BCM957608-P1400GDF00 Breakout Mode: Enhancing Scalability and Flexibility

With the emergence of new high-speed ports on switches, routers, and other networking equipment, breakout mode is becoming increasingly important. It enables these high-speed ports to connect seamlessly with lower-speed ports, enhancing network flexibility and scalability.

How BCM957608-P1400GDF00 Breakout Mode Maximize Bandwidth Efficiency

The challenge in modern data centers is to support ever-higher speeds while maximizing computing power, storage, and data throughput within the limited physical space available. As real estate costs rise, especially in colocation data centers where tenants are charged by rack space, and for organizations reaching the capacity limits of their own facilities, optimizing space becomes critical. Densification helps minimize space requirements, driving down costs, while advanced network adapters deliver increasingly faster transmission speeds.

The question then becomes: how can we achieve high-performance connections that are both sustainable and space-efficient? This is where advanced network adapters supporting port breakout, the BCM957608-P1400GDF00, offer significant advantages.

Improving High-Speed Data Transfer

The BCM957608-P1400GDF00 network adapter, supporting breakout ports, significantly enhances data transfer speeds in data centers. By utilizing the multi-channel capabilities of the breakout ports, a single 400G port can be connected to multiple 200G or 100G links, effectively increasing bandwidth. This method leverages fiber optic technology to reduce latency and improve overall data transmission speed, making it ideal for high-performance network environments. With its flexible and lightweight design proving well-suited for high-density settings. The reduced power consumption further enhances energy efficiency, making it a perfect solution for modern data centers with growing energy demands.

Enhancing Flexibility and Scalability

Port breakout offers a future-proof solution for data center network upgrades. 400G NIC BCM957608-P1400GDF00 can be break out into four 100G or two 200G ports, enabling flexible configurations to meet current needs while simplifying future upgrades. When higher network speeds are required, only a few components—such as transceivers or cables—need to be replaced, avoiding the need for a complete infrastructure overhaul. This approach minimizes downtime, reduces costs, and ensures scalability, allowing data centers to seamlessly transition to faster technologies like 800G or beyond. By supporting incremental upgrades, port breakout helps data centers stay agile and ready for evolving bandwidth demands without significant additional investment.

By leveraging the breakout mode of BCM957608-P1400GDF00, data centers can achieve higher bandwidth efficiency, improved flexibility, and seamless scalability. However, to fully utilize these advantages, proper configuration is essential. Below, we outline the step-by-step process for setting up port breakout mode on BCM957608-P1400GDF00, ensuring optimal performance and integration within your network.

How to Configure Port Breakout on BCM957608-P1400GDF00

There are 2 methods to configure port breakout on BCM957608-P1400GDF00:

Using the UEFI

Step 1: Set Port Operation Mode to either Breakout 1 port to 2 or Breakout 1 port to 4 as shown in the following figure.

Step 2: Reboot the server for this change to take effect.

Linux Configuration

The Linux Niccli tools can be used to configure Port Breakout with the following commands:

Step 1:

NICCLI Commands for

Port Breakout

1 port to 2

niccli -i < index > nvm -setoption port_operation_mode -value 8

NICCLI Commands for

Port Breakout

1 port to 4

niccli -i < index > nvm -setoption port_operation_mode -value 9

Step 2: A system reboot is required for this change to take effect.

You can also find the detailed configuration steps in: Broadcom Ethernet Network Adapter User Manual

FS BCM957608-P1400GDF00 Port Breakout Solution

FS provides a comprehensive portfolio of connectivity solutions to support 400G breakout configurations, ensuring seamless integration with modern data center infrastructures. The 400G to 2×200G breakout connection enables efficient data transmission and enhances data center reliability and fault tolerance through link redundancy. This redundancy ensures that even if a link fails, the data center remains operational without interruption, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity.

Category	Model	Product Information
Spine Switch	N9550-32D	32 x 400Gb QSFP-DD
DAC/AOC/ACC/AEC Cables	QDD-400G-2QPC02	400G QSFP-DD to 2 x 200G QSFP56 DAC Breakout Cable
Leaf Switch	N8550-24CD8D	24 x 200Gb QSFP56, with 8 x 400Gb QSFP-DD Uplinks
Network Adapter	BCM957608-P1400GDF00	400G Single-Port QSFP112-DD, PCIe 5.0 x 16
Server	RS7260-V3	2U Rackmount Server

Beyond providing cutting-edge products, FS offers expert technical support and professional solution guidance, assisting customers in designing, configuring, and optimizing their network architectures. Whether upgrading existing infrastructure or deploying high-density environments, FS delivers tailored, high-performance connectivity solutions to meet evolving data center demands.