Which ports will be active in an MX9116n FSE if there are dual-port NICs in all the server sleds?

Question

Options

• Aeven-numbered server-facing ports
• Bserver-facing ports 9?6
• Codd-numbered server-facing ports
• Dserver-facing ports 1?

• A
  3% (1)
• B
  9% (3)
• C
  81% (26)
• D
  6% (2)

Explanation

In the Dell EMC MX7000 chassis, the MX9116n FSE has server-facing ports wired through the chassis midplane such that odd-numbered ports connect to port 1 of each server sled's NIC, while even-numbered ports connect to port 2, which routes to the second fabric (the other FSE). When dual-port NICs are present, each server sled's first NIC port activates the corresponding odd-numbered port on a given FSE - making C correct for a single FSE in the fabric.

Option A (even-numbered) is wrong because even-numbered server-facing ports correspond to the second NIC port on each sled, which connects to the opposite FSE in the redundant fabric pair, not the one being examined. Options B and D are wrong because they describe fixed port-range subsets (e.g., 9–16 or 1–8) that reflect specific sled-count scenarios or uplink configurations, not the general odd/even mapping rule that governs dual-port NIC behavior across all sleds.

Memory tip: Think "Odd = Own fabric, Even = the Other FSE." Dual-port NICs split their two ports across two fabrics - so one FSE only sees the odd server-facing side.

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