Unofficial DPTPB Nutanix Dynamic Visio Shapes: NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6

More in depth notes regarding NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6 Dynamic Visio shapes.

While NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6 front-view shapes are as easy to use any as other dynamic shapes. Mixing NICs and GPUs with NX-3170-G6 rear view shapes has added some complexity.

You might avoid having some headaches by reading this documentation before trying the NX-3170-G6 rear view shapes, if you opt to NOT to use automated placement of NICs/GPUs and decide to place them manually.

Default mode of a dynamic shape

When a dynamic shape is pulled to a drawing it looks like any normal non-dynamic shape as by default all the dynamic elements are turned off.

However you have an option to make your shape to show more detailed information by using pull-down menus in “Shape Data” and the shape will automatically adjust its appearance based on your selections.

This design decision was made to:

Have more uniform look for the shapes when pulled to a drawing for the first time
If I had chosen to use one of the dynamic configurations as a default look
- The default might not have been the right one
  - Better to show no info than wrong info
With “clean slate” look you can manually populate NICs and such with separate NIC shapes if you so desire
- Without having to disable the dynamic features first
- Most of the time there is no need for manually populating NICs
- Manual functionality mainly is reserved for
  - exceptions
  - or
  - To have ability to continue working in case some spec sheet changes have not yet been updated to shape parameter files

Using “Shape data” Window to modify the dynamic shapes

Access “Shape Data” window (Visio 2016)

“View” – “Task Panes” – “Shape Data”
or
Select a shape – Right Click – “Data” – “Shape Data”

“Shape Data” menus are also Dynamic

It shows only relevant info / sections
For example if you choose All Flash disk layout, you can only choose the size of SSD drives, no menu for HDD size

“Shape Data” shows any data relevant to currently selected shape

No data visible = check that you have selected correct shape

Dynamic Front View Shapes for NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6

By making selections in “Shape Data” window pull-down menus you can change the appearance of your shapes. The built-in automation will populate dynamic elements within the shape to match your selection.

NX-8170-G7 vs NX-3170-G6

NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6 share the same “parent” shape for front (and rear) view shapes.

Personally I was quite surprised to see that NX-8170-G7 supports only one disk layout, 8xNVMe. While sharing identical, at least visually, chassis with NX-3170-G6 with many more options for disk layouts. Maybe Nutanix ran out of time while qualifying NX-8170-G7 and decided to save some time by only testing all NVMe setup.

I am happy to finally see option to have a all-NVMe setup for the most I/O hungry workloads. But it is my sincere hope that Nutanix will add more supported disk layouts for NX-8170-G7. Or at least give us option to partially populate the NX-8170-G7 with NVMe drives.

Despite the fact that NX-3170-G6 was designed to be used with GPUs, it proved to be quite a reliable workhorse for many non-GPU related workloads. Because of its versatility, if I had to guess, it was one of the most popular, if not the most popular Nutanix model (at least in Finland).

There are still many customers who value the 1U form factor with the possibility of using 8-10 2.5″ drives. Not all of their use cases require the ultimate I/O performance provided by all NVMe setup and would be sufficiently (and less costly) served by using NVMe + SSD combos or even plain all SSD setups.

Sure, there is now NX-8150-G7 which can offer single-node setup and eight 2.5″ drives. But unfortunately NX-8150-G7 comes with penalty by using 2U high chassis. Sure, if you need more than 12×2.5″ drives, you have to go with 2U chassis anyway, but with 8×2.5″ drives you pay unnecessary penalty by using double the rack space when compared to NX-3170-G6.

Even though NX-8170-G7 currently supports exactly one disk layout and doesn’t benefit much from dynamic front view shapes, it was easier to make a single “parent” front view shape that covers more disk layouts and is used by multiple Nutanix platforms than making and updating two separate and specific shapes. Like always with dynamic shapes, the differences are implemented by using different parameter files.

One of the advantages of dynamic internal structures, i.e using parameter files, is that it makes updating the shapes much easier. I can for example add new disk combinations or disk sizes without having to touch the code of the shape at all. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to use this internal dynamic feature soon and get to add some more disk layouts for NX-8170-G7 in near future. Nutanix, pretty please… 🙂

“Shape Data” pull-down menus for front view shapes

Nutanix Model

Showing Nutanix model number
Just one entry with Single-Node models
More useful with Multi-Node models

Disk Layout

List of supported disk type combinations
- NX-8170-G7 supports 8 NVMe disks per node
- NX-3170-G6 supports up to 8-10 disks per node

NX-8170-G7
- All NVMe
  - 8xNVMe
NX-3170-G6
- Hybrid
  - 2xSSD + 6xHDD
- All Flash
  - 2xSSD / 4xSSD / 6xSSD / 8xSSD
- Hybrid with Self Encrypting Drives (SED)
  - The same combinations as with SSD +HDD
  - Using SED SSD and SED HDD drives
- All Flash with Self Encrypting Drives (SED)
  - The same combinations as with SSD
  - Using SED SSD drives
- SSD + NVMe
  - 4xSSD + 2xNVMe
  - 6xSSD + 2xNVMe
  - 8xSSD + 2xNVMe
Allowed disk layouts are based on information found in the spec sheets
- these might change over time, I will update the shapes as needed

Disk Size

Per disk type
Disk size menu for a disk type is only shown, if the disk type is present in the disk layout

Bezel

You can opt to show bezel instead of detailed disk bay view
- Not Shown (=detailed disk bay view)
- Bezel Only
- Bezel + Model No (as text)

Dynamic Elements

The appearance of following dynamic elements will change according to the changes made in “Shape Data” pull-down menus

Dynamic Disk Labels

Disk size shown as text
Disk labels are color coded
- Light Green label = SSD
- Light Blue label = HDD
- Orange label = SSD (SED)
- Black label = HDD (SED)
- Grey label = NVMe

Dynamic Disk activity lights

Disk activity lights toggled
- If a disk is in use
  - the leds are Red/Blue
- If a disk is not in use
  - the leds are Gray/Gray

Dynamic Disk Latches

Disk latch appearance will change according to disk type
NVMe = Orange color + lock symbol
All other = Dark Red color + no lock symbol

Dynamic Bezel

Bezel can be hidden/shown

Shape Data pull-down menu examples for NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6 front view shapes

The default settings

“Select Disk Layout” menu expanded

Depending on your disk layout selection selection
- disk label color and text are changed
- only relevant disk size menus are shown
  - i.e if your selected disk layout contains only SSD drives, only SSD size menu is shown, no HDD size menu is shown

“Select SSD Size” menu expanded

Depending on your selection the label text changes
To have label just show color, not text, select the first line, empty line
To have label show color and disk type, select the second line
To have label show color, disk type and size, select any of the lines showing disk capacity
Similar menu for SED SSDs

“Select HDD Size” menu expanded

Depending on your selection the label text changes
To have label just show color, not text, select the first line, empty line
To have label show color and disk type, select the second line
To have label show color, disk type and size, select any of the lines showing disk capacity
Only available if using HDDs is supported with the platform
Similar menu for SED HDDS

“Select NVMe Size” menu expanded

“Bezel” menu expanded

Dynamic NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6 Front View Shape Examples

Example: The default front view look for NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6

No selections have been made in “Shape Data”

Example: NX-3170-G6 Hybrid

“NX-3170-G6 Dyn (F)” shape used
“2xSSD + 6xHDD” disk layout selected from “Shape Data” / “Select Disk Layout”
“SSD 1.92TB” selected in “Shape Data” / “Select SSD Size”
“HDD 2TB” selected in “Shape Data” / “Select HDD Size”

Example: NX-3170-G6 Hybrid (SED)

“NX-3170-G6 Dyn (F)” shape used
“2xSEDSSD+ 6xSEDHDD” disk layout selected in “Shape Data” / “Select Disk Layout”
“SED 960GB” selected in “Shape Data” / “Select SED SSD Size”
“SED 2TB” selected in “Shape Data” / “Select SED HDD Size”

Example: NX-3170-G6 All Flash

“NX-3170-G6 Dyn (F)” shape used
“4xSSD” disk layout selected in “Shape Data” / “Select Disk Layout”
- Four out of possible eight SSD capable disk bays populated
- Disk activity leds for unused disk bays “turned off”
“SSD 3.84TB” selected in “Shape Data” / “Select SSD Size”

Example: NX-3170-G6 All Flash (SED)

“NX-3170-G6 Dyn (F)” shape used
“6xSEDSSD” disk layout selected in “Shape Data” / “Select Disk Layout”
“SED 1.92TB” selected in “Shape Data” / “Select SSD Size”
- Six out of possible eight SEDSSD capable disk bays populated
- Disk activity leds for unused disk bays “turned off”

Example: NX-3170-G6 SSD + NVMe

“NX-3170-G6 Dyn (F)” shape used
“6xSSD+2xNVMe” disk layout selected in “Shape Data” / “Select Disk Layout”
- Six out of possible eight SSD capable disk bays populated
- Disk activity leds for unused SSD cabable disk bays “turned off”
- Two out of possible two NVMe capable disk bays populated
“SSD 3.84TB” selected in “Shape Data” / “Select SSD Size”
“NVMe 1.6TB” selected in “Shape Data” / “Select NVMe Size”

Example: NX-8170-G7 All NVMe

“NX-8170-G7 Dyn (F)” shape used
“8xNVMe” disk layout selected in “Shape Data” / “Select Disk Layout”
- Eight out of possible eight NVMe capable disk bays populated
- The only disk layout currently supported with NX-8170-G7
“NVMe 4TB” selected in “Shape Data” / “Select NVMe Size”

Example: NX-3170-G6 with Bezel

“NX-3170-G6 Dyn (F)” shape used
“Bezel Only” selected in “Shape Data” / “Bezel”
If you had previously made any “Disk Layout” and “Disk Size” selections
- those selections are preserved
- you can switch back to more detailed disk bay view by selecting “No Bezel”
No visual difference between NX-8170-G7 and NX-3170-G6 while using “Bezel Only” setting

Example: NX-8170-G7 with Bezel + Model No

“NX-8170-G7 Dyn (F)” shape used
“Bezel+Model No” selected in “Shape Data” / “Bezel”
If you had previously made any “Disk Layout” and “Disk Size” selections
- those selections are preserved
- you can switch back to more detailed disk bay view by selecting “No Bezel”

Dynamic Rear View Shapes for: NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6

The rear view “parent” shape is the same for NX8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6, the differences are implement by using different parameter files. Rear view shapes for NX-3170-G6 support using GPU shapes, while NX-8170-G7 rear view shapes do not support using GPU shapes.

“Shape Data” pull-down menus

Nutanix Model

Showing Nutanix model number
Just one entry with Single-Node models
More useful with Multi-Node models

Select NIC Setup

List of supported NIC types
- Dual 10G BaseT
- Dual 10G sfp+
- Quad 10G sfp+
- Dual 25G sfp28
- Dual 40G qsfp+
Only one NIC type supported to be used at a time
Supported NIC type / speed / count combinations are model specific
- NX-8170G-G7
  - 1x / 2x / 3x Dual 10G BaseT
  - 1x / 2x / 3x Dual 10G sfp+
  - 1x / 2x / 3x Quad 10G sfp+
  - 1x / 2x / 3x Dual 25G sfp28
  - 1x / 2x / 3x Dual 40G qsfp+
- NX-3170-G6
  - Without GPU
    - 1x / 2x Dual 10G BaseT
    - 1x / 2x Dual 10G sfp+
    - 1x / 2x Quad 10G sfp+
    - 1x / 2x Dual 25G sfp28
    - 1x / 2x Dual 40G qsfp+
  - With GPU
    - 1x Dual 10G BaseT
    - 1x Dual 10G sfp+
    - 1x Quad 10G sfp+
    - 1x Dual 25G sfp28
    - 1x Dual 40G qsfp+
  - PCI slot used for NIC2 and GPU1 is the same, so you cannot have both NIC2 and GPU at the same time
  - If you select to use NIC2
    - Your GPU selection is cancelled
    - “Select GPU Setup” menu is hidden
  - To reselect GPU
    - Decrease your NIC count to 1
    - “Select GPU Setup” will be visible again
    - reselect your GPU

NIC Port Labels

Dynamic menu that will only appear
- If you have NICs selected
Possible values
- Not shown = only NIC image is shown
- Shown = NIC ports are labeled

Select Port Label Type

Dynamic menu that will only appear
- If you have NICs selected
- and
- Selected NIC connector type is sfp or qsfp
Possible values
- More generic labels
  - Fiber
  - DAC
- or vendor specific DAC labels
  - DAC ntnx (= Nutanix)
  - DAC brcd (=Brocade)
  - and so on

Motherboard Port Labels

Independently of your NIC selection you can label motherboard network ports by using this menu
Possible values
- Not Shown
- IPMI
- IPMI + 2x1G BaseT
- IPMI+ 2x10G BaseT
- 2x1G BaseT
- 2x10G BaseT

Select GPU Setup

Dynamic menu
Selections in NIC menu might change the setups available in the GPU menu
- No option to select GPU setup that would cause a PCI slot conflict with selected NICs
- If you increase your NIC count to two
  - Your GPU selection is cancelled
  - “Select GPU Setup” menu is hidden
- To reselect GPU
  - Decrease your NIC count to 1
  - “Select GPU Setup” will be visible again
  - reselect your GPU
- NX-3170-G6 supported GPU models
  - Nvidia M10
  - Nvidia P40
  - ~~Nvidia V100~~

Dynamic Elements

The appearance of following dynamic elements will change according to the changes made in “Shape Data” pull-down menus

PCI slots

Can be populated with NIC images
- Correct form factor (FH/LP)
- Correct orientation (0°/180°)
Can be populated with GPU images
- Correct form factor (FH/DWFH)
- Correct orientation (0°/180°)
Possible PCI slot conflicts are automatically resolved by
- preventing selection of unsupported GPU setups
- or
- adjusting your GPU count to resolve a conflict caused by a change in NIC count

NIC Labels

Labels for
- NIC ports
- Onboard IPMI / 1GbE/ 10GbE ports
Label text indicates
- link speed (1G,10G,25G,40G)
- and
- with some DAC cables, cable manufacturer
Labels are color coded by cable type
- Red = RJ45 / Cat6 cabling
- Black = sfp/qsfp connected Direct Attached Copper (DAC) cabling
- Orange = sfp/qsfp connected Fiber cabling
Line pattern
- Continuous line = Primary connection / Ports 1 (& 3)
- Dotter line = Alternate connection / Ports 2 (& 4)

Connection points in NIC ports

Are dynamically enabled for any visible NIC port
you can connect cables to these connection points to further document your networking

PCI Slot usage order or priority

With NX-8170-G7 and other platforms the rules regarding which NIC goes to which PCI slot are fairly logical and easy to follow.

With NX-8170-G7

NIC1 goes to PCI slot 1
NIC2 goes to PCI slot 2
NIC3 goes to PCI slot 3
and NO exceptions, great

Unfortunately with NX-3170-G6 it is not so simple as there are exceptions and special rules due to fact that NIC2 and GPU1 share the same PCI slot assignment. In other words you have to select which on to use, you can’t use both at the same time, because it would cause a conflict in PCI slot usage.

Luckily with NX-3170-G6 implementing NIC and GPU combinations was fairly straight forward. No so with its cousin NX-3155G-G7/G6, if you want to make your head spin, please check out NX-3155G-G7/G6 documentation.

PCI slot orientation and form factor

Additionally there are different PCI slot orientations (0° / 180°) and NIC form factors in use (LP/FH).

Too many combinations makes life hard

Various combinations of exceptions, PCI slot orientations and form factors makes the usage of the shape somewhat complex. I’ve tried to alleviate most of that complexity with automation that prevents users selecting combinations that are not supported or would cause a conflict in PCI slot usage.

PCI slot numbering with NX-8170-G7 and NX-3170-G6

Lets start with numbering the PCI slots so you can follow the rest of the documentation
Nothing special here and the Nutanix documentation is quite consistent with this naming scheme
- Although Nutanix might refer PCI slots as NIC1,NIC2 and NIC3 in their documentation
- I am using PCI slots instead as it makes more sense when used with GPUs
- Because I am lazy, I reused some code from NX-3155G-G7 shape
  - and did not bother to change internal references to PCI slots
  - So internally they are as follows:
    - PCI Slot 1 = PCI Slot 5
    - PCI Slot 2 = PCI Slot 4
    - PCI Slot 3 = PCI Slot 3
  - I just a note to myself
  - Not visible to end users

PCI Slot Orientation with NX-8170-G7 and NX-3170-G6

While were are at it, let’s cover also PCI slot orientation
To illustrate PCI slot orientation in the example above I’ve flipped the text in PCI slots which are in 180° orientation (PCI slot 1 in case of NX-8170-G7 / NX-3170-G6)
- 0° orientation
  - The text runs in normal orientation
  - PCI connector is on the left side of the NIC / GPU
- 180° orientation
  - The text runs in upside-down orientation
  - PCI connector is on the right side of the NIC / GPU
Why is orientation important?
- In real life there are NO separate NICs for different orientations
- When you install a NIC in 180° orientation
  - you have to flip it in order to
  - line up the PCI connector of the NIC with the PCI connector in the PCI slot
- Once you flip a NIC
  - NIC port order and port numbering also flips
  - Typically with
    - 0° orientation, port #1 is the leftmost port
    - 180° orientation, port#1 is the rightmost port
- If you don’t take orientation into account you might mess up your cabling
  - and cable NIC port#2 to switch X
  - when you were supposed to cable NIC port#1 to switch X
  - while assuming that NIC port#1 is always the leftmost port
    - when in fact NIC port#1 is the rightmost port with NICs installed in 180° orientation
- With GPUs the orientation is not that important
  - No ports or port numbers flipping around to potentially mess up your cabling

Dynamic Rear View NX-3155G-G7 & NX-3155G-G6 Shape Data pull-down menu examples

The default settings

“Select NIC Setup” menu expanded

“NIC Port Labels” menu expanded

“Select Port Label Type” menu expanded

NX-3170-G6_rear_shape_data_nic_label_type

NX-8170-G7_rear_shape_data_NIC_label_type

“Motherboard Port Labels” menu expanded

“Select GPU Setup” menu expanded

Dynamic NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6 Rear View shape examples

Example: The default view for NX-8170-G7 and NX-3170-G6 rear view shapes

No selections in “Shape Data”

Example: NX-3170-G6 with one GPU and one NIC

NIC1
- Form Factor = Low-Profile (LP)
- Orientation = 180°
- PCI Slot 1
GPU1
- Form Factor = Double-Wide / Full Height (DWFH)
  - Nvidia M10,P40 GPUs
- Orientation = 0°
- PCI Slots 2 & 3
  - GPU is actually connected to PCI slot 2
  - but because GPU is so wide it also blocks the usage of PCI slot 3

Example: the same example as above, this time with actual NIC and GPU shapes

“NX-3170-G6 Dyn (R)” shape used
“1xDual 10G sfp+” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select NIC Setup”
“1xNvidia P40” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select GPU Setup”

Example: “Shape Data” / “Select GPU Setup” menu expanded for example above

Since we had chosen to use only 1xNIC
GPU menu was available

Example: the same example as above with additional NIC labels (DAC ntnx)

“Shown” selected from “Shape Data” / “NIC Port Labels”
“DAC ntnx” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select Port Label Type”
NIC Port Labels
- the speed of the port (“10G”)
- the type of cabling used (“Black” = sfp+ connected DAC)
- DAC cable manufacturer indicated with “ticker” (“ntnx” = Nutanix)
- Line pattern indicates
  - Continuous line pattern = Primary connection (or odd numbered ports, 1,3)
  - Dotted line pattern = Alternate connection (or even numbered ports, 2,4)
- Location of the primary / alternate ports with in NIC shape varies based on NIC orientation

Example: NX-3170-G6 with two NICs (and no GPUs)

NIC1
- Form Factor = Low-Profile (LP)
- Orientation = 180°
- PCI Slot 1
NIC2
- Form Factor = Full-Height (FH)
- Orientation = 0°
- PCI Slot 2

Example: the same example as above, this time with actual NIC and GPU shapes

“NX-3170-G6 Dyn (R)” shape used
“2xDual 25G sfp28” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select NIC Setup”
- No visual difference between “Dual 10G sfp+” and “Dual 25G sfp28” NIC shapes

Example: “Shape Data” menus with two NICs

Since we had chosen to use 2xNIC with NX-3170-G6
(Any previously made GPU selection was automatically cancelled)
And “Select GPU Setup” menu was hidden

Example: the same example as above with additional NIC labels

“Shown” selected from “Shape Data” / “NIC Port Labels”
“Fiber” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select Port Label Type”
NIC Port Labels
- the speed of the port (“25G”)
- the type of cabling used (“Orange” = sfp+/sfp28 Fiber connected)
- Line pattern indicates
  - Continuous line pattern = Primary connection (or odd numbered ports, 1,3)
  - Dotted line pattern = Alternate connection (or even numbered ports, 2,4)
- Location of the primary / alternate ports with in NIC shape varies based on NIC orientation

Example: NX-8170-G7 with up to three NICs

NIC1
- Form Factor = Low-Profile (LP)
- Orientation = 180°
- PCI Slot 1
NIC2
- Form Factor = Full-Height (FH)
- Orientation = 0°
- PCI Slot 2
NIC3
- Form Factor = Full-Height (FH)
- Orientation = 0°
- PCI Slot 3

Example: NX-8170-G7 with one Dual 10G BaseT NIC

“NX-8170-G7 Dyn (R)” shape used
“1xDual 10G BaseT” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select NIC Setup”

Example: the same example as above with additional NIC labels

“Shown” selected from “Shape Data” / “NIC Port Labels”
NIC Port Labels
- the speed of the port (“10G”)
- the type of cabling used (“Red” = BaseT/RJ45 connected cabling)
- Line pattern indicates
  - Continuous line pattern = Primary connection (or odd numbered ports, 1,3)
  - Dotted line pattern = Alternate connection (or even numbered ports, 2,4)
- Location of the primary / alternate ports with in NIC shape varies based on NIC orientation

Example: NX-8170-G7 with two Dual 10G BaseT NICs

“NX-8170-G7 Dyn (R)” shape used
“2xDual 10G BaseT” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select NIC Setup
Visual Cue
- With 180° oriented 10G BaseT NIC (NIC1) the port shapes are upside down when compared 0° oriented NIC (NIC2)

Example: the same example as above with additional NIC labels

“Shown” selected from “Shape Data” / “NIC Port Labels”
NIC Port Labels
- the speed of the port (“10G”)
- the type of cabling used (“Red” = BaseT/RJ45 connected cabling)
- Line pattern indicates
  - Continuous line pattern = Primary connection (or odd numbered ports, 1,3)
  - Dotted line pattern = Alternate connection (or even numbered ports, 2,4)
- Location of the primary / alternate ports with in NIC shape varies based on NIC orientation

Example: NX-8170-G7 with three Dual 10G BaseT NICs

“NX-8170-G7 Dyn (R)” shape used
“3xDual 10G BaseT” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select NIC Setup
Visual Cue
- With 180° oriented 10G BaseT NIC (NIC1) the port shapes are upside down when compared 0° oriented NIC (NIC2&NIC3)

Example: the same example as above with additional NIC labels

“Shown” selected from “Shape Data” / “NIC Port Labels”
NIC Port Labels
- the speed of the port (“10G”)
- the type of cabling used (“Red” = BaseT/RJ45 connected cabling)
- Line pattern indicates
  - Continuous line pattern = Primary connection (or odd numbered ports, 1,3)
  - Dotted line pattern = Alternate connection (or even numbered ports, 2,4)
- Location of the primary / alternate ports with in NIC shape varies based on NIC orientation

Example: NX-8170-G7 with three dual 10G sfp+ NICs

“NX-8170-G7 Dyn (R)” shape used
“3xDual 10G sfp+” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select NIC Setup
Visual Cue
- With 180° oriented Quad 10G sfp+ (NIC1) the port shapes are upside down when compared 0° oriented NIC (NIC2&NIC3)
- With Dual 10G sfp+ NICs, the activity lights point toward primary port

Example: the same example as above with additional NIC labels

“Shown” selected from “Shape Data” / “NIC Port Labels”
“DAC mlnx” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select Port Label Type”
NIC Port Labels
- the speed of the port (“10G”)
- the type of cabling used (“Black” = sfp+ connected DAC)
- DAC cable manufacturer indicated with “ticker” (“mlnx” = Mellanox)
- Line pattern indicates
  - Continuous line pattern = Primary connection (or odd numbered ports, 1,3)
  - Dotted line pattern = Alternate connection (or even numbered ports, 2,4)
- Location of the primary / alternate ports with in NIC shape varies based on NIC orientation

Example: NX-8170-G7 with three Quad 10G sfp+ NICs

“NX-8170-G7 Dyn (R)” shape used
“3xQuad 10G sfp+” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select NIC Setup
Visual Cue
- With 180° oriented Quad 10G sfp+ (NIC1) the port shapes are upside down when compared 0° oriented NIC (NIC2&NIC3)

Example: the same example as above with additional NIC labels

“Shown” selected from “Shape Data” / “NIC Port Labels”
“DAC jnpr” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select Port Label Type”
NIC Port Labels
- the speed of the port (“10G”)
- the type of cabling used (“Black” = sfp+ connected DAC)
- DAC cable manufacturer indicated with “ticker” (“jnpr” = Juniper)
- Line pattern indicates
  - Continuous line pattern = Primary connection (or odd numbered ports, 1,3)
  - Dotted line pattern = Alternate connection (or even numbered ports, 2,4)
- Location of the primary / alternate ports with in NIC shape varies based on NIC orientation

Example: NX-8170-G7 with three dual 40G qsfp+ NICs

“NX-8170-G7 Dyn (R)” shape used
“3xDual 40G qsfp+” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select NIC Setup
Visual Cue
- With 180° oriented Quad 10G sfp+ (NIC1) the port shapes are upside down when compared 0° oriented NIC (NIC2&NIC3)
- With Dual 40G qsfp+ NICs, the activity lights point toward primary port

Example: the same example as above with additional NIC labels

“Shown” selected from “Shape Data” / “NIC Port Labels”
“DAC extr” selected from “Shape Data” / “Select Port Label Type”
NIC Port Labels
- the speed of the port (“40G”)
- the type of cabling used (“Black” = sfp+ connected DAC)
- DAC cable manufacturer indicated with “ticker” (“extr” = Extreme Networks)
- Line pattern indicates
  - Continuous line pattern = Primary connection (or odd numbered ports, 1,3)
  - Dotted line pattern = Alternate connection (or even numbered ports, 2,4)
- Location of the primary / alternate ports with in NIC shape varies based on NIC orientation

Limitations

See separate post: Limitations

Differences between NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6 dynamic shapes

Generic Differences

There are differences with PCI slot usage priorities
There are differences with supported number of NICs
~~There are differences with supported type of NICs~~
~~There are differences with NIC orientation~~
~~There are differences with NIC form factor~~
There are differences with supported GPUs
There are differences with supported disk types
There are differences with supported disk sizes
Differences are implemented by using different parameter files and additional coding
The actual differences are updated ONLY in the parameter files NOT here.
- This way I don’t have update the information in two place

New features and bug fixes

Even if you are not interested in using the dynamic features and just want to use the basic static shape, it is my recommendation to use the dynamic shapes anyway. The reason for this recommendation is that the current Official Nutanix stencils set contain some bugs that are fixed in DPTPB Dynamic Nutanix Visio shapes.

How would you know? I also made the official stencils 🙂

Why aren’t they fixed in the official stencil? – No funding

NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6

Fixes for NIC orientation and port order

NICs are now placed into PCI slots in correct orientation
NIC ports are now in correct order (depending on NIC orientation)
- If NIC is placed in 0° orientation, port 1 is the leftmost port
- If NIC is placed in 180°, port 1 is the rightmost port
- Normally there is no need to care about NIC orientation as automation takes care of the orientation with the dynamic shapes
  - But if you want to manually populate the NICs with separate shapes, you have use the correct variant of the NIC shape
Not specifically stated in spec sheets, there are some pictures where you have to figure out this by yourself

More visually appealing NIC and NIC port shapes

Better visual cues about NIC orientation

More unified coloring of the shapes

in the official version of the stencil multiple shades of gray was used with front and rear view shapes

“Yellow” dots or connection point “usage hints” now removed

Since all the elements are placed correctly in automated fashion, there is little use for these hints
While they were useful feature with non-dynamic shapes where you had to manually place NICs and such, they were slightly problematic
The correct Visio term for “Yellow Dot” is “control point”
Besides giving usage hints, “control points” can be used to move elements within a shape
Even though I had disabled the moving feature of “control point” they made moving the shape harder
When you clicked a shape to move it, you might have clicked a “control point” instead and you couldn’t move the shape
You had to click the shape in an area that was not close to “control point” in order to move the shape
The further zoomed out were, the harder it was to click a portion of the shape that was not close to a “Yellow dot / Control point”
i.e. when heavily zoomed out, it was harder to move a shape within a drawing

Bugs found?

Comments regarding any possible bugs can be left in the comments section of this post, your help is much appreciated

Downloads

Please visit the Nutanix stencil download page for the latest stencil package.
Since these are unofficial Visio shapes, they are not available on visiocafe.com, where the official stencil package resides.