Connecting the Fabric Interconnects to the LAN and SAN:
FCoE is short for Fibre Channel over Ethernet.
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) solves the problem of organizations having to run parallel network infrastructures for their local area networks (LANs) and their storage area networks (SANs). As a result, they have to operate separate switches, host bus adapters (HBAs), network interface cards (NICs) and cables for each of these networks. Even utilizing a virtualization solution like VMware can actually increase the number of network adapters required to carry traffic out of the servers.
| FC Port | Name | Descrption |
|---|---|---|
| N_Port | Node Port | End Device |
| F_Port | Fabric Port | Switch Port |
| L_Port | Loop Port | Loop Topo, End Device |
| NL_Port | Node Loop Port | N Port voor arbitrated loop ToPo |
| FL_Port | Fabric Loop Port | Allows loops to connect to Fabric |
| E_Port | Expansion Port | Switch to Switch connectivity ( ISL ) |
| G_Port | Generic Port | Allows auto config on the switch |
| B_Port | Bridge Port | FC WAN Gateway Port |
| U_Port | Universal Port | AUTO E, F, or FL Port |
FCoE Terminology
https://www.quisted.net/arc/datacenterdesign/lab-v-nexus7k-overlay-transport-virtualization/
License needed:
Cisco FabricPath is a Cisco NX-OS software innovation combining the plug-and-play simplicity of Ethernet with the reliability and scalability of Layer 3 routing.
Using FabricPath, you can build highly scalable Layer 2 multipath networks without the Spanning Tree Protocol. Such networks are particularly suitable for large virtualization deployments, private clouds, and high-performance computing (HPC) environments.
Activating the fabricpath feature set.
For the activation is the “ENHANCED_LAYER2.PK” license needed, or the grace-period of 120 days:
vlan 100 mode fabricpath name test interface Ethernet2/1 switchport switchport mode fabricpath no shutdown interface Ethernet2/2 switchport switchport mode fabricpath no shutdown N7K3# sh run int e2/9 interface Ethernet2/9 switchport switchport access vlan 100 no shutdown
N7K3# sh fabricpath isis
Fabricpath IS-IS domain : default
System ID : 0026.c734.4f2f IS-Type : L1 Fabric-Control SVI: Unknown
SAP : 432 Queue Handle : 15
Maximum LSP MTU: 1492
Graceful Restart enabled. State: Inactive
Last graceful restart status : none
Graceful Restart holding time:60
Metric-style : advertise(wide), accept(wide)
Start-Mode: Complete [Start-type configuration]
Area address(es) :
00
Process is up and running
CIB ID: 1
Interfaces supported by Fabricpath IS-IS :
Ethernet2/1
Ethernet2/2
Ethernet2/5
Ethernet2/6
Ethernet2/10
Ethernet2/11
Level 1
Authentication type and keychain not configured
Authentication check specified
LSP Lifetime: 1200
L1 LSP GEN interval- Max:8000 Initial:50 Second:50
L1 SPF Interval- Max:8000 Initial:50 Second:50
MT-0 Ref-Bw: 400000
Max-Path: 16
Address family Swid unicast :
Number of interface : 6
Distance : 115
L1 Next SPF: Inactive
N7K3# sh fabricpath switch-id
FABRICPATH SWITCH-ID TABLE
Legend: '*' - this system
'[E]' - local Emulated Switch-id
'[A]' - local Anycast Switch-id
Total Switch-ids: 4
=============================================================================
SWITCH-ID SYSTEM-ID FLAGS STATE STATIC EMULATED/
ANYCAST
--------------+----------------+------------+-----------+--------------------
1 0026.c751.bd2f Primary Confirmed Yes No
2 0026.c71f.a62f Primary Confirmed Yes No
* 3 0026.c734.4f2f Primary Confirmed Yes No
4 0026.c7cb.4b2f Primary Confirmed Yes No
N7K3# sh cdp nei Capability Codes: R - Router, T - Trans-Bridge, B - Source-Route-Bridge S - Switch, H - Host, I - IGMP, r - Repeater, V - VoIP-Phone, D - Remotely-Managed-Device, s - Supports-STP-Dispute Device-ID Local Intrfce Hldtme Capability Platform Port ID N7k1(TBC751BD00B) Eth2/1 147 R S I s N7K-C7018 Eth2/5 N7k1(TBC751BD00B) Eth2/2 148 R S I s N7K-C7018 Eth2/6 N7K2(TBC71FA600B) Eth2/5 170 R S I s N7K-C7018 Eth2/5 N7K2(TBC71FA600B) Eth2/6 170 R S I s N7K-C7018 Eth2/6 R1 Eth2/9 134 R S I 3725 Fas0/0 Total entries displayed: 5 N7K3# sh fab fabric fabricpath N7K3# sh fabri fabric fabricpath N7K3# sh fabricpath route FabricPath Unicast Route Table 'a/b/c' denotes ftag/switch-id/subswitch-id '[x/y]' denotes [admin distance/metric] ftag 0 is local ftag subswitch-id 0 is default subswitch-id FabricPath Unicast Route Table for Topology-Default 0/3/0, number of next-hops: 0 via ---- , [60/0], 0 day/s 03:03:28, local 1/1/0, number of next-hops: 2 via Eth2/1, [115/400], 0 day/s 03:01:13, isis_fabricpath-default via Eth2/2, [115/400], 0 day/s 03:01:13, isis_fabricpath-default 1/2/0, number of next-hops: 2 via Eth2/5, [115/400], 0 day/s 03:00:59, isis_fabricpath-default via Eth2/6, [115/400], 0 day/s 03:00:59, isis_fabricpath-default 1/4/0, number of next-hops: 4 via Eth2/1, [115/800], 0 day/s 03:00:59, isis_fabricpath-default via Eth2/2, [115/800], 0 day/s 03:00:59, isis_fabricpath-default via Eth2/5, [115/800], 0 day/s 03:00:59, isis_fabricpath-default via Eth2/6, [115/800], 0 day/s 03:00:59, isis_fabricpath-default
A VDC can be used to virtualize the device itself, presenting the physical switch as multiple logical devices. Within that VDC it can contain its own unique and independent set of VLANs and VRFs. Each VDC can have assigned to it physical ports, thus allowing for the hardware data plane to be virtualized as well. Within each VDC, a separate management domain can manage the VDC itself, thus allowing the management plane itself to also be virtualized.
Create a new VDC:
N7k1(config)# vdc N5K1
N7k1(config-vdc)#
N7k1# switchto vdc N5K1
Show allocated interfaces:
switch# show vdc membership
vdc_id: 0 vdc_name: switch interfaces:
Ethernet2/1 Ethernet2/2 Ethernet2/3
Ethernet2/4 Ethernet2/5 Ethernet2/6
Ethernet2/7 Ethernet2/8 Ethernet2/9
Ethernet2/10 Ethernet2/11 Ethernet2/12
Ethernet2/13 Ethernet2/14 Ethernet2/15
Ethernet2/16 Ethernet2/17 Ethernet2/18
Ethernet2/19 Ethernet2/20 Ethernet2/21
Ethernet2/22 Ethernet2/23 Ethernet2/24
Ethernet2/25 Ethernet2/26 Ethernet2/27
Ethernet2/28 Ethernet2/29 Ethernet2/30
Ethernet2/31 Ethernet2/32 Ethernet2/33
Ethernet2/34 Ethernet2/35 Ethernet2/36
Ethernet2/37 Ethernet2/38 Ethernet2/39
Ethernet2/40 Ethernet2/41 Ethernet2/42
Ethernet2/43 Ethernet2/44 Ethernet2/45
Ethernet2/48
vdc_id: 1 vdc_name: N5K1
Ethernet2/47
Allocate interfaces:
N7k1(config)#vdc N5K1 N7k1(config-vdc)#allocate interface e2/1 - 12
| Nexus 7000/7700 | Nexus 5500/5600 | Nexus 2000 ( FEX ) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/10/40/100Gbps | 1/10/40Gbps | 1/10/40Gbps Fabric Extender | ||
| Layer2 and Layer3 LAN switching | Layer2 and Layer3 LAN switching | No local switching (Traffic is done by parent) | ||
| FCoE SAN Switching | FCoE SAN Switching | |||
| No native FC ports | Native FC Ports | |||
| Highly redundant | ||||
| SSO & ISSU |
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/nexus-7000-series-switches/models-comparison.html
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/nexus-5000-series-switches/models-comparison.html