Cisco continues its leadership in data center switch technology and Unified Fabric innovation with the introduction of next-generation Cisco Nexus® 7000 Series Supervisors, and 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet interface modules. With this release, Cisco offers greater architecture flexibility, with interface speeds ranging from 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps and revolutionary scalability to meet the requirements of the next-generation data centers. IT departments globally can gain operation efficiency and agility and increase business innovation and differentiation.
This product bulletin introduces the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series next-generation Supervisors, the Cisco Nexus 7000 M2-Series modules, and Cisco® NX-OS Software Release 6.1 for Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Second-Generation Supervisors
The next-generation Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor modules improve the scalability of control-plane and data-plane services for the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series chassis and deliver a comprehensive set of features to address the needs of the most demanding data center deployments. The second-generation Supervisors are available in two models: the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 Enhanced Module (Figure 2) and the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 Module (Figure 3).
Figure 2. Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 Enhanced Module
Figure 3. Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 Module
Features include:
• Admin Virtual Device Context (VDC) on Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 Enhanced and Supervisor 2 Modules, providing a pure administrative context on the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series chassis
• Scalability of up to eight VDCs on the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 Enhanced Module
• Scalability of up to 48 Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders (FEX) per chassis with the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 Enhanced Module
• Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) support on the Cisco Nexus 7000 F2-Series modules
• CPU Shares feature enabling per-VDC CPU access and prioritization and helps guarantees CPU cycles for higher-priority VDCs
Cisco Nexus 7000 M2-Series Modules
The second-generation Cisco Nexus 7000 M-Series modules introduce support for 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet technology for the first time on the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches. The Cisco Nexus 7000 M2-Series modules offer comprehensive feature sets, outstanding flexibility and scalability, and non-blocking performance on each port. The Cisco Nexus 7000 M2-Series modules enable the deployment of high-density, high-speed, scalable data center architecture. The Cisco Nexus 7000 M2-Series I/O module is available in three models:
• XL mode to enable a large forwarding table (up to 1M IPv4 routes or up to 350 IPv6 routes)
• Comprehensive feature sets including support for Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Cisco Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV), and IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP)
• Cisco TrustSec® and IEEE 802.1AE, enabling line-rate data confidentiality and data integrity on all ports, including 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet modules
• Support for Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders (FEX) on the Cisco Nexus 7000 M2-Series 10 Gigabit Ethernet module
Software Support
Cisco NX-OS Software Release 6.1 supports all the software features previously supported on the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches up through Cisco NX-OS Software Release 6.0. Cisco NX-OS 6.1 is compatible using In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) with Release 5.2(3a) or higher. In addition, Cisco NX-OS 6.0 supports the new software features described in Table 1.
For more detailed information about features and ISSU, refer to the Cisco NX-OS 6.1 release notes (see "For More Information" at the end of this document).
Table 1. New Software Features in Cisco NX-OS Release 6.1
Software Features
Description
PONG
Added support for Cisco FabricPath traceroute PONG
FCoE
FCoE support on the N7K-F248XP-25 module with Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 and Supervisor 2 Enhanced
VDC scalability
8 VDCs on Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 Enhanced
Admin VDC
1 Admin VDC on Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 and Supervisor 2 Enhanced
VDC control groups
Capability to configure CPU shares per VDC with Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 and Supervisor 2 Enhanced
ISISv6
ISISv6 single-topology support
ERSPAN
ERSPAN support on Cisco Nexus 7000 F2-Series modules
OSPF
Support for OSPF flexible distance manipulation
BGP add path
Support for BGP add path
Private VLAN (PVLAN)
PVLAN support on Cisco Nexus 7000 F2-Series modules
Role-based access control list (RBACL)
RBACL support on Cisco Nexus 7000 F2-Series modules
VLAN ACL (VACL)
VACL capture support on Cisco Nexus 7000 M2-Series modules
Fabric extender (FEX) scalability
Support for 45 FEX modules on Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 Enhanced
IP service-level agreement (IP-SLA)
IP-SLA support
Quality of service (QoS)
Differentiated services code point (DSCP)-to-queue mapping on Cisco Nexus 7000 F2-Series modules
Ordering Information
To place an order, visit the Cisco Ordering homepage. To download software, visit the Cisco Software Center. Table 2 provides ordering information.
Table 2. Cisco Nexus 7000 Next Generation Hardware
Cisco NX-OS is available with the following software licenses:
• Base license: A comprehensive feature set is provided with the Base license, which is bundled with the hardware at no additional cost. Cisco TrustSec is included in this license from Cisco NX-OS Release 6.1 onwards.
• Enterprise license: The Enterprise license enables incremental functions that are applicable to many enterprise deployments.
• VDC license: The VDC license enables the use of the following functions in Cisco NX-OS:
– 4 VDCs and+1 AdminVDC: Four VDC licenses for Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 1, Supervisor 2 and Supervisor 2 Enhanced modules
– +4 VDCs: Increments VDC licenses by four, allowing Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Supervisor 2 Enhanced module to scale up to eight VDCs
• Scalable Feature license: The Scalable Feature license enables XL capabilities on the line cards. The Scalable Feature license is applied on a per-chass basis.
• Transport Services license: The Transport Services license enables OTV functions. The license to enable the Cisco Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP) is included in this license from Cisco NX-OS Release 6.0.
• Enhanced Layer 2 license: The Enhanced Layer 2 license enables the Cisco FabricPath feature. The license to enable Pong is included in this license from Cisco NX-OS Release 6.0.
• MPLS license: The MPLS license enables all MPLS features, including MPLS forwarding; QoS; Layer 3 VPN (L3VPN); IPv6 VPN Provider Edge (6PE/VPE); and operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM).
• FCoE license: The FCoE license enables all FCoE features on the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches.
• Storage license: The Storage license enables VSAN routing and access control.
Cisco offers a wide range of services to help accelerate your success in deploying and optimizing Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches in your data center. Cisco's innovative services are delivered through a unique combination of people, processes, tools, and partners and are focused on helping you increase your operation efficiency and improve your data center network. Cisco Advanced Services uses an architecture-led approach to help you align your data center infrastructure with your business goals and achieve long-term value. Cisco SMARTnet® Service helps you resolve mission-critical problems with direct access at any time to Cisco network experts and award-winning resources. With this service, you can take advantage of the Cisco Smart Call Home service capability, which offers proactive diagnostics and real-time alerts on your Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches. Spanning the entire network lifecycle, Cisco Services helps protect your investment, optimize network operations, support migration, and strengthen yor IT expertise. For more information about Cisco Data Center Services, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/dcservices.
For More Information
For more information about Cisco NX-OS, visit the product homepage at http://www.cisco.com/go/nxos or contact your local account representative.
For more information about the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series, visit the product homepage at http://www.cisco.com/go/nexus7000 or contact your local account representative.