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kc6108's avatar
kc6108
Luminary
Feb 12, 2021
Solved

Priority Flow Control (PFC) IEEE 802.1Qbb

I have a few projects going on right now for some clients involving the M4300-16X. While doing some research trying to meet some requirements, I noticed that PFC may not have been implemented for this device yet (data sheets could be outdated). Is PFC not implemented due to a hardware limitation or can it be added via firmware if it hasn’t been already? If PFC can be added and hasn’t yet, is it on the product roadmap (maybe with a target date)? I realize this switch is relatively new compared to most of the other M4300 switches.

Frankly, this switch is really the only managed multi-gig switch that Netgear provides so please give PFC some consideration. I know there’s the 96X, but thats a totally different conversation.

Many thanks!
  • Hi kc6108 

     

    As I said, PFC is hardware dependent, not software dependent - the underlying Switch Chipset in M4300-8X8F (XSM4316S) and M4300-16X (XSM4316PA and XSM4316PB) is the same and it's not supporting PFC. 

     

    I hope this helps - everything above in this thread remains true and I hope can be confirmed in the M4300 datasheet for you.

     

    Regards,

3 Replies

  • LaurentMa's avatar
    LaurentMa
    NETGEAR Expert

    Thank you kc6108  for using our M4300 series. As stated in the datasheet, page 15, page 39 and page 51 , PFC is supported on M4300-12X12F, 24X, 24X24F, 48X and 96X models only. 


    This is not software adaptation - we run the same software across all M4300 models. This is due to the hardware, with some underlying chipsets not supporting PFC while some others do. The M4300 16-port 10G or Multi-Gig models won't be capable of PFC.

     

    Yes, the M4300-96X is by far the flag ship here with true Multi-Gigabit Ethernet support across the board and up to 96 ports.

     

    I hope this helps,

    Regards,

      

    • kc6108's avatar
      kc6108
      Luminary

      Thank you for your quick reply LaurentMa 

       

      I'm fully aware that PFC will never work on the M4300-8X8F (XSM4316S) switches due to hardware incompatibilities. I remember discovering PFC wasn't supported a couple of years ago... just about the time Netgear realized it as well and had to update the datasheets.

       

      I was actually hoping that since both of the M4300-16X switches, the XSM4316A and XSM4316B, were just released (just over a year ago) that measures would have been taken to ensure PFC would be compatible... if at all possible.

       

      Would you please check with engineering to ensure PFC is still a no go with the much newer 16-port switches in question?

       

      Many thanks,

      Curtis

      • LaurentMa's avatar
        LaurentMa
        NETGEAR Expert

        Hi kc6108 

         

        As I said, PFC is hardware dependent, not software dependent - the underlying Switch Chipset in M4300-8X8F (XSM4316S) and M4300-16X (XSM4316PA and XSM4316PB) is the same and it's not supporting PFC. 

         

        I hope this helps - everything above in this thread remains true and I hope can be confirmed in the M4300 datasheet for you.

         

        Regards,

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