The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform is equipped with expansion modules that can be used to increase the number of 10 Gigabit Ethernet & FCo E ports or to connect to Fibre Channel SANs with 8/4/2/1-Gbps Fibre Channel switch ports, or both. The Cisco Nexus 5548P & 5548UP supports one expansion module, & 5596UP supports three expansion modules from the following offerings
- Ethernet module that provides sixteen 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet & FCo E ports using the SFP+ interface
- Fibre Channel plus Ethernet module that provides eight 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet & FCo E ports using the SFP+ interface, & eight ports of 8/4/2/1-Gbps native Fibre Channel connectivity using the SFP+/SFP interface
- A unified port module that provides up to sixteen 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet & FCo E ports using the SFP+ interface or up to sixteen ports of 8/4/2/1-Gbps native Fibre Channel connectivity using the SFP+ & SFP interface. The use of 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet or 8/4/2/1-Gbps Fibre Channel on a port is mutually exclusive but selectable for any of the 16 physical ports per module.