Cisco Systems N5KC5548UPFA User Manual

Expansion modules allow the Cisco Nexus 5596T switch to be configured as cost-effective 10-Gigabit 
Ethernet switches and as I/O consolidation platforms with native Fibre Channel connectivity. 

The Cisco Nexus 5596T switch has three slots that can be used for the following optional expansion 
modules:

Ethernet module that provides sixteen 1- or 10-Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE ports using the SFP+ 
interface

Fibre Channel plus Ethernet module that provides eight 1- or 10-Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE ports 
using the SFP+ interface, and eight ports of 8/4/2/1-Gbps native Fibre Channel connectivity using 
the SFP+/SFP interface

Unified port module that provides up to sixteen 1- or 10-Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE ports using the 
SFP+ interface or up to sixteen ports of 8/4/2/1-Gbps native Fibre Channel connectivity using the 
SFP+ and SFP interfaces. The use of 1- or 10-Gigabit Ethernet or 8/4/2/1-Gbps Fibre Channel on a 
port is mutually exclusive but can be selected for any of the 16 physical ports per module

Ethernet module that provides twelve 10GBASE-T ports (N55-M12T). The hardware is FCoE 
capable

You can hot swap the expansion modules during operations.

Each port on the Cisco Nexus 5596T is numbered, and groups of ports are numbered based on their 
function. The ports are numbered top to bottom and left to right. 

 shows how ports are numbered and grouped by function.

Expansion modules

System status LED

Identifier LED

32 fixed ports of 10GBASE-T and 16 fixed 
ports of SFP+