About Smart Channel
Smart channel is a hardware-based, multi-terabit solution for the Layer 2 traffic distribution, load balancing, and redirection on the Cisco Nexus switches. This feature is supported on the Cisco Nexus 9372PX, 93108TC-EX, and the Cisco Nexus 9516 switches.
Note |
Smart channel feature is not supported on Cisco 9500 EX / FX line cards. |
Smart channel is an aggregation of multiple physical links that creates a single logical link. You can bundle up multiple physical links into a port group to provide an increased bandwidth (an aggregate of the multiple physical links) and redundancy.
If one port within a smart channel fails, the traffic switches to the remaining ports in the smart channel.
Smart channel allows you to create a cluster of transparent mode appliances.
Smart Channel Features
The smart channel features are as follows:
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Multi-terabit solution at line rate
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Simplified provisioning and ease of deployment
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Transparency to end device and stateless protocol benefits
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Removes the requirement for an expensive external load balancer
Benefits of Smart Channel
The benefits of smart channel are as follows:
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Simultaneous redirection and load balancing
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IP-stickiness and resiliency
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Health monitoring
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Removes the requirement for an expensive external load balancer
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Hashing does not depend on the wiring or the port numbering
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Every port on the switch is used for load balancing and traffic redirection
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Automatic failure handling of servers or appliances
Examples of the Deployment Use Cases
Examples of the deployment use cases for the smart channel feature are as follows:
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Load balances to a pool of firewalls.
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Scales the VDS-TC (video-caching) solution.
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Scales the transparent mode devices.