HPE SN8700B 64Gb 48-Port Short Wave SFP56 Fibre Channel Switch Blade

Meet enterprise-grade storage networking at its finest with the HPE SN8700B 64Gb 48-Port Short Wave SFP56 Fibre Channel Switch Blade. Built for dense data-center fabric expansion, this blade delivers the speed, reliability, and scalability required to power modern SAN environments. Designed to slot into HPE’s SAN chassis, it provides high-throughput 64 Gbit/s Fibre Channel connectivity across 48 ports, enabling low-latency access to mission-critical databases, virtualized workloads, and large-scale backup solutions. Whether you’re consolidating storage, expanding fabric capacity, or modernizing your data center’s storage backbone, the SN8700B is engineered to keep your data flowing with precision and resilience.

• Dense, enterprise-grade port topology: 48 Fibre Channel ports in a compact blade form factor, purpose-built for scalable SAN expansion within HPE ecosystems.
• High-speed 64 Gbit/s per port: Delivers consistently fast access to stored data, reducing bottlenecks in dynamically changing workloads and ensuring predictable performance for demanding applications.
• Integrated Short Wave SFP56 optics: Uses Short Wave SFP56 transceivers to optimize reach and cabling flexibility within data centers, enabling efficient fabric designs and simplified provisioning.
• Blade-level integration for seamless fabric scaling: Designed to slot into compatible HPE SAN chassis, providing straightforward deployment, fabric zoning, and multi-pathing support across the enterprise network.
• Robust reliability for mission-critical environments: Built with enterprise-grade hardware and fabric features to support continuous operations, ease of management, and resilient disaster recovery workflows.

The SN8700B blade is crafted for IT teams that demand consistent performance, straightforward deployment, and strong compatibility with existing SAN investments. With 48 ports at 64 Gbit/s, this switch blade can support large-scale fabrics, offering ample headroom for growth as data volumes and virtualization requirements expand. In addition to raw speed, the solution emphasizes reliability and ease of administration—critical for storage networks that underpin database latency requirements, backup windows, and large-scale analytics. By integrating into an HPE SAN chassis, the SN8700B aligns with proven HPE management tools, fabric services, and support ecosystems to simplify maintenance and optimize fabric health over time.

Technical Details of HPE SN8700B 64Gb 48-Port Short Wave SFP56 Fibre Channel Switch Blade

• Port count: 48 Fibre Channel ports
• Port speed: 64 Gbit/s per port (Fibre Channel)
• Optics: Integrated Short Wave SFP56 transceivers
• Form factor: Blade switch blade designed for HPE SAN chassis
• Fabric integration: Compatibility with HPE SAN fabrics, zoning, and common storage networking features

How to install HPE SN8700B 64Gb 48-Port Short Wave SFP56 Fibre Channel Switch Blade

To install the HPE SN8700B blade, plan for a compatible HPE SAN chassis with available blade slots and adequate cooling. Confirm chassis firmware and management software compatibility to ensure smooth integration with your storage fabric. Always follow your data center’s change management procedures when inserting or removing blades and connecting storage networks.

Steps overview for installation and basic configuration (in a typical enterprise environment): - Power down the chassis if required by your maintenance policy before inserting the blade. - Slide the SN8700B blade into a vacant blade slot until it seats firmly and the backplane connectors engage securely. - Connect the appropriate 64 Gbit/s Fibre Channel fabric cables to the 48 ports, routing them according to your zoning strategy and SAN topology. - Power up the chassis or the blade slot per your data center procedures and monitor post-insertion status indicators within your management software. - Verify that the blade is recognized by the chassis, confirm port readiness, and validate fabric membership and zoning across the SAN. - Perform baseline performance checks to ensure the expected throughput and latency parameters are met, adjusting QoS or zoning as needed for workloads. - Document the blade installation, including slot number, port mappings, and any fabric changes, to support ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting.

Practical tips for deployment: - Align the SN8700B blade with your existing SAN fabric architecture to minimize reconfigurations and maximize compatibility with current storage arrays and hosts. - Use reserved ports and structured zoning to isolate critical workloads while maintaining flexibility for expansion. - Consider redundancy in the fabric design by planning multiple paths and leveraging multipath I/O to ensure resilience against link or fabric failures. - Regularly monitor port health, temperature, and power consumption to prevent performance degradation and to extend hardware longevity.

Frequently asked questions

• What is the HPE SN8700B blade best suited for? It is designed for enterprise SAN environments requiring dense Fibre Channel connectivity, high throughput, and scalable fabric expansion within HPE chassis.
• What does “64Gb” refer to in this product? It refers to the per-port data rate capability of the Fibre Channel ports on the blade, providing high-speed access to storage networks.
• What is the meaning of “Short Wave SFP56” in this context? It indicates the integrated Short Wave SFP56 optics used to connect the blade to the fibre channel fabric, balancing reach and cabling options in data centers.
• Can I use this blade with non-HPE SAN chassis? The SN8700B is designed for HPE SAN chassis; refer to your chassis compatibility guide to confirm cross-compatibility before installation.
• Does it support fabric features like zoning and QoS? Yes, the blade is designed to work within enterprise SAN fabrics, enabling essential zoning, fabric services, and quality-of-service configurations typical of Fibre Channel networks.