Cisco Nexus 7000 F1-Series 32-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module Data Sheet

Product Overview

The Cisco Nexus^® 7000 F-Series 32-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module offers outstanding flexibility and performance, with extensive virtualization and multipath capabilities. The module enables the deployment of high-density, low-latency, scalable data center architecture.

The Cisco Nexus 7000 F-Series 32-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module (Figure 1) is the first of the Cisco Nexus 7000 F-Series Ethernet modules, extending the capabilities of the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series in the data center. Powered by the F1 forwarding engine, the module delivers 480 million packets per second (Mpps) of distributed Layer 2 forwarding and up to 320 Gbps of data throughput through a custom dedicated forwarding application- specific integrated circuit (ASIC), enabling the creation of extensible data centers. A Cisco Nexus 7000 18-Slot Switch fully populated with Cisco Nexus F-Series 32-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Modules has the capability to deliver up to 10.2 terabits per second (Tbps) of switching performance, with a typical power consumption of less than 10 watts (W) per port.

Powerful access control list (ACL) processing supports 32,000 per module, ingress and egress, with the ACL entries addressing Layer 2, 3, and 4 fields. The F1 forwarding engine also supports applications requiring port mirroring, with integrated hardware support for 16 simultaneous unidirectional Cisco Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) sessions per module. Additionally, the F-Series module delivers integrated Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), greatly simplifying the network infrastructure and reducing costs by enabling the deployment of unified data center fabrics to consolidate data center traffic onto a single, general-purpose, high-performance, highly available network.

With the Cisco Nexus 7000 F-Series module, FCoE can be deployed in director-class modular platforms for the access and core of converged networks. In addition to FCoE host and target support, the module provides VE-port support, allowing creation of FCoE Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) and enabling scalable, multihop FCoE topologies. The FCoE traffic in a Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switch can be segmented using a dedicated storage virtual device context (VDC), providing isolation within the shared physical infrastructure. Cisco Nexus 7000 Series FCoE converged networks can be transparently bridged to Cisco^® MDS 9500 Series Fibre Channel SANs with the Cisco MDS 10-Gbps 8-Port FCoE Module. This capability preserves existing and continued investments in Fibre Channel SANs and offers a single unified OS (Cisco NX-OS Software) and management platform (Cisco Data Center Network Manager [DCNM]) for both the LAN and SAN.

The Cisco Nexus 7000 F-Series modules, when combined with the powerful Cisco NX-OS Software, deliver Cisco FabricPath multipath Ethernet technologies based on IETF Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL). Cisco FabricPath comprises a set of multipath Ethernet technologies and combines the reliability and scalability benefits of Layer 3 routing with the flexibility of Layer 2 Ethernet networks. With Cisco FabricPath, organizations can now build massively scalable, flexible networks that efficiently use available bandwidth between nodes, offering improved network resiliency.

Cisco FabricPath offers a topology-based Layer 2 routing mechanism that provides an equal-cost multipath (ECMP) forwarding model. Cisco FabricPath implements an enhancement that resolves the MAC address table scalability challenge characteristic of switched Layer 2 networks. Enhanced virtual PortChannel (vPC+) is another technology offered by Cisco FabricPath. Similar to vPC, vPC+ allows the redundant interconnection of the existing Ethernet infrastructure to a Cisco FabricPath fabric without relying on Spanning Tree Protocol.

The benefits of Cisco FabricPath include:

●   Operational simplicity: Cisco FabricPath embeds an autodiscovery mechanism that does not require any additional platform configuration. By offering Layer 2 connectivity, this “VLAN anywhere” characteristic simplifies provisioning and offers workload flexibility across the network.

●   High resiliency and performance: Because Cisco FabricPath is a Layer 2 routed protocol, it offers stability, scalability, and optimized resiliency along with network failure containment.

●   Massively scalable fabric: By building a forwarding model on 16-way ECMP, Cisco FabricPath helps prevent bandwidth bottlenecks and allows capacity to be added dynamically, without network disruption.

The Cisco Nexus 7000 F-1 Series 32-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module delivers up to 512 ports per chassis capable of flexibly supporting both Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet on a per-port basis. Both Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) and Enhanced SFP (SFP+) optics are available for long- and short-haul applications, including Twinax support, for rack-to-rack data center applications, enabling migration and support for numerous deployment scenarios requiring different media types. Table 1 summarizes the features and benefits of the Cisco Nexus 7000 F1-Series 32-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module.

Table 1.       Features and Benefits

Product Specifications

Table 2 lists the product specifications for the Cisco Nexus 7000 F1-Series 32-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module, and Tables 3 and 4 list specifications for pluggable optics.

Table 2.       Product Specifications

Table 3.       10 Gigabit Ethernet Interface Distances and Options

Note: See the SFP+ optics data sheet for additional information: http://cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps5455/data_sheet_c78-455693.html. Please refer to the release notes for software version requirement information.

Table 4.       Gigabit Ethernet Interface Distances and Options

Note: See the SFP optics data sheet for additional information: http://cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps5455/ps6577/product_data_sheet0900aecd8033f885.html. Please refer to the release notes for software version requirement information.

Ordering Information

To place an order, visit the Cisco Ordering homepage. To download software, visit the Cisco Software Center. Table 5 provides ordering information.

Table 5.       Ordering Information

Service and Support

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. Our innovative services are delivered through a unique combination of people, processes, tools, and partners and are focused on helping you increase operating 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 provide 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 increase investment protection, optimize network operations, support migration, and strengthen your IT expertise. For more information about Cisco Data Center Services, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/dcservices.

For More Information

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.