Onyx FDDI MEZZ bulkhead - Printable Version

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Onyx FDDI MEZZ bulkhead - CB_HK - 04-05-2022

Is anyone familiar with the FDDI MEZZ board that SGI released for the Onyx? I’m trying to find out if there’s a bulkhead adapter that’s supposed to go with it. I acquired a board during a trade but it doesn’t have the normal bulkhead piece with it.

Any help tracking down what the bulkhead looks like would be appreciated!

Thanks!

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RE: Onyx FDDI MEZZ bulkhead - jan-jaap - 04-06-2022

This is what the real bulkheads look like:



That's probably a little too complicated to fabricate. There's a tiny PCB behind the mini-DIN which connects to an optional external optical bypass switch.

Your FDDI board is a dual FDDI board and every interface is dual attach (DAS). That's why xpi0...xpi3. So you've got two FDDI MEZZ daughtercards, with two GBICs each. These have SC optical connectors, which are more common than the MIC connectors on the bulkheads.

What I'd do is look for an SC-SC coupler, and mount it in a bulkhead plate. Yes this means making a rectangular hole. Run a short SC-SC fibre cable from the FDDI MEZZ to the SC-SC coupler in the bulkhead and you're in business.

I have a Prisa FC card without a bulkhead for the Onyx IR and this is what I intend to do to attach it to an FC array.

NB: buy multimode fibre and accessories. single mode is for different applications. OM1 or OM2 fibre will do, no need for fibres capable of 100Gb/s +

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RE: Onyx FDDI MEZZ bulkhead - CB_HK - 04-07-2022

Thank you very much for the excellent info, Jan-Jaap!

I’m going to do exactly what you mentioned so I at least have a bulkhead connection for the board. I’ll follow up once I get that all sorted!

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RE: Onyx FDDI MEZZ bulkhead - CB_HK - 04-28-2022

UPDATE: I managed to get a bulkhead plate put together with some 3D printing, some SC-SC connectors, and some SC fiber patch cables.









Next up: Figuring out how to connect this to my network/creating a network.

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RE: Onyx FDDI MEZZ bulkhead - robespierre - 04-28-2022

(04-28-2022, 06:36 PM)CB_HK Wrote:  Next up: Figuring out how to connect this to my network/creating a network.

There were a few models of FDDI-10 Mbit Ethernet bridges, but only very few bridges between FDDI and 100baseT (because FDDI was losing support after 100baseT standardization). And there were port modules for the big series routers that could connect those networks.
The smallest bridge would be the WS-C1201 (or WS-C1202). It has 8 10baseT ports and an uplink port that can hold a FDDI card. The '1202 has a larger Content-Addressable Memory (CAM) but is otherwise identical.
To connect FDDI to a 100 Mbit Ethernet, you either need a very large and power hungry switch such as a Catalyst 2800 with FDDI and 100baseT cards, or use a computer as a router and give it both kinds of interface adapter.

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RE: Onyx FDDI MEZZ bulkhead - CB_HK - 04-29-2022

(04-28-2022, 11:41 PM)robespierre Wrote:  

(04-28-2022, 06:36 PM)CB_HK Wrote:  Next up: Figuring out how to connect this to my network/creating a network.

There were a few models of FDDI-10 Mbit Ethernet bridges, but only very few bridges between FDDI and 100baseT (because FDDI was losing support after 100baseT standardization). And there were port modules for the big series routers that could connect those networks.
The smallest bridge would be the WS-C1201 (or WS-C1202). It has 8 10baseT ports and an uplink port that can hold a FDDI card. The '1202 has a larger Content-Addressable Memory (CAM) but is otherwise identical.
To connect FDDI to a 100 Mbit Ethernet, you either need a very large and power hungry switch such as a Catalyst 2800 with FDDI and 100baseT cards, or use a computer as a router and give it both kinds of interface adapter.

Thanks for the great info! I was digging through the FDDI manuals that SGI released and studying up on the ring topologies that FDDI used. I saw mention of bridging needing to happen in order to connect to a 10 or 100baseT network. I’ll likely take a look at using another computer to solve the issue but I’ll keep reading before I make any decisions.

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RE: Onyx FDDI MEZZ bulkhead - jan-jaap - 04-29-2022

I still keep a copy of the old Practical Guide to FDDI online.

To route to (gigabit) ethernet I use a Linux PC appliance. Basically an old Atom mini-ITX device with a PCI slot.

For a single FDDI station you can just create a point-to-point connection between Onyx and FDDI router PC, if you've got several FDDI stations you'll either need to have a ring topology (and run enough of the systems at the same time to have a functional ring) or use an FDDI concentrator. The best choice for a concentrator is the Cisco WS-C1400. You can still find them cheap on eBay, but make sure the cards installed match your wiring.

EDIT: I see you've got multiple RM5T boards in your RE2, I hope the terminators are not installed? The Onyx doesn't need them, they were for the PowerSeries / Crimson series, and only the last one. Refer to Simon Pigot's old site mirrored by Gerhard Lenerz: http://www.sgistuff.net/mirrors/sgi/index.html

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RE: Onyx FDDI MEZZ bulkhead - CB_HK - 04-29-2022

(04-29-2022, 08:02 AM)jan-jaap Wrote:  I still keep a copy of the old Practical Guide to FDDI online.

To route to (gigabit) ethernet I use a Linux PC appliance. Basically an old Atom mini-ITX device with a PCI slot.

For a single FDDI station you can just create a point-to-point connection between Onyx and FDDI router PC, if you've got several FDDI stations you'll either need to have a ring topology (and run enough of the systems at the same time to have a functional ring) or use an FDDI concentrator. The best choice for a concentrator is the Cisco WS-C1400. You can still find them cheap on eBay, but make sure the cards installed match your wiring.

EDIT: I see you've got multiple RM5T boards in your RE2, I hope the terminators are not installed? The Onyx doesn't need them, they were for the PowerSeries / Crimson series, and only the last one. Refer to Simon Pigot's old site mirrored by Gerhard Lenerz: http://www.sgistuff.net/mirrors/sgi/index.html

Thanks for the link! I’ll dabble with getting something small running to handle the bridge. The 10Mb AUI connection is ok, but it really suffers on larger file transfers.

As for the RM5Ts, I should probably relabel them. I picked up a bunch surplus and they have those labels on them but none have the terminator packs installed.

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