IBM Storage Networking SAN128B-6 Switch 5 Table 1 System architecture specifications (part 1 of 2) IBM Network Advisor simplifies b-type Gen 6 Fibre Channel management and helps organizations  proactively diagnose and resolve issues to maximize uptime, increase operational efficiency, and reduce  costs. The wizard-driven interface dramatically reduces deployment and configuration times by allowing  fabrics, switches, and ports to be managed as groups. Customizable dashboards graphically display  performance and health indicators out of the box, including all data captured using Fabric Vision  technology. To accelerate troubleshooting, administrators can use dashboard playback to quickly review  past events and identify problems in the fabric. Dashboards and reports can also be configured to show  only the most relevant data, enabling administrators to more efficiently prioritize their actions and maintain  network performance. For more details about IBM Network Advisor capabilities, review the information in  the data sheet and IBM Network Advisor Redbooks product guide. Table 1 shows the system architecture specifications for the IBM Storage Networking SAN128B-6 Switch. IBM Network Advisor IBM Storage Networking SAN 128B-6 Switch specifications Forward Error Correction (FEC): Enables recovery from bit errors in a data stream, enhancing   transmission reliability and performance. FEC is mandatory in Gen 6 links with more robust error  recovery to support 32 Gbps performance. Credit Loss Recovery : Automatically detects and recovers buffer credit loss at the Virtual Channel   (VC) level, providing protection against performance degradation and enhancing application  availability. Flow Learning: Enables administrators to non-disruptively discover all flows that go to or come   from a specific host port or a storage port, or traverse ISLs/IFLs or FCIP tunnels, to monitor  fabric-wide application performance. In addition, administrators can discover top and bottom  bandwidth-consuming devices and manage capacity planning. Flow Generator: Provides a built-in traffic generator for pretesting and validating the data center   infrastructure for robustness, including route verification and integrity of optics, cables, ports,  back-end connections, and ISLs, before deploying applications. Flow Mirroring: Enables administrators to non-disruptively create copies of specific application   and data flows or frame types that can be captured for in-depth analysis. pending IOs, and IOPS metrics for a flow from a specific host to a target or volume running SCSI  or NVMe over Fibre Channel traffic. With VM Insight, administrators can monitor network  throughput and IO statistics for each VM.  Product number* 8960-F96 Front exhaust (port side exhaust); 2U 8960-N96 Rear exhaust (non-port side exhaust); 2U Fibre Channel ports 96 SFP+ ports capable of operating at 4/8/10/16/32 Gbps Fibre Channel auto-sensing  speeds; 8 QSFP ports capable of operating at 4×32 / 4×16 / 4×8 / 4×4 Gbps Fibre  Channel speeds.  Offers a base configuration of 48 ports, two 24-port SFP+ Ports on Demand ( PoD ), and  one 32-port QSFP PoD. The switch has a total of eight 32 Gbps QSPF ports. This  allows users to grow from 48 ports to 128 ports. Supports F/E/EX_Port and D_Port  types on the SFP+ ports and only F/E/EX_Port and D_Port types on the QSFP ports  with Fabric OS® (FOS) v8.2.0. Scalability Full-fabric architecture with a maximum of 239 switches Certified maximum Single fabric: 56 domains, 7 hops MPR fabric: 19 hops