NVIDIA Mellanox MSX6018F-1SFS (NVIDIA P/N: 920-9B010-00FF-2M5) 18-Port FDR InfiniBand Switch: This is a 1U SwitchX-2 based InfiniBand switch with 18 QSFP+ ports running FDR at 56 Gb/s per port. It is a managed switch with on-board MLNX-OS and an embedded subnet manager. This is a fixed-port InfiniBand switch, not an Ethernet switch and not a VPI dual-protocol unit. This is a refurbished unit.
Engineering Context
The MSX6018F-1SFS is built around the SwitchX-2 ASIC. Each QSFP+ port aggregates 4 lanes of 14 Gb/s NRZ signaling for 56 Gb/s FDR per port, with an aggregate non-blocking switching capacity of 2.016 Tb/s (18 ports × 56 Gb/s, full-duplex). FDR is backward-compatible with QDR (40 Gb/s) and DDR (20 Gb/s) at the link layer. The chassis uses P2C (Power-to-Connector / forward) — connector airflow out for thermal management. Switching is performed by an on-board PowerPC 460 management processor handling control-plane functions. Power is delivered by a single AC power supply.
Deployment & Use Cases
End-of-Row or aggregation tier for medium HPC clusters, fabric core for AI training pods up to 18 endpoints, storage spine for parallel file systems (Lustre, GPFS), and InfiniBand uplink switch for GPU compute nodes.
Technical Specifications
OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
Part Number: MSX6018F-1SFS (NVIDIA P/N: 920-9B010-00FF-2M5)
Switch ASIC: SwitchX-2
Ports: 18 × QSFP+ (FDR)
Per-Port Data Rate: 56 Gb/s FDR (4 × 14 Gb/s NRZ)
Aggregate Switching Capacity: 2.016 Tb/s (full-duplex)
Backward Compatibility: FDR / QDR (40 Gb/s) / DDR (20 Gb/s)
Management: Managed (MLNX-OS, on-board subnet manager)
Management CPU: PowerPC 460 (PPC460)
Form Factor: 1U short depth, 19-inch rack-mountable
Power Supply: Single AC PSU
Airflow: P2C (Power-to-Connector / forward) — connector airflow out
Compliance: RoHS6
Condition: Refurbished — Tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
Compatibility & Hard Constraints
Compatible with NVIDIA Mellanox ConnectX-3 / ConnectX-3 Pro / ConnectX-4 / ConnectX-5 InfiniBand HCAs at FDR speed, and with QSFP+ FDR copper (DAC) and active optical (AOC) cables. Ships with MLNX-OS for in-band/out-of-band management; supports SNMP, CLI, and web UI for fabric monitoring. This is an InfiniBand-only switch — it does not run Ethernet on these ports and is not a VPI (Virtual Protocol Interconnect) unit. Does not support EDR (100 Gb/s) or HDR (200 Gb/s) speeds; FDR is the maximum link rate. Single PSU — no power redundancy on this SKU. Rail kit and console cable are not guaranteed; confirm accessories at order time.
Why Choose T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS power-tests every InfiniBand switch, verifies all QSFP+ ports for link integrity at FDR, and inspects PSU function and chassis condition before shipment. We provide expert consultation on InfiniBand fabric design, global shipping, and a 1–3 day handling window. Visit tes-itsolutions.com for the full refurbished NVIDIA Mellanox catalog.