isco Nexus 5548P, 5548UP, 5596UP, and 5596T Switches Data Sheet

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches Product Overview

Today’s data centers are increasingly filled with dense rack-mount and blade servers that host powerful multicore processors. The rapid increase in in-rack computing density and the increasing use of virtualization software combine to accelerate the demand for 10 Gigabit Ethernet and consolidated I/O: applications for which the Cisco Nexus^® 5000 Series Switches are an excellent match. With low latency and choice of front-to-back or back-to-front cooling, copper or fiber access ports, and rear-facing data ports, the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series is designed for a broad range of physical, virtual, storage access, and high-performance computing environments, thus giving customers the flexibility to meet and scale their data center requirements in a gradual manner and at a pace that aligns with their business objectives.

The switch series, using cut-through architecture, supports line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet on all ports while maintaining consistently low latency independent of packet size and services enabled. It supports a set of network technologies known collectively as Data Center Bridging (DCB) that increases the reliability, efficiency, and scalability of Ethernet networks. These features allow the switches to support multiple traffic classes over a lossless Ethernet fabric, thus enabling consolidation of LAN, SAN, and cluster environments. Its ability to connect Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) to native Fibre Channel protects existing storage system investments while dramatically simplifying in-rack cabling.

In addition to supporting standard 10 Gigabit Ethernet network interface cards (NICs) on servers, the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series integrates with multifunction adapters called converged network adapters (CNAs) that combine the functions of Ethernet NICs and Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs), making the transition to a single, unified network fabric transparent and consistent with existing practices, management software, and OS drivers. The switch series is compatible with integrated transceivers and Twinax cabling solutions that deliver cost-effective connectivity for 10 Gigabit Ethernet to servers at the rack level, eliminating the need for expensive optical transceivers. The Cisco Nexus 5000 Series portfolio also provides the flexibility to connect directly to servers using 10GBASE-T connections or fiber with Enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+) transceivers.

The Cisco Nexus 5000 Series is designed for data center environments with cut-through technology that enables consistent low-latency Ethernet solutions, with front-to-back or back-to-front cooling, and with data ports in the rear, bringing switching into close proximity with servers and making cable runs short and simple. The switch series is highly serviceable, with redundant, hot-pluggable power supplies and fan modules. It uses data center-class Cisco^® NX-OS Software for high reliability and ease of management.

Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform Overview

In a constantly changing business environment, companies are calling upon their IT departments to help them reduce costs, improve productivity, and introduce new ways to interact with their customer base.

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform extends the industry-leading versatility of the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series purpose-built 10 Gigabit Ethernet data center-class switches and provides innovative advances toward higher density, lower latency, and multilayer services. The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform is well suited for enterprise-class data center server access-layer deployments across a diverse set of physical, virtual, storage-access, and high‑performance computing (HPC) data center environments.

Cisco Nexus 5548P Switch

The Cisco Nexus 5548P Switch (Figure 1) is the first of the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform switches. It is a one-rack-unit (1RU) 10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE switch offering up to 960-Gbps throughput and up to 48 ports. The switch has 32 1/10-Gbps fixed SFP+ Ethernet and FCoE ports and one expansion slot.

Figure 1.      Cisco Nexus 5548P Switch

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch

The Cisco Nexus 5548UP (Figure 2) is a 1RU 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and FCoE switch offering up to 960 Gbps of throughput and up to 48 ports. The switch has 32 unified ports and one expansion slot.

Figure 2.      Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch

Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch

The Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch (Figure 3) is a 2RU 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and FCoE switch offering up to 1920 Gbps of throughput and up to 96 ports. The switch has 48 unified ports and three expansion slots.

Figure 3.      Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch Configured with Three 16-Port Expansion Modules

Cisco Nexus 5596T Switch

The Cisco Nexus 5596T Switch (Figure 4) is a 2RU form factor, with 32 fixed ports of 10G BASE-T and 16 fixed ports of SFP+. The switch also supports up to three expansion slots. The switch supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet (fiber and copper), Fibre Channel, and FCoE, offering up to 1920 Gbps of throughput and up to 96 ports. The switch supports unified ports on all SFP+ ports. The 10G BASE-T ports support FCoE up to 30m distance with Category 6a and Category 7 cables.

Figure 4.      Cisco Nexus 5596T Switch Configured with Three 12-Port 10G BASE-T Expansion Modules

Expansion Module Options for the Cisco Nexus 5548P, 5548UP, 5596UP, and 5596T Switches

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform is equipped with expansion modules that can be used to increase the number of 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 40 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE ports or to connect to Fibre Channel SANs with 8/4/2/1-Gbps Fibre Channel switch ports, or both.

The Cisco Nexus 5548P and 5548UP supports two expansion module, and the Cisco Nexus 5596UP and 5596T support four expansion modules from the following offerings (Figure 5):

●   Ethernet module that provides sixteen 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE ports using the SFP+ interface.

●   Fibre Channel plus Ethernet module that provides eight 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE ports using the SFP+ interface, and eight ports of 8/4/2/1-Gbps native Fibre Channel connectivity using the SFP+/SFP interface.

●   Unified port module that provides up to sixteen 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE ports using the SFP+ interface or up to sixteen ports of 8/4/2/1-Gbps native Fibre Channel connectivity using the SFP+ and SFP interfaces; the use of 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet or 8/4/2/1-Gbps Fibre Channel on a port is mutually exclusive but can be selected for any of the 16 physical ports per module.

●   Four port QSFP Ethernet module that provides 4 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports using QSFP interface. Each QSFP 40GE port can only work in 4x10G mode and supports DCB and FCoE.

Figure 5.      From Left to Right: 16-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE Module, 8-Port Fibre Channel Plus 8-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE Module, 16-Port Unified Port Module and 4 port QSFP Module.

The Cisco Nexus 5596T also supports another expansion module:

●   Ethernet module (Figure 6) that provides twelve 10G BASE-T ports; The 10G BASE-T ports support FCoE up to 30m distance with Category 6a and Category 7 cables.

Figure 6.      12-Port 10G BASE-T Expansion Module (Front View and Side View)

Layer 3 Daughter Card and Expansion Module Options for Cisco Nexus 5548P, 5548UP, 5596UP, and 5596T Switches

●   In addition to these expansion modules, the Cisco Nexus 5548P and 5548UP support a Layer 3 daughter card that can be ordered with the system or as a spare (field upgradable). This daughter card provides up to 160 Gbps of Layer 3 forwarding capability (240 million packets per second [mpps]) that can be shared by all 48 ports in the chassis. As shown in Figure 7, the Layer 3 daughter card does not take up one of the expansion slots on the rear of the chassis, but instead is installed by replacing the Layer 2 I/O module (N55‑DL2) that is located on the front of the chassis.

Figure 7.      Layer 3 Daughter Card on the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch

●   In addition to these expansion modules, the Cisco Nexus 5596UP and 5596T support a Layer 3 module that provides up to 160 Gbps of Layer 3 forwarding capability (240 mpps) that can be shared by all the I/O ports in the chassis (Figure 8).

Figure 8.      Layer 3 Module (Front View and Side View)

●   Version 2 of Layer 3 daughter cards and expansion modules have enhanced capabilities that increase the host table size from 8000 to 16,000 entries, or multicast routes from 4000 to 8000 starting from software release Cisco NX-OS Software Release 5.2(1)N1(1b) and later.

●   Requires free of charge a base LAN license (N55-BAS1k9=) to be installed. This is included in the hardware purchase; however the license would need to be manually installed.

Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders

The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders comprise a category of data center products that provide a universal server-access platform that scales across a multitude of 1 Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, unified fabric, rack, and blade server environments. The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders are designed to simplify data center architecture and operations by meeting the business and application needs of a data center.

Working in conjunction with Cisco Nexus switches, the Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders offer a cost effective and efficient way to support today’s Gigabit Ethernet environments while allowing easy migration to 10 Gigabit Ethernet, virtual machine-aware Cisco unified fabric technologies.

The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series design is aligned with the design of servers. It offers front-to-back or back-to-front cooling, compatibility with data center hot-aisle and cold-aisle designs, placement of all switch ports at the rear of the unit in close proximity to server ports, and accessibility of all user-serviceable components from the front panel. The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series is built for nonstop operation, with redundant hot-swappable power supplies and a hot-swappable fan tray with redundant fans. Its compact 1RU form factor takes up relatively little space, making it easy to incorporate into rack designs (Figure 9).

Figure 9.      Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders from Bottom Right to Top Left: Cisco Nexus 2224TP GE, 2248TP GE, 2248TP-E GE, 2232TM 10GE, 2232TM-E 10GE, 2232PP 10GE and 2248 PQ 10GE

The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series provides two types of ports: ports for end-host attachment (host interfaces) and uplink ports (fabric interfaces). Fabric Interfaces are differentiated with a yellow color for connectivity to the upstream parent Cisco Nexus switch.

Table 1 lists the Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders. Fabric extenders can be mixed and matched to a parent switch to provide connectivity options.

Table 1.       Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Specifications

The Cisco Nexus 2224TP, 2248TP, and 2248TP-E provide port density options for highly scalable 100-Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. The Cisco Nexus 2232PP provides ease of migration from Gigabit Ethernet to 10 Gigabit Ethernet while supporting highly scalable 10 Gigabit environments.

The Cisco Nexus 2248TP-E Fabric Extender is a general-purpose 1 Gigabit Ethernet fabric extender with enhancements that target workloads such as large-volume databases, distributed storage, and video editing. Just like the Cisco Nexus 2248TP, the Cisco Nexus 2248TP-E also supports 48 100/1000BASE-T host facing ports and four 10 Gigabit Ethernet fabric interfaces.

The Cisco Nexus 2232TM-E Fabric Extender supports scalable 1/10GBASE-T environments, ease of migration from 1GBASE-T to 10GBASE-T, and effective reuse of existing structured cabling. It comes with an uplink module that supports eight 10 Gigabit Ethernet fabric interfaces. It is a superset of the Cisco Nexus 2232TM with the latest generation of 10GBASE-T PHY, enabling lower power and improved bit error rate (BER). The Cisco Nexus 2232TM-E supports DCB and LAN and SAN consolidation.

The Cisco Nexus 2232PP 1/10GE Fabric Extender is the ideal platform for migration from Gigabit Ethernet to 10 Gigabit Ethernet and unified fabric environments. It supports FCoE and a set of network technologies known collectively as Data Center Bridging (DCB) that increase the reliability, efficiency, and scalability of Ethernet networks. These features allow the switches to support multiple traffic classes over a lossless Ethernet fabric, thus enabling consolidation of LAN, SAN, and cluster environments.

The Cisco Nexus 2248PQ 10 Gigabit Ethernet Fabric Extender is the newest member of the Cisco Nexus Fabric Extender Family. It supports high- density 10 Gigabit Ethernet environments and has 48 forty-eight 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ host ports and 4 QSFP+ fabric ports (16 x 10 GE fabric ports). QSFP+ connectivity simplifies cabling while lowering power and solution cost. The Cisco Nexus 2248PQ 10GE Fabric Extender supports FCoE and a set of network technologies known collectively as Data Center Bridging (DCB) that increase the reliability, efficiency, and scalability of Ethernet networks. These features allow support for multiple traffic classes over a lossless Ethernet fabric, thus enabling consolidation of LAN, storage area network (SAN), and cluster environments.

The Cisco Nexus B22HP Fabric Extender (Figure 10) for HP Blade System is the first 10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE fabric extender in a third-party blade chassis format. It is targeted at customers who already own HP blade servers and makes it easier for them to integrate with the Cisco Nexus data center fabric.

Figure 10.    From Left to Right: Cisco Nexus B22HP Fabric Extender, Cisco Nexus B22F Fabric Extender, Cisco Nexus B22DELL Fabric Extender

The Cisco Nexus B22F (Figure 10) Fabric Extender for Fujitsu BladeSystem is the 10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE fabric extender in a third-party blade chassis format. It is targeted at customers who already own Fujitsu blade servers and makes it easier for them to integrate with the Cisco Nexus data center fabric.

The Cisco Nexus B22DELL (Figure 10) Fabric Extender for Dell Blade System is the 10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE fabric extender in a third-party blade chassis format. It is targeted at customers who already own Dell blade servers and makes it easier for them to integrate with the Cisco Nexus data center fabric.

Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders connect to a parent Cisco Nexus switch through their fabric links using CX1 copper cable, short-reach or long-reach optics, and the cost-effective Cisco Fabric Extender Transceivers. Cisco Fabric Extender Transceivers are optical transceivers that provide a highly cost-effective solution for connecting the fabric extender to its parent switch.

Cisco Nexus 2000 Series and Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Deployment Scenarios

The fabric extenders can be used in the following deployment scenarios:

●   Rack servers with 100 Megabit Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, or 10 Gigabit Ethernet network interface cards (NICs); the fabric extender can be physically located at the top of the rack and the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch can reside in the middle or at the end of the row, or the fabric extender and the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch can both reside at the end or middle of the row.

●   Mixed Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet environments in which rack servers are running at either speeds in the same rack or in adjacent racks.

●   10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE deployments, using servers with converged network adapters (CNAs) for unified fabric environments with the Cisco Nexus 2232PP.

●   1/10 Gigabit Ethernet BASE-T server connectivity with ease of migration from 1 to 10GBASE-T and effective reuse of structured cabling.

●   Server racks with integrated lights-out (iLO) management, with 100 Megabit Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet management and iLO interfaces.

●   Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet blade servers with pass-through blades.

●   Low-latency, high-performance computing environments.

●   Virtualized access.

●   Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders can single or dual-connect (using Enhanced vPC) to two upstream Cisco Nexus 5500 platform switches (Figure 11).

●   Servers or end host can connect to single or dual Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders using NIC teaming (Figure 11) when the parent Cisco Nexus 5500 platform has Enhanced vPC enabled.

Figure 11.    Deployment Scenario

Efficient Transceiver and Cabling Options

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform supports a wide variety of 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity options using Cisco 10GBASE SFP+ modules.

In addition, the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform supports 1 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity options using 1GBASE SFP modules, 8/4/2 -Gbps Fibre Channel SFP+ and 4/2/1-Gbps Fibre Channel SFP interfaces are supported with expansion module options.

Table 2 lists the supported transceiver options.

Table 2.       Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform Transceiver Support Matrix

The high bandwidth of 10 Gigabit Ethernet poses challenges to transmissions that are met by the transceiver and cabling options supported by the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform.

The platform supports an innovative Twinax copper cabling solution that connects to standard SFP+ connectors for in-rack use, and optical cabling for longer cable runs (Table 3).

●   For in-rack or adjacent-rack cabling, the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform supports SFP+ direct-attach 10 Gigabit Ethernet copper, an innovative solution that integrates transceivers with Twinax cables into an energy-efficient, low-cost, and low-latency solution. SFP+ direct-attach 10 Gigabit Twinax copper cables use only 0.1 watt (W) of power per transceiver and introduce only approximately 0.25 microsecond of latency per link.

●   For longer cable runs, the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform supports multimode, short-reach optical SFP+ transceivers. These optical transceivers use approximately 1W per transceiver and have a latency of less than 0.1 microsecond.

Table 3.       The Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform Supports SFP+ Direct-Attach 10 Gigabit Copper for In-Rack Cabling, and Optical Solutions for Longer Connections (Ethernet Only)

Features and Benefits

The comprehensive feature sets of the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform make it well suited for top-of-rack, middle-of-row, or end-of-row data center access-layer applications. The platform switches protect investments in data center racks with standards-based 10 Gigabit Ethernet and FCoE features and virtual machine awareness features that allow IT departments to consolidate networks based on their own requirements and timing. The combination of higher port density, lossless Ethernet, wire-speed performance, and very low latency makes the switch platform well suited for meeting the growing demand for 10 Gigabit Ethernet that can support a common Ethernet-based fabric in enterprise and service provider data centers, protecting enterprises’ investments. The switch platform provides sufficient port density to support single and multiple racks fully populated with blade and rack-mount servers.

●   Built for today’s data centers, the switches are designed just like the servers they support. Ports and power connections are at the rear, close to server ports, helping keep cable lengths as short and efficient as possible, delivering benefits traditionally offered on blade servers to rack servers as well. Hot-swappable power and fan modules can be accessed from the front panel, where status lights offer an at-a-glance view of switch operation. Front-to-back or back-to-front cooling is consistent with server designs, supporting efficient data center hot- and cold-aisle designs. Serviceability is enhanced with all customer-replaceable units accessible from the front panel. The use of SFP+ ports offers increased flexibility, enabling use of a range of interconnect solutions, including copper Twinax cable for short runs and fiber for long runs.

●   DCB enables Ethernet fabrics to support lossless transmission to increase network scalability, support I/O consolidation, ease management of multiple traffic flows, and optimize performance. Although SAN consolidation requires only the lossless fabric provided by the Ethernet Pause mechanism, the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform provides additional features that create an even more easily managed, high-performance, unified network fabric. DCB features are summarized in Table 4 and supported by the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform.

Table 4.       DCB Features and Benefits

●   FCoE is a standards-based upper-layer protocol that maps the Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) and services onto Layer 2 Ethernet. It is a straightforward encapsulation of Fibre Channel within Ethernet that preserves existing Fibre Channel network management models and tools, helping protect investments in software and staff training.

●   Cisco unified fabric consolidates all data center I/O onto Layer 2 Ethernet. Unified fabric reduces capital and operating costs by reducing the number of server adapters, cables, and upstream switches needed. All I/O (LAN, SAN, and cluster) typically is consolidated onto two Ethernet links. DCB and FCoE enable the incorporation of Fibre Channel frames into a unified fabric, facilitating wire-once strategies in which all servers become capable of SAN connection. A standard and uniform approach to I/O enhances server and storage consolidation strategies. The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform also connects to existing native Fibre Channel networks, protecting current investments in storage networks. Additionally, the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform attaches to directly connected FCoE and Fibre Channel storage devices and supports multi-tiered unified network fabric connect directly over FCoE.

●   Unified ports allow any capable port to take on the character of 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet, SAN and LAN shared on 10 Gigabit Ethernet, or 8/4/2/1-Gbps Fibre Channel. Unified ports give the user flexibility in choosing SAN and LAN port options consistent with the virtualized data center and offer a migration path to FCoE for those users not yet ready to make the move from native Fibre Channel.

●   Energy efficiency achieved through the use of the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform helps data centers operate within their space, power, and cooling parameters while reducing their carbon footprints. Every network link at the rack level requires adapters, switches, and transceivers, all of which consume power. I/O consolidation reduces energy consumption by eliminating the need for separate Fibre Channel adapters, cables, and switches.

In many cases, server cluster networks also can be consolidated onto 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks, especially given the low latency of the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform. The switch hardware is also designed for energy efficiency. Variable-speed fans consume only the amount of power necessary to cool the chassis at that specific point in time. The switch power supplies are sized to support worst-case scenarios, in which inefficient SFP+ transceivers increase power draw; however, when low-power cabling solutions are deployed, the switch platform’s power supplies maintain 90 percent efficiency at only 25 percent utilization, making efficient use of power in best-case scenarios.

●   Consistent management for Cisco products is provided through the consistency of both the Cisco NX-OS Software and Cisco MDS 9000 Software management models and tools. The switch platform’s network features can be managed using the Cisco command-line interface (CLI), and the Fibre Channel and FCoE features can be managed through the Cisco Fabric Manager suite. Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) also supports the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform. The capability to manage Ethernet and FCoE features independently with existing Cisco tools preserves existing management models, best practices, and investments in staff training.

In addition, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) MIBs, XML, and the Cisco CLI are made available to customers for switch management through third-party and custom‑developed tools. The switch platform uses Cisco NX-OS for superior operating efficiency, pervasive security, and continuous operation even through software upgrades.

●   Software manageability and serviceability features include Smart Call Home and automated parameter exchange (through DCBX). Security is enhanced through role-based access control (RBAC); support for authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA), remote TACACS+, and RADIUS servers; and Secure Shell (SSH) access.

Applications

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform supports a number of application scenarios, making the switches a versatile data center option:

●   As access-layer switches, they can be used purely as 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches, consolidating 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections into a smaller number of server connections trunked to the aggregation layer.

●   In conjunction with the Cisco Nexus 2248TP GE Ethernet Fabric Extender, the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform can be used as a high-density 1 Gigabit Ethernet switching system, consolidating more than 900 Gigabit Ethernet connections in a single management plane.

●   In conjunction with the Cisco Nexus 2232PP 10GE Fabric Extender, the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform can be used as a high-density 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching system, consolidating more than 600 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections in a single management plane.

●   As a rack-level I/O consolidation platform, the switches carry Ethernet traffic from servers to the aggregation layer, and carry Fibre Channel traffic to existing Fibre Channel SANs.

●   As a crucial element in data center I/O consolidation, the switches enable I/O consolidation at the access layer and provide interoperability between the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform and other standards-based products.

The capability of the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform to function in all these capacities helps protect investment in the data center with a deployment model in which additional features can be enabled as they are needed.

Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Access-Layer Switch

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform is designed with the density, performance, front-to-back or back-to-front cooling, and rear data-port configuration that make it well suited for aggregating a large number of 10 Gigabit Ethernet links either from servers or from other access-layer switches. The switch port density allows each switch to support a single rack or neighboring racks using the SFP+ direct-attach 10 Gigabit copper cabling option. The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform can also be purchased with only the Ethernet capabilities enabled, allowing IT departments to deploy them in parallel with existing Fibre Channel SANs.

Figure 12 shows an active-active pair of Cisco Nexus 5500 platform switches cross-connected to redundant Ethernet NICs in servers. Instead of using multiple 1 Gigabit Ethernet connections to servers for LAN, virtual machine mobility applications, and Small Computer System Interface over IP (iSCSI) SAN support, customers can combine their traffic over a consolidated, lossless, low-latency 10 Gigabit Ethernet fabric.

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform can be deployed as a top-of-tack, access-layer switch in parallel with existing Fibre Channel SANs.

Figure 12.    Active-Active Pair of Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches Connected to Redundant Servers

Unified Access Architecture

One deployment scenario involves equipping each data center rack with two Cisco Nexus 2248 GE Fabric Extenders or with two Cisco Nexus 2232 10GE Fabric Extenders, connected to two upstream Cisco Nexus 5500 platform switches (Figure 13). Up to 48 servers can connect to each 1 Gigabit Ethernet fabric extender, and up to 32 servers can connect to each 10 Gigabit Ethernet fabric extender. Assuming that these servers are dual-homed, a pair of Cisco Nexus 5500 platform switches can connect up to 1152 1 Gigabit Ethernet servers (24 Cisco Nexus 2248 fabric extenders) or up to 768 10 Gigabit Ethernet servers (24 Cisco Nexus 2232 fabric extenders).

Figure 13.    Sample Unified Access Deployment Scenario Supporting Up to 1152 1 Gigabit Ethernet Servers or Up to 768 10 Gigabit Ethernet Servers with a Single Pair of Access-Layer Switches and a Single Point of Management

Unified Fabric with FCoE: I/O Consolidation

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform consolidates multiple networks - LAN, SAN, and server cluster - on a single unified fabric, saving the capital and operating expenses associated with deployment of multiple parallel networks, switching infrastructure, and cabling. The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform is compatible with third-party I/O CNAs that present separate Ethernet NICs and Fibre Channel HBAs to the server operating system. This approach allows existing drivers and Fibre Channel management software to work transparently with FCoE. Upstream, expansion modules support direct connections from the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform to existing native Fibre Channel SANs using dedicated native Fibre Channel ports (Figure 14). Cisco Nexus 5500 platform can also be connected to upstream FCoE-capable switches through industry-standard VE-port Inter-Switch Links (ISLs).

Figure 14.    A Pair of Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches in an Active-Active Configuration with Native Fibre Channel Connections to Two Storage Networks

Investment Protection with FCoE Unified Fabric

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform supports consolidated I/O using FCoE on downlinks to servers. FCoE is Fibre Channel and, as such, has familiar methods of configuration, operation, and management. On the uplinks to the network, customers can choose among FCoE direct attachment to storage systems, native Fibre Channel direct attachment to storage systems, FCoE connection to FCoE-capable switches, and native Fibre Channel connection to existing SANs. Fibre Channel and FCoE can exist simultaneously in the Fibre Channel network, allowing customers to continue to use their existing administration and management tools. Cisco Fabric Manager SAN management software manages Fibre Channel and FCoE flows over both FCoE- and Fibre Channel-capable ports.

Product Architecture

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform is built around two custom components: a unified crossbar fabric and a unified port controller application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Each Cisco Nexus 5500 platform switch contains a single unified crossbar fabric ASIC and multiple unified port controllers to support fixed ports and expansion modules within the switch.

The unified port controller provides an interface between the unified crossbar fabric ASIC and the network media adapter and makes forwarding decisions for Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and FCoE frames. The ASIC supports the overall cut-through design of the switch by transmitting packets to the unified crossbar fabric before the entire payload has been received. The unified crossbar fabric ASIC is a single-stage, nonblocking crossbar fabric capable of meshing all ports at wire speed. The unified crossbar fabric offers superior performance by implementing QoS‑aware scheduling for unicast and multicast traffic. Moreover, the tight integration of the unified crossbar fabric with the unified port controllers helps ensure low-latency, lossless fabric for ingress interfaces requesting access to egress interfaces.

Cisco NX-OS Software Overview

Cisco NX-OS is a data centerclass operating system built with modularity, resiliency, and serviceability at its foundation. Based on the industry-proven Cisco MDS 9000 SAN-OS Software, Cisco NX-OS helps ensure continuous availability and sets the standard for mission-critical data center environments. The self-healing and highly modular design of Cisco NX-OS makes zero-impact operations a reality and enables exceptional operational flexibility.

Focused on the requirements of the data center, Cisco NX-OS provides a robust and comprehensive feature set that fulfills the Ethernet and storage networking requirements of present and future data centers. With an XML interface and a CLI like that of Cisco IOS^® Software, Cisco NX-OS provides state-of-the-art implementations of relevant networking standards as well as a variety of true data centerclass Cisco innovations.

Cisco NX-OS Software Features and Benefits

●   Software compatibility: Cisco NX-OS Software Release 5.0 interoperates with Cisco products running any variant of the Cisco IOS Software operating system. Cisco NX-OS 5.0 also interoperates with any networking OS that conforms to the networking standards listed as supported in this data sheet.

●   Common software throughout the data center: Cisco NX-OS simplifies the data center operating environment and provides a unified OS designed to run all areas of the data center network, including the LAN, SAN, and Layer 4 to 7 network services.

●   Modular software design: Cisco NX-OS is designed to support distributed multithreaded processing on symmetric multiprocessors (SMPs), multicore CPUs, and distributed line-card processors. Computationally intensive tasks, such as hardware table programming, can be offloaded to dedicated processors distributed across the line cards. Cisco NX-OS modular processes are instantiated on demand, each in a separate protected memory space. Thus, processes are started and system resources allocated only when a feature is enabled. The modular processes are governed by a real-time preemptive scheduler that helps ensure the timely processing of critical functions.

●   Quick development of enhancements and problem fixes: The modularity of Cisco NX-OS allows new features, enhancements, and problem fixes to be integrated into the software quickly. Thus, modular fixes can be developed, tested, and delivered in a short time span.

●   Troubleshooting and diagnostics: Cisco NX-OS is built with unique serviceability functions to enable network operators to take early action based on network trends and events, enhancing network planning and improving network operations center (NOC) and vendor response times. Smart Call Home and Cisco Generic Online Diagnostics (GOLD) are some of the features that enhance the serviceability of Cisco NX‑OS.

◦     Smart Call Home: The Smart Call Home feature continuously monitors hardware and software components to provide email-based notification of critical system events. A versatile range of message formats is available for optimal compatibility with pager services, standard email, and XML-based automated parsing applications. This feature offers alert grouping capabilities and customizable destination profiles. It can be used, for example, to directly page a network support engineer, send an email message to a NOC, and employ Cisco Auto-Notify services to directly generate a case with the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC). This feature is a step toward autonomous system operation, enabling networking devices to inform IT when a problem occurs and helping ensure that the problem is acted on quickly, reducing time to resolution and increasing system uptime.

◦     Cisco GOLD: Cisco GOLD is a suite of diagnostic facilities to verify that hardware and internal data paths are operating as designed. Boot-time diagnostics, continuous monitoring, and on-demand and scheduled tests are part of the Cisco GOLD feature set. This industry-leading diagnostics subsystem allows rapid fault isolation and continuous system monitoring, critical in today’s continuously operating environments.

●   Programmatic XML interface: Based on the NETCONF industry standard, the Cisco NX-OS XML interface provides a consistent API for devices, enabling rapid development and creation of tools to enhance the network.

●   SNMP: Cisco NX-OS complies with SNMPv1, v2, and v3. An extensive collection of MIBs is supported.

●   RBAC: With RBAC, Cisco NX-OS enables administrators to limit access to switch operations by assigning roles to users. Administrators can customize access and restrict it to the users who require it.

●   Enhanced virtual port channel: The virtual port channel (vPC) feature allows one end of a port channel to be split across a pair of Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches. vPC provides Layer 2 multipathing through the elimination of Spanning Tree Protocol blocked ports in dual-homed connections. vPC enables fully used bisectional bandwidth and simplified Layer 2 logical topologies without the need to change the existing management and deployment models. vPC feature is further enhanced so that edge devices can connect to Nexus 2000 platform using vPC as well as Nexus 2000 platform can connect to Nexus 5000 platforms using vPC at same time.

●   Cisco FabricPath: Cisco FabricPath is a set of multipath Ethernet technologies that combine the reliability and scalability benefits of Layer 3 routing with the flexibility of Layer 2 networks, enabling IT to build massively scalable data centers. Cisco FabricPath offers a topology-based Layer 2 routing mechanism that provides an equal-cost multipath (ECMP) forwarding model. Cisco FabricPath implements an enhancement that solves the MAC address table scalability problem characteristic of switched Layer 2 networks. Furthermore, Cisco FabricPath supports vPC+, a technology similar to vPC that allows redundant interconnection of the existing Ethernet infrastructure to Cisco FabricPath without using Spanning Tree Protocol. Benefits introduced by the Cisco FabricPath technology include:

◦     Operational simplicity: Cisco FabricPath embeds an autodiscovery mechanism that does not require any additional platform configuration. By offering Layer 2 connectivity, the “VLAN anywhere” characteristic simplifies provisioning and offers workload flexibility across the network.

◦     High resiliency and performance: Because Cisco FabricPath is a Layer 2 routed protocol; it offers stability, scalability, and optimized resiliency along with network failure containment.

◦     Massively scalable fabric: By building a forwarding model on 16-way ECMP routing, Cisco FabricPath helps prevent bandwidth bottlenecks and allows organizations to add capacity dynamically, without network disruption.

◦     FabricPath Multi-Topology support for two distinct topologies that provide VLAN localization and reuse in the network.

●   Cisco TrustSec^® security: As part of the Cisco TrustSec security suite, Nexus 5000 series will be able to participate in CTS authentication to ACS server and download ACS policy. Security group access control lists (SGACLs), a new paradigm in network access control, are based on security group tags instead of IP addresses, enabling implementation of policies that are more concise and easier to manage because of their topology independence.

Cisco NX-OX Software Packaging for Cisco Nexus 5000 Series

The software packaging for the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series offers flexibility and a comprehensive feature set while being consistent with Cisco Nexus access switches. The default system software has a comprehensive Layer 2 feature set with comprehensive security and management features. To enable Layer 3 IP unicast and multicast routing functions, additional licenses need to be installed.

Table 5 lists the software packaging and licensing available.

Table 5.       Software Packaging and Licensing

Cisco ONE Software

Licenses can be purchased individually for each feature as shown in Table 5 or through Cisco ONE™ Software for Data Center Networking which is available for the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform.

Cisco ONE Software provides a new way for customers to purchase, consume, and use our infrastructure software. It offers a simplified consumption model focused on common customer scenarios for the data center, WAN, and LAN.

Cisco ONE Software and services provide customers with four main benefits:

●   Software suites that address typical customer use scenarios at an attractive price

●   Investment protection of software purchases through software services-enabled license portability

●   Access to ongoing innovation and new technology with Cisco Software Support Service (SWSS)

●   Flexible licensing models to smoothly distribute the customer's software spending over time

For ordering information for Cisco ONE Software for the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform switches, please click here.

Cisco Data Center Network Manager

The Cisco Nexus 5000 is supported in Cisco DCNM. Cisco DCNM is designed for hardware platforms enabled for Cisco NX-OS, which are the Cisco Nexus Family of products. Cisco DCNM is a Cisco management solution that increases overall data center infrastructure uptime and reliability, hence improving business continuity. Focused on the management requirements of the data center network, Cisco DCNM provides a robust framework and comprehensive feature set that meets the routing, switching, and storage administration needs of present and future data centers. In particular, Cisco DCNM automates the provisioning process, proactively monitors the LAN by detecting performance degradation, secures the network, and streamlines the diagnosis of dysfunctional network elements.

Specifications

Table 6 lists the specifications for the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform.

Table 6.       Product Specifications

SFP Optics

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform supports Gigabit Ethernet SFP for Gigabit Ethernet connectivity options, available in both standard and extended temperature ranges with Digital Optical Monitoring (DOM) support. The following SFP transceiver modules are supported by hardware in all ports of the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform:

●   Cisco 1000BASE-T SFP

●   Cisco 1000BASE-SX SFP

●   Cisco 1000BASE-LX/LR SFP

●   Cisco 8/4/2/1-Gbps Fibre Channel SFP

Power Supply

Table 7 lists the power supply properties of the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform.

Table 7.       Power Supply Properties

Environment

Table 8 lists the environment properties of the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform.

Table 8.       Environment Properties

Weight

Table 9 lists the weight of the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform switches.

Table 9.       Weight

Software Requirements

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform is supported by Cisco NX-OS Software Release 5.0 and later. The Cisco Nexus 5548UP, 5596UP, unified port expansion module, and Layer 3 modules are supported by Cisco NX-OS Software Release 5.0(3)N1.1 and later. The Cisco Nexus 5596T and N55-M12T (12 x 10G BASE-T Module) is supported by Cisco NX-OS Software Release 5.2(1)N1(1b) and later. FCoE support on 10G Base-T ports is supported by Cisco NX-OS Software Release 6.0(2)N1(1) and later. N55-M4Q is supported by Cisco NX-OS Software Release 6.0(2)N1(2) and later. Cisco NX-OS interoperates with any networking OS, including Cisco IOS Software, that conforms to the networking standards mentioned in this data sheet.

For the latest software release information and recommendations, please see the product bulletin at http://www.cisco.com/go/nexus5000.

Regulatory Standards Compliance

Table 10 summarizes regulatory standards compliance for the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform.

Table 10.     Regulatory Standards Compliance: Safety, Security and EMC

Ordering Information

Table 11 presents ordering information for the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform. Note that the Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders can be ordered either separately or along with the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform.

Table 11.     Ordering Information