout cables (both QSFP+ DAC cables and MPO-4xLC optical cables) are supported in ports 2 – 25 only. Ports 1 and 26 – 32 are for 40 Gb connectivity only.
  • One RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mb Ethernet port for out-of-band management.
  • Two redundant, load-sharing hot-swap AC power supplies (IEC 320-C14 power connector)
  • Four 3+1 redundant hot-swap fan assemblies

System specifications