HPE SN8700B: 48-Port 32Gb Short Wave SFP28 Integrated Fibre Channel Switch Blade

The HPE SN8700B is a purpose-built fibre channel switch blade designed for enterprise data centers that demand scalable, high-performance storage networking. Engineered as part of the HPE SAN Director family, this 48-port blade brings dense connectivity and deterministic latency to mission-critical workloads, from large-scale databases and virtualization to backup automation and analytics. With 32Gbps Short Wave SFP28 Fibre Channel ports, the SN8700B delivers the speed, resilience, and control needed to keep modern storage fabrics responsive as workloads grow and flash and NVMe storage become increasingly prevalent. It integrates neatly into existing SAN Director architectures, offering a streamlined path to expansion, simplification of management, and consistent fabric behavior across the data center.

In today’s data centers, storage performance is often the gating factor for business agility. The SN8700B responds to that challenge by providing high port density in a compact blade form factor, ensuring you can scale your SAN without sacrificing space or energy efficiency. The 32Gbps per-port capability helps reduce I/O wait times, enabling faster data access for critical applications. Enterprises leveraging virtualization, dense VM densities, or memory-rich workloads will appreciate the blade’s ability to sustain sustained throughput while keeping latency predictable. And because it’s a blade within the HPE SAN Director ecosystem, IT teams benefit from consistent fabric management, simpler firmware maintenance, and a unified approach to zoning, path selection, and policy-based traffic control across the SAN.

Beyond raw speed, the SN8700B is built for reliability and ease of operation. The blade supports features typical of enterprise-grade SAN fabrics, including scalable zoning and fabric-wide visibility that make it easier to segment storage traffic, protect sensitive data, and ensure predictable performance for every host or VM. In addition, the blade’s RAS (reliability, availability, serviceability) characteristics help teams minimize downtime during maintenance windows, with considerations for hot-swappability, redundant paths, and streamlined fault isolation. As organizations push toward NVMe-based storage, Fibre Channel continues to play a central role in delivering stable, deterministic access to arrays, caches, and tiered storage, and the SN8700B is designed to be a dependable conduit for that evolution.

Security, governance, and operational efficiency are also central to the SN8700B’s value proposition. The blade supports standard fabric governance workflows, including zoning, access control, and policy-based fabric management, allowing administrators to enforce strict data-access boundaries and simplify audits. For teams managing large, mixed-storage environments, the SN8700B provides familiar, enterprise-grade management interfaces that pair well with other storage networking tools, helping to reduce the learning curve and accelerate deployment. In short, the SN8700B isn’t just about raw throughput—it’s about delivering a balanced, scalable building block that helps data centers meet current demands while remaining adaptable to future storage trends.

• 48 x 32Gbps Short Wave SFP28 Fibre Channel ports deliver dense, high-speed connectivity in a single blade, optimizing rack space and reducing cabling complexity.
• 32Gbps Fibre Channel per port provides the deterministic performance required for mission-critical workloads such as databases, virtualization, analytics, and large-scale backups, with low latency and predictable throughput.
• Integrated Fibre Channel switch blade for HPE SAN Director chassis enables seamless fabric expansion and centralized management within your existing SAN Director infrastructure.
• Designed for high availability, the SN8700B supports reliable fabric pathing and scalable zoning, ensuring continuous access to storage even as workloads grow and traffic patterns shift.
• Comprehensive management and security features, supported by enterprise storage tools and standard CLI/GUI interfaces, simplify provisioning, monitoring, and fabric governance across the SAN.

Technical Details of HPE SN8700B

• Ports: 48 x 32Gb Short Wave SFP28 Fibre Channel ports.
• Port speed: 32Gbps per Fibre Channel port (SFP28 Short Wave).
• Form factor: Integrated switch blade within an HPE SAN Director chassis.
• Function: Fibre Channel SAN director blade to connect hosts to storage arrays and pools.
• Compatibility: Part of the HPE SAN Director fabric, supporting standard FC zoning and fabric management workflows.
• Management: Compatible with enterprise storage management tools and standard CLI/GUI interfaces used in SAN environments.

How to install HPE SN8700B

To install the HPE SN8700B, begin by validating compatibility with your existing HPE SAN Director chassis and confirming power and cooling capacity in the data center. With the chassis powered off, locate an appropriate blade slot, then carefully insert the SN8700B into the chassis, ensuring it seats firmly in the backplane. Secure the blade according to the chassis design, then connect 32Gbps Fibre Channel cables from the SN8700B ports to storage arrays, fabric interconnects, or other fabric endpoints following your SAN topology. Power the chassis back on and use the management interface to perform initial discovery, verify link status, and configure port zoning and fabric login as needed. Apply any required firmware updates and validate external connectivity by querying a host or storage array for proper FC path establishment. Finally, monitor health and performance through your chosen management tools, schedule regular firmware maintenance, and implement routine fabric audits to maintain peak efficiency and reliability.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: What is the HPE SN8700B?
• A: It is a high-density fibre channel switch blade with 48 ports at 32Gbps, designed for the HPE SAN Director family to provide scalable Fibre Channel connectivity for enterprise storage networks.
• Q: How many ports does it have?
• A: There are 48 ports, each supporting up to 32Gbps Fibre Channel via SFP28 Short Wave transceivers.
• Q: What workloads is it best suited for?
• A: It is well-suited for mission-critical workloads, including large databases, virtualization, analytics, backups, and other storage-intensive applications requiring high-bandwidth Fibre Channel connectivity.
• Q: Can it support NVMe storage integrations?
• A: The SN8700B provides Fibre Channel connectivity that can access NVMe-based storage arrays within a suitable SAN fabric; NVMe-over-Fabrics capabilities depend on the overall fabric configuration and compatible storage array features.
• Q: Where can I find official specifications?
• A: Check the official product page or the specifications section on the supplier site (such as ec.synnex.com) using your UPC or SKU as reference.