Configuration Scenarios
Mellanox BlueField BF1600 Controller Cards offer a variety of options to serve the requirements of high-density and high-performance storage
environments. The following section describes various connectivity options for NVMe SSDs. This list of scenarios is not exhaustive (represents the maximum
utilization of PCIe connectivity), but it shows some different available options. Each scenario includes a view of the required cabling between the BF1600
Controller Card and the system platform.
Configuration PCIe
Switch
No. SSDs No. of
Auxiliary
Raisers
No. of Cabline- CA
II PLUS Harnesses
BlueField PCIe Bifurcation,
Speed PCIe Golden Fingers
Connector
BlueField PCIe Bifurcation,
Speed PCIe Auxiliary
Connector
Configuration 1 No 4-8 0 0 4 x Gen 3.0/4.0 x4
8 x Gen 3.0/4.0 x2
0
Configuration 2
No 8-16 1 2 4 x Gen 3.0/4.0 x4
8 x Gen 3.0/4.0 x2
4 x Gen 3.0 x 4
8 x Gen 3.0 x 2
Configuration 3
Yes 8-16 1 2 1 x Gen 3.0/4.0 x16 1 x Gen 3.0 x16
Configuration 4
Yes 24 1 2 1 x Gen 3.0/4.0 x16 1 x Gen 3.0 x16
Configuration 1: Direct Connectivity to 4-8 NVMe SSDs (No External PCIe Switch)
For direct connectivity to 4-8 SSDs configuration, the first BlueField PCIe Gen 4.0 x16 interface is routed through the x16 PCIe Gen 3.0/4.0 Edge Connector
towards the first group of four x4 SSDs or eight x2 SSDs. The control signals for each NVMe SSDs are routed through a serialized bus that is connected from
the BlueField to the CPLD and further-on towards the PCIe edge connector. The user should implement a CPLD expander on its NVMe SSDs backplane and
expand the various control signals towards each of the 4-8 SSDs.
The BlueField and the NVMe SSDs are implementing separate clock schemes, thus, the user should drive the 100Mhz reference clock for the SSDs from its
own clock source.
See the below figurefor an illustration of the 4-8 NVMe SSDs configuration.
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