Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Configuration Limits for Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1)N1(1)

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Updated:July 13, 2012

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Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Configuration Limits for Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1)N1(1)

Contents

Introduction

Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform Switch Layer 2 Topology Configuration Limits

Cisco Nexus 5000 Platform Switch Layer 2 Topology Configuration Limits

Layer 2 and Layer 3 Topology Configuration Limits

Layer 2 Switching, Fibre Channel, and FCoE Topology Configuration Limits

Layer 2 Switching Adapter-FEX/VM-FEX Configuration Limits

Layer 2 Switching Cisco TrustSec Configuration Limits

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Configuration Limits
for Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1)N1(1)

Release Date: July 13, 2012
Last Modified: June 17, 2015

Part Number: OL-25851 -02

Current Release: Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1)N1(1)

This document describes the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch configuration limits for Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1)N1(1). Use this document in combination with documents listed in the “Related Documentation” section.

This document includes the following sections:

Introduction

The Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switches include a family of line-rate, low-latency, lossless 10-Gigabit Ethernet, Cisco Data Center Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and now native Fibre Channel switches for data center applications. The Cisco Nexus 5000 Series includes the Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform and the Cisco Nexus 5000 Platform.

Cisco NX-OS Software Release 5.0(3)N2(1) introduces two new Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform switches that extend the versatility of the data-center class Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switches and provide higher density, lower latency, multilayer services.

The Cisco Nexus 5000 Platform includes the following switches:

Cisco Nexus 5020 switch
Cisco Nexus 5010 switch

For information about the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series, see the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series and Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform Hardware Installation Guide.

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series and Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform switches have been tested for scaling purposes under the following deployment scenarios:

Layer 2-only deployments
Layer 2 and Layer 3 combined deployments
Fibre Channel and FCoE deployments

Note Verification topologies included all listed features configured to theverified limits simultaneously. The maximum limit for a given feature is the configuration limit or the hardware limit on a specific platform.

Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform Switch Layer 2 Topology Configuration Limits

This section describes the configuration limits in topologies that include only Layer 2 feature configurations.

Table 1 shows the Layer 2 configuration limits for the Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform switch with Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1)N1(1).

Table 1 Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1) Layer 2 Topology Configuration Limits for the Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform Switch
Feature	Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform
Feature	Verified Topology ¹	Maximum Limits ²
Active VLANs/VSANs per switch	1000³	4013 (31 reserved for VSANs)
VLAN/VSAN ID space	4013 unreserved space	4013 unreserved space
Logical interfaces⁴	16,000⁵	32,000⁶
VLAN ACLs (VACLs) per switch	128 (10 Unique VACLs)	1024 (62 unique VACLs with upto 2048 ACE entries across all VACLs)
Port ACLs (PACLs) per switch	1152	1152
Member interfaces per EtherChannel	16	16
IGMP snooping groups	8000⁷	8000
Maximum FEXs per Cisco Nexus 5500 Series Switch	24	24
Maximum FEXs dual homed to a vPC Cisco Nexus 5500 Series switch pair	24	24
MAC table size	25000 unicast entries and 4000 multicast entries	32000
Number of Switch port EtherChannels	48- Nexus 5548 or Nexus 5548UP switch	48-Nexus 5548 or Nexus 5548UP switch 96- Nexus 5596 switch
Number of FEX port channels/vPCs (across maximum number of FEXs)	576	1152
Number of SVIs	2	256
FabricPath VLANs	1000⁸	4000
FabricPath Switch IDs	128	128
FabricPath multicast tree	2	2
Number of FabricPath topologies	2	2
Number of FabricPath core port channels	4 core links with 4 ports each	16

^1.Verified Topology—Indicates the verified scaling capabilities with all listed features enabled at the same time. The numbers listed here exceed that used by most customers in their topologies. The scale numbers listed here are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation.

^2.Maximum Limits—Indicates the maximum scale capability tested for the corresponding feature individually. This number is the absolute maximum currently supported by Cisco NX-OS Release 5.1(3)N1(1) software for the corresponding feature. If the hardware is capable of a higher scale, future software releases may increase this maximum limit.

^3.4013 VLANs have been verified in Layer 2 switching, Fibre Channel and FCoE topology configuration limits

^4.Logical interfaces are a product of the number of VLANs times the number of ports. This parameter reflects the load of handling port programming, and is not dependent on the spanning-tree mode or configuration.

^5.32,000 STP logical interfaces has been verified in topology.

^6.32,000 PV scaling number applies to PVST, MST, and non STP modes.

^7.The default max-limit of IGMP Snooping groups is 4000 but it can be increased to 8000 using the hardware multicast snooping group-limit 8000 command.

^8.4000 FabricPath VLANs have been tested in the unified fabric topology.

Cisco Nexus 5000 Platform Switch Layer 2 Topology Configuration Limits

Table 2 shows the configuration limits in topologies that include Cisco Nexus 5000 series dual homed fabric extender configurations.

Table 2 Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1) Layer 2 Switching Dual Homed Fabric Extender Configuration Limits
Feature	Cisco Nexus 5000 Platform
Feature	Verified Topology ⁹	Maximum Limits ¹⁰
Active VLANs/VSANs per switch	507	507 (504 when FCoE is enabled - 31 are set aside for SANs)
VLAN/VSAN ID space	4013 unreserved space	4013 unreserved space
Logical interfaces¹¹	12,000	12,000
VLAN ACLs (VACLs) per switch	128 (10 unique VACLs)	1,024 (128 unique VACLs)
Port ACLs (PACLs) per switch	576	576
Member interfaces per EtherChannel	16	16
Member interfaces per SAN port channel	16	16
IGMP snooping Groups	1000	1000
Maximum FEXs per Cisco Nexus 5000 Series	12	12
Maximum FEXs dual homed to a vPC Cisco Nexus 5000 Series	12	12
MAC table size	13,800	16,000
Number of switchport EtherChannels	16 (with the combination not exceeding 16, and not more than a total of 16 ports per EtherChannel)	16 (with the combination not exceeding 16, and not more than a total of 16 ports per EtherChannel)
Number of FEX port channels/vPCs (across maximum number of FEXs)	576	576
SPAN sessions	2 active sessions 32 source VLANs as a TX source	2 active sessions 32 source VLANs as a TX source
Configurable QoS groups (including class default)	5	5
No-drop qos-groups	1 class - FCoE no-drop	3 (including FCoE)

^9.Verified Topology—Indicates the verified scaling capabilities with all listed features enabled at the same time. The numbers listed here exceed that used by most customers in their topologies. The scale numbers listed here are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation.

^10.Maximum Limits—Indicates the maximum scale capability tested for the corresponding feature individually. This number is the absolute maximum currently supported by Cisco NX-OS Release 5.0(3)N2(1) software for the corresponding feature. If the hardware is capable of a higher scale, future software releases may increase this maximum limit.

^11.Logical interfaces are a product of the number of VLANs times the number of ports. This parameter reflects the load of handling port programming, and is not dependent on the spanning-tree mode or configuration.

Layer 2 and Layer 3 Topology Configuration Limits

Table 3 shows the configuration limits when using a Layer 3 module (N55-D160L3, N55-M160L3) on the Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform switch with Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1)N1(1):

Table 3 Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1) Layer 2 and Layer 3 Configuration Limits for the Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform Switch
Feature	Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform
Feature	Verified Topology ¹²	Maximum Limits ¹³
Active VLANs/VSANs per switch	1000¹⁴	4013 (31 are reserved for VSANs)
VLAN/VSAN ID space	4013 unreserved space	4013 unreserved space
STP instances	16,000	16,000
Member interfaces per EtherChannel	16	16
IGMP snooping groups	8000¹⁵	8000
Maximum FEXs per Cisco Nexus 5500 Series switch	16¹⁶	16⁵
Maximum FEXs dual homed to a vPC switch pair	16⁵	16⁵
MAC table size	23,400 unicast entries and 4000 multicast entries	32,000¹⁷ entries
Number of FEX port channels/vPCs (across the maximum number of FEXs)	470	768
SPAN Sessions	2 active sessions 32 source VLANs as a TX source	4 active sessions 32 source VLANs as a TX source
Number of SVIs	256	256
Dynamic routes¹⁸	16,384¹⁹ (includes IPv4 and IPv6 routes)	16,384 (includes IPv4 and IPv6 routes)
V6 LPM routes	128 entries	128 entries
Multicast routes	2000	8000²⁰
Multicast groups	4K	8K
RACLs	62 Ingress RACLs with up to 1664 ACE entries across all the RACLs	62 Ingress RACLs with up to 1664 ACE entries across all the RACLs
VRFs	25	1000
ARPs	6500²¹	8000
HSRP groups	256	256
VRRP groups	256	256
Maximum mapping to a PVLAN trunk port	128	128

^12.Verified Topology—Indicates the verified scaling capabilities with all listed features enabled at the same time. The numbers listed here exceed that used by most customers in their topologies. The scale numbers listed here are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation.

^13.Maximum Limits—Indicates the maximum scale capability tested for the corresponding feature individually. This number is the absolute maximum currently supported by Cisco NX-OS Release 5.0(3)N2(1) software for the corresponding feature. If the hardware is capable of a higher scale, future software releases may increase this maximum limit.

^14.4013 VLANs have been verified in Layer 2 switching, Fibre Channel and FCoE topology configuration limits.

^15.The default max-limit of IGMP Snooping groups is 4000 but it can be increased to 8000 using the hardware multicast snooping group-limit 8000 command.

^16.24 FEXs have been verified in the Layer 2 topology.

^17.24,000 entries are reserved for unicast MAC entries and 3,400 entries are reserved for IGMP groups.

^18.Routing protocols including BGP/RIP/OSPF.

^19.The unicast v6 routes can be set 8000 using the hardware profile ucast6 max-limit 8000 command.

^20.The multicast routes default of 4000 can be increased to 8000 using the hardware profile multicast max-limit 8000 command.

^21.The maximum LPM entries plus ARP entries plus SVI route entries is 12,000 entries.

Layer 2 Switching, Fibre Channel, and FCoE Topology Configuration Limits

Table 4 shows the configuration limits in topologies that include Cisco Nexus 5500 series unified fabric switch with Layer 2 switching, Fibre Channel, and FCoE configurations.

Table 4 Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1) Layer 2 Switching, Fibre Channel, and FCoE Configuration Limits for the Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform Switch
Feature	Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform
Feature	Verified Topology ²²	Maximum Limits ²³
Active VLANs/VSANs per switch	4013	4,013 (31 are reserved for VSANs and the remaining are for VLANs)
VLAN/VSAN ID space	4013 unreserved space	4013 unreserved space
Logical interfaces²⁴	32,000	32,000
IGMP snooping groups	8000	8000
Maximum FEXs per switch	9	24
MAC table size	23000²⁵ unicast and 4000 multicast	32,000
Number of switchport EtherChannels	8	48—Nexus 5548P and Nexus 5548UP switch 96—Nexus 5596UP switch
SPAN Sessions	2 active sessions 32 source VLANs as a TX source	4 active sessions 32 source VLANs as a TX source
Number of FEX port channels/vPCs (across maximum number of FEXs)	288	768
FabricPath VLANs	4000	4000
FabricPath Switch IDs	128	128
FabricPath multicast trees	2	2
Number of FabricPath topologies	2	2
Number of FabricPath core links	2	16
Native FC links per switch	8	8—Nexus 5548 switch 48—Nexus 5548UP switch 96—Nexus 5596UP switch
FLOGIs or FDISCs per NPV port group	180	255
Zone sets per switch	32	500
Zone members per physical fabric (includes all VSANs)	1280	8000
Zones per switch (includes all VSANs)	640	8000
Maximum diameter of a SAN Fabric	7	12
FSPF interface instances per switch	192	256—Nexus 5548 switch 1536—Nexus 5548UP switch 3072—Nexus 5596UP switch
ISL instances per switch	6	8—Nexus 5548 switch 48—Nexus 5548UP switch 96—Nexus 5596UP switch
VFC interfaces	288	288
Max FCIDs allocated	576	2048
Fibre Channel flows	32	32
Max port-channel binded vFCs	48	48
SAN port channels	4	4

^22.Verified Topology—Indicates the verified scaling capabilities with all listed features enabled at the same time. The numbers listed here exceed that used by most customers in their topologies. The scale numbers listed here are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation.

^23.Maximum Limits—Indicates the maximum scale capability tested for the corresponding feature individually. This number is the absolute maximum currently supported by Cisco NX-OS Release 5.0(3)N2(1) software for the corresponding feature. If the hardware is capable of a higher scale, future software releases may increase this maximum limit.

^24.Logical interfaces are a product of the number of VLANs times the number of ports. This parameter reflects the load of handling port programming, and is not dependent on the spanning-tree mode or configuration.

^25.24,000 entries are reserved for unicast MAC entries and 3,400 entries are reserved for IGMP groups.

Table 5 shows the configuration limits in topologies that include Cisco Nexus 5000 series unified fabric switch with Layer 2 switching, Fibre Channel, and FCoE configurations.

Table 5 Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1) Layer 2 Switching, Fibre Channel, and FCoE Configuration Limits for the Cisco Nexus 5000 Platform Switch
Feature	Cisco Nexus 5000 Platform
Feature	Verified Topology ²⁶	Maximum Limits ²⁷
Active VLANs/VSANs per switch	504	507 (504 when FCoE is enabled) 31 are set aside for VSANs.
VLAN/VSAN ID space	4013 unreserved space	4013 unreserved space
STP instances	12,000	12,000
Member interfaces per SAN port channel	16	16
IGMP snooping groups	1000	1000
Maximum FEXs per switch	12	12
MAC table size	13,800²⁸	16,000
Number of switchport EtherChannels	16 units	16 units (With the combination not exceeding 16, and not more than a total of 16 ports per EtherChannels)
SPAN Sessions	2 active sessions 32 source VLANs as a TX source	2 active sessions 32 source VLANs as a TX source
Configurable QoS groups (including class default)	6	6
No-drop qos-groups	2 (including FCoE)	3 (including FCoE)
VLAN ACLs (VACLs) per switch	128 (10 Unique VACLs)	1024 (128 unique VACLs)
Member interface per EtherChannel	16	16
Number of FEX port channels/vPCs (across maximum number of FEXs)	496	576
Native FC links per switch	16	16
FLOGIs or FDISCs per NPV port group	106	255
Zones per virtual or physical F port (includes all VSANs)	32	32
Zone sets per switch (includes all VSANs)	32	500
Zone members per physical fabric (includes all VSANs)	640	8000
Zones per switch (includes all VSANs)	320	8000
Maximum diameter of a SAN Fabric	7	12
FSPF interface instances per switch	192 units	512 units
ISL instances per switch	6 units	16 units
VFC interfaces	160	160
Maximum number of FCIDs allocated	320	2048
Fibre Channel flows	32	32
Max port-channel binded vFCs	48	48

^26.Verified Topology—Indicates the verified scaling capabilities with all listed features enabled at the same time. The numbers listed here exceed that used by most customers in their topologies. The scale numbers listed here are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation.

^27.Maximum Limits—Indicates the maximum scale capability tested for the corresponding feature individually. This number is the absolute maximum currently supported by Cisco NX-OS Release 5.0(3)N2(1) software for the corresponding feature. If the hardware is capable of a higher scale, future software releases may increase this maximum limit.

^28.24,000 entries are reserved for unicast MAC entries and 3,400 entries are reserved for IGMP groups.

Layer 2 Switching Adapter-FEX/VM-FEX Configuration Limits

Table 6 shows the configuration limits in topologies that include Cisco Nexus 5500 series adapter-FEX/VM-FEX configurations.

Table 6 Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1) Layer 2 Switching Adapter-FEX/VM-FEX Configuration Limits
Feature	Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform
Feature	Verified Topology ²⁹	Maximum Limits ³⁰
Number of VFCs over Virtual Ethernet Interfaces	40	40
Cisco Nexus 5500 number of Port Profiles	1000	1000
Cisco Nexus 5500 number of Virtual Machines concurrently VMOTIONed	5 VMs with 10 vNICs each	5 VMs with 10 vNICs each
Number of Virtual Ethernet Interfaces enabled with VNIC shaping	2000	2000
Number of Virtual Ethernet Interfaces configured with Untagged Cos	2000	2000
Server - Number of adapters per server	1	1
Server - Number of VNICs per server	50	96

^29.Verified Topology—Indicates the verified scaling capabilities with all listed features enabled at the same time. The numbers listed here exceed that used by most customers in their topologies. The scale numbers listed here are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation.

^30.Maximum Limits—Indicates the maximum scale capability tested for the corresponding feature individually. This number is the absolute maximum currently supported by Cisco NX-OS Release 5.0(3)N2(1) software for the corresponding feature. If the hardware is capable of a higher scale, future software releases may increase this maximum limit.

Layer 2 Switching Cisco TrustSec Configuration Limits

Table 7 shows the configuration limits in topologies that include Cisco Nexus 5500 series Cisco TrustSec (CTS) configurations.

Table 7 Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1) Layer 2 Switching CTS Configuration Limits
Feature	Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform
Feature	Verified Topology ³¹	Maximum Limits ³²
Security Group Access Control List ACEs	128	128
Security Group Access Control List VLANs	100	100
Security Group Access Control List SGT/DGT permission list	100	100
Number of SXP Connections	4	4
Number of IPv4-SGT mapping	2000	2000
Maximum number of CTS interfaces	192	192

^31.Verified Topology—Indicates the verified scaling capabilities with all listed features enabled at the same time. The numbers listed here exceed that used by most customers in their topologies. The scale numbers listed here are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation.

^32.Maximum Limits—Indicates the maximum scale capability tested for the corresponding feature individually. This number is the absolute maximum currently supported by Cisco NX-OS Release 5.0(3)N2(1) software for the corresponding feature. If the hardware is capable of a higher scale, future software releases may increase this maximum limit.

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Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Configuration Limits for Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1)N1(1)

Available Languages

Download Options

Bias-Free Language

Table of Contents

Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Configuration Limits
for Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1)N1(1)

Contents

Introduction

Cisco Nexus 5500 Platform Switch Layer 2 Topology Configuration Limits

Cisco Nexus 5000 Platform Switch Layer 2 Topology Configuration Limits

Layer 2 and Layer 3 Topology Configuration Limits

Layer 2 Switching, Fibre Channel, and FCoE Topology Configuration Limits

Layer 2 Switching Adapter-FEX/VM-FEX Configuration Limits

Layer 2 Switching Cisco TrustSec Configuration Limits

Related Documentation

Release Notes

Configuration Guides

Maintain and Operate Guides

Installation and Upgrade Guides

Licensing Guide

Command References

Technical References

Error and System Messages

Troubleshooting Guide

Documentation Feedback

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

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