CCNA Data Center - Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking Study Guide: Exam 640-911

Chapter 7

Introduction to Nexus

The following topics are covered in this chapter:

• What is Nexus?

• Hardware

• Describing Cisco NX-OS Software

• Cisco NX-OS Software Architecture
• Cisco NX-OS Process Recovery
• Cisco NX-OS Conditional Services

• Virtualizing the Network

• Virtualizing Layer 2 Networks
• Virtualizing Interswitch Links
• Virtualizing Layer 3 Interfaces
• Virtualizing Routing Tables
• Virtualizing Devices
• Virtualizing Everything

In the introduction of this book I talked about the history of Nexus and Cisco’s product line and how Cisco’s Data Center products, including Nexus and the NX-OS, came into being.

In this chapter, we’ll take off from the introduction and discuss the Nexus hardware, including the switch interfaces, management ports, and various other hardware pieces of Nexus. We’ll then take a look at the NX-OS software architecture and how this software was designed from the ground up and built for the data center.

This chapter will also cover virtualization, including VLANs, Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF), virtual device contexts (VDCs), and finally, the Nexus 1000v switch.

NX-OS Hardware

The two hottest hot-button factors in data center networking are speed and reliability, and Nexus hardware answers with high throughput / low latency applications while providing fault tolerance. The hardware is designed to handle high speed 10-, 40-, or even 100-gigabit interfaces—some serious capacity there under the hood! For a little perspective, the first mainstream ...