NVIDIA Mellanox MSB7520-E2 Switch-IB 2 EDR InfiniBand 36-Port Spine Blade: This is a director-class spine blade for the Mellanox CS7500 EDR InfiniBand chassis. The blade is built around the Switch-IB 2 ASIC and exposes 36 QSFP28 ports running at 100Gb/s per port. This is a chassis-internal blade module, not a standalone 1U switch. This is a refurbished unit.
Engineering Context
The MSB7520-E2 plugs into the CS7500 director chassis as a spine card, providing the internal fat-tree interconnect that aggregates traffic from leaf blades. Each blade carries 36 QSFP28 ports at 100Gb/s EDR. The -E2 variant ships without the SHArP collective offload feature enabled; for SHArP-accelerated collectives, use the MSB7520 SKU that includes SHArP. The blade is RoHS R6 compliant. Latency stays in the sub-90ns port-to-port range typical of Switch-IB 2 silicon.
Deployment & Use Cases
Adding spine capacity to an existing CS7500 EDR director chassis. Replacing a failed spine blade in an HPC fabric. Building a non-blocking fat-tree InfiniBand fabric for CFD, CAE, weather modeling, or AI training clusters that scale beyond a single 1U switch.
Technical Specifications
- OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
- Part Number: MSB7520-E2
- Form Factor: Spine blade for CS7500 chassis
- Switch ASIC: Switch-IB 2
- Ports: 36 x QSFP28
- Per-Port Rate: 100Gb/s EDR InfiniBand
- Aggregate Bandwidth: 7.2Tb/s
- SHArP: Not enabled on this -E2 variant
- Compliance: RoHS R6
- Condition: Refurbished — Tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
Compatibility & Hard Constraints
This blade is intended for the Mellanox CS7500 EDR director chassis only. It is not a standalone 1U pizza-box switch and cannot operate outside the chassis. Compatible with ConnectX-4 and ConnectX-5 EDR HCAs and with Mellanox EDR copper and AOC cabling. SHArP-dependent collective offload requires a SHArP-enabled blade; this -E2 variant does not provide it. Does not negotiate down to FDR speeds without compatible cabling and HCA configuration.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What is the MSB7520-E2?
The MSB7520-E2 is a Switch-IB 2 EDR InfiniBand spine blade for the CS7500 director-class chassis, 36 ports at 100Gb/s.
Q. Is it a standalone switch?
No. It is a chassis spine blade requiring a compatible CS7500 director chassis.
Q. Will T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS confirm the configuration of MSB7520-E2 before shipping?
Yes. T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS (tes-itsolutions.com) bench-tests each unit where test topology is available, checks EEPROM/vendor data, before dispatch from EU stock.
Why Choose T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS bench-tests every spine blade for port link-up, fan operation, and management visibility before shipment. Handling time is 1-3 business days with global shipping and warranty.
