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SFP Breakouts🔗

This feature allows you to define how an SFP is used in a switch. The breakout automation is based on Verity software sensing the breakout option as indicated by reading the part after it is inserted into the switch, or based on user desired behavior based on the vendor and part number. The UI provides two ways to recognize user defined SFP behavior, globally or by individual port settings.

Warning

Breakout settings are constrained by the switch's capabilities. If the physical limitations of the switch are exceeded, an error is displayed, and the device turns red. Hovering over the device will show the following error message:

Attempting to add [number of breakouts] to pipeline [pipeline index] with [available space] available.

  • number of breakouts is the count of attempted breakout additions.
  • pipeline Index indicates the specific pipeline number or identifier.
  • available space is the remaining breakouts that can be added to the pipeline.

Globally🔗

If your intent is to set SFP device behaviors globally, throughout your system, you set this information in the Global / SFP Breakouts list. Here, you list devices by vendor and part number, and you set the behavior for each device under the field labeled breakout. Some SFP breakout cables identify themsleves with the same part number on each end which can result in misconfiguration based on using system wide defaults. In these cases, the user should set the behavior in the global section for the broken out side of the breakout cable, and use the port specific override method for the "1x" side of the cable.

Port Specific Override🔗

If your intent is to set an SFP device behavior on a specific port and override existing behavior, you can do so with the SFP Breakout Override form. Setting SFP devices in this way overrides existing automatic behaviors as well as the behaviors dictated in the Global Breakout settings. The drop down list in the UI is provided after the switching device has been discovered and is under management of Verity. The switch is interrogated by Verity and then The UI provides a specific drop down list based on the SFP and port it is plugged into. This precludes the ability to pre-provision port specific breakout.

It should be noted that there are limitations to the combinations and locations of multiple SFPs and the vendor's hardware specifications should be referred to in these cases. There are cases where the request from the Verity system to the switch can fail based on these limitation, and is indicated as such in the system displaying a "red fill" on the device after trying to set the port specific breakout.