<see updates at bottom>

Finally – information on the soon-to-be-released Cisco Nexus 4000 switch for IBM BladeCenter.  Apparently IBM is officially calling their version “Cisco Nexus Switch Module 4001I for the IBM BladeCenter.”  I’m not sure if it’s “officially” announced yet, but I’ve uncovered some details.  Here is a summary of the Cisco Nexus Switch Module 4001I for the IBM BladeCenter:

• Six external 10-Gb Ethernet ports for uplink
• 14 internal XAUI ports for connection to the server blades in the chassis
• One 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ-45 copper management port for out-of-band management link  (this port is available on the front panel next to the console port)
• One external RS-232 serial console port  (this port is available on the front panel and uses an RJ-45 connector)

More tidbits of info:

• The switch will be capable of forwarding Ethernet and FCoE packets at wire rate speed. 
• The six external ports will be SFP+ (no surprise) and they’ll support 10GBASE-SR SFP+, 10GBASE-LR SFP+, 10GBASE-CU SFP+ and GE-SFP.
• Internal port speeds can run at 1 Gb or 10Gb (and can be set to auto-negotiate); full duplex
• Internal ports will be able to forward Layer-2 packets at wire rate speed.
• The switch will work in the IBM BladeCenter “high-speed bays” (bays 7, 8, 9 and 10); however at this time, the available Converged Network Adapters (CNAs) for the IBM blade servers will only work with Nexus 4001I’s located in bays 7 and 9.

There is also mention of a “Nexus 4005I” from IBM, but I can’t find anything on that.  I do not believe that IBM has announced this product, so the information provided is based on documentation from Cisco’s web site.  I expect announcement to come in the next 2 weeks, though, with availability probably following in November just in time for the Christmas rush!

For details on the information mentioned above, please visit the Cisco web site, titled ”Cisco Nexus 4001I and 4005I Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter Hardware Installation Guide“. 

If you are interested in finding out more about configuring the NX-OS for the Cisco Nexus Switch Module 4001I for the IBM BladeCenter, check out the Cisco Nexus 4001I and 4005I Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter NX-OS Configuration Guide

 UPDATE (10/20/09): the IBM part # for the Cisco Nexus 4001I Switch Module will be 46M6071. 

 UPDATE # 2 (10/20/09,  17:37 PM EST): Found more Cisco links:
Cisco Nexus 4001I Switch Module At A Glance

Cisco Nexus 4001I Switch Module DATA SHEET

New Picture: