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Contributor

QSFP28 to 4x SFP28 but only use 2 SFP28 ports

Currently, I have my 2 hosts directly connected to the SAN. Each host connects 1 port to 1 port on each of the SAN's 2 controllers. This maintains my "2 paths" design concepts. It's working great for now, but I do want to move into 2 Top-of-Rack switches. The issue is that using QSFP28 ports between 2 different switches would be best with 2 QSFP28 ports split to 2 SFP28 ports, 1 from each switch to the SAN and 1 from each switch to the hosts. This would mean getting break-out QSFP28 to 4x SFP28 DAC cables. Has anyone used only 2 of the 4 break-out cables? Will it work at 50Gb per QSFP28 port or not work at all?

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sdtslmn
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Enthusiast

using only two of the four SFP28 ports in a QSFP28 to 4x SFP28 break-out cable is generally feasible and should support the desired 50 Gbps bandwidth per QSFP28 port, provided your hardware supports such a configuration and is correctly set up.

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