Information About Interfaces
Cisco NX-OS supports multiple configuration parameters for each of the interface types supported. Most of these parameters are covered in this guide but some are described in other documents.
 Note |
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The table below shows where to get further information on the parameters you can configure for an interface.
|
Feature Name |
Parameters |
Further Information |
|---|---|---|
|
Basic parameters |
description, duplex, error disable, flow control, MTU, beacon |
|
|
Layer 2 |
Layer 2 access and trunk port settings |
|
|
Layer 2 MAC, VLANs, private VLANs, Rapid PVST+, Multiple Spanning Tree, Spanning Tree Extensions |
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Layer 2 Switching Configuration Guide | |
|
Port security |
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Security Configuration Guide, Release 6.x |
|
|
Layer 3 |
medium, IPv4 and IPv6 addresses |
|
|
bandwidth, delay, IP routing, VRFs |
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Unicast Routing Configuration Guide, Release 6.x Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Multicast Routing Configuration Guide |
|
|
Port Channels |
channel group, LACP |
|
|
vPCs |
Virtual port channels |
|
|
Tunnels |
GRE Tunneling |
|
|
Security |
Dot1X, NAC, EOU, port security |
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Security Configuration Guide, Release 6.x |
|
FCoE |
From Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(1), you can run Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) on the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches |
Ethernet Interfaces
Ethernet interfaces include access ports, trunk ports, private VLAN hosts and promiscuous ports, and routed ports.
Access Ports
An access port carries traffic for one VLAN. This type of port is a Layer 2 interface only.
Trunk Ports
A trunk port carries traffic for two or more VLANs. This type of port is a Layer 2 interface only.
Private VLAN Hosts and Promiscuous Ports
Private VLANs (PVLANs) provide traffic separation and security at the Layer 2 level. A PVLAN is one or more pairs of a primary VLAN and a secondary VLAN, all with the same primary VLAN. The two types of secondary VLANs are called isolated and community VLANs.
In an isolated VLAN, PVLAN hosts communicate only with hosts in the primary VLAN. In a community VLAN, PVLAN hosts communicate only among themselves and with hosts in the primary VLAN but not with hosts in isolated VLANs or in other community VLANs. Community VLANs use promiscuous ports to communicate outside the PVLAN. Regardless of the combination of isolated and community secondary VLANs, all interfaces within the primary VLAN comprise one Layer 2 domain and require only one IP subnet.
You can configure a Layer 3 VLAN network interface, or switched virtual interface (SVI), on the PVLAN promiscuous port, which provides routing functionality to the primary PVLAN.
For more information on configuring PVLAN host and PVLAN promiscuous ports and all other PVLAN configurations, see the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Layer 2 Switching Configuration Guide
Routed Ports
A routed port is a physical port that can route IP traffic to another device. A routed port is a Layer 3 interface only and does not support Layer 2 protocols, such as the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP).
Management Interface
You can use the management Ethernet interface to connect the device to a network for remote management using a Telnet client, the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), or other management agents. The management port (mgmt0) is autosensing and operates in full-duplex mode at a speed of 10/100/1000 Mb/s.
For more information on the management interface, see the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Fundamentals Configuration Guide. You will also find information on configuring the IP address and default IP routing for the management interface in this document.
Port Channel Interfaces
A port channel is a logical interface that is an aggregation of multiple physical interfaces. You can bundle up to eight individual links to physical ports into a port channel to improve bandwidth and redundancy. You can also use port channeling to load balance traffic across these channeled physical interfaces.
vPCs
Virtual port channels (vPCs) allow links that are physically connected to two different Cisco Nexus 7000 series devices to appear as a single port channel by a third device. The third device can be a switch, server, or any other networking device. You can configure a total of 748 vPCs on each device. vPCs provide Layer 2 multipathing.
Subinterfaces
You can create virtual subinterfaces on a parent interface configured as a Layer 3 interface. A parent interface can be a physical port or a port channel. Subinterfaces divide the parent interface into two or more virtual interfaces on which you can assign unique Layer 3 parameters such as IP addresses and dynamic routing protocols.
VLAN Network Interfaces
A VLAN network interface is a virtual routed interface that connects a VLAN on the device to the Layer 3 router engine on the same device. You can route across VLAN network interfaces to provide Layer 3 inter-VLAN routing.
Loopback Interfaces
A virtual loopback interface is a virtual interface with a single endpoint that is always up. Any packet that is transmitted over a virtual loopback interface is immediately received by that interface. Loopback interfaces emulate a physical interface.
Tunnel Interfaces
Tunneling allows you to encapsulate arbitrary packets inside a transport protocol. This feature is implemented as a virtual interface to provide a simple interface for configuration. The tunnel interface provides the services necessary to implement any standard point-to-point encapsulation scheme. You can configure a separate tunnel for each link.
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