Datasheet

Data Sheet
© 2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 4 of 13
Simplified Operations
●
Single point of management: The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders are remote line cards for a
Cisco Nexus parent switch. All device configurations are managed on the Cisco Nexus parent switch, and
configuration information is downloaded to the Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extender using in-band
communication.
●
Software maintenance simplification: The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series software is embedded in the Cisco Nexus
parent switch software. The fabric extender is a plug-and-play device that automatically downloads the
software image from the Cisco Nexus parent switch in the same way that a line card downloads software from
the supervisor engine in a modular chassis. In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) on the fabric extenders
provides the capability to perform transparent software upgrades, reducing downtime and allowing customers
to integrate the newest features and functions with little or no effect on network operation for Ethernet,
storage, and converged network environments.
●
Switch feature consistency across a large number of servers: The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series forwards all
traffic to the parent Cisco Nexus switch over 10 Gigabit Ethernet fabric uplinks. Passing all traffic to the
parent switch allows traffic to be shaped according to policies established on the parent Cisco Nexus switch
with a single point of management. Standardizing on the Cisco Nexus switches allows data centers to support
the same switch features across the entire access layer with a single point of management.
●
Tenfold management points reduction: The number of management points is significantly less than when
discrete switches are used at the top of the rack. A traditional 12-rack design using a discrete, redundant pair
of Gigabit Ethernet switches at the top of each rack has 24 management points. The equivalent architecture
using the Cisco Nexus 2000 Series has only 2 management points: a tenfold reduction in management
complexity.
Business Benefits
●
Cost-effective 10 Gigabit Ethernet solution: The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series is the ideal platform for migration
from Gigabit Ethernet to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Scalable 10 Gigabit Ethernet provides 10 times the bandwidth
for approximately twice the price of Gigabit Ethernet.
●
Consolidation: The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series protects investment into the future, supporting evolving data
center needs by providing an easy migration path to low-latency 10 Gigabit Ethernet, high-performance
computing (HPC), virtual machine-aware networks. In addition, the combination of the Cisco Nexus 5000
Series and Cisco Nexus 2232PP provides a unified network fabric that supports LAN and SAN consolidation.
Another benefit of the Nexus 2000 architecture is the ability to collapse datacenter access and aggregation
layers into one single layer.
●
Investment protection: The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders can be mixed and matched with a
common parent Cisco Nexus switch. New functions can be derived from upstream Cisco Nexus switches,
resulting in the capability to add new functions without the need for a major equipment upgrade.
●
Rack space reduction: The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series consists of 1RU fabric extenders. The fabric extenders
are not physically constrained by the position of the Cisco Nexus parent switch in the physical topology and
are attached to the upstream Cisco Nexus switch through fabric links.
●
Cabling reduction with optimal Intra-rack and Inter-rack cabling options: The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series
supports ToR, EoR, and MoR deployment models. Placing the fabric extender at the top of the rack allows
the use of short cables from the rack to servers, reducing cable costs, air dams, complexity, and opportunities
for error. The only inter-rack cabling required is for uplinks from the fabric extender to the parent switch.
Placing the parent Cisco Nexus switch at the end or middle of a row of racks makes efficient use of powerful
switching resources.