Cisco

Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series

The Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series is a powerful next-generation switching platform that can provide the foundation for your enterprise network. By combining hardware, software, and services, this series of switches offers unprecedented scalability and advanced features to meet the needs of any organization. Whether you’re looking for improved performance, increased security, or better manageability, the Cisco Catalyst 3850 is an ideal solution. In this blog post, we will explore some of the features and benefits of this series and how it can help you build modern network infrastructure.

What are networking switches?

Networking switches are devices that connect network segments. They forward packets between network segments based on the destination address in each packet. Switches learn the addresses of devices connected to each of their ports and use this information to decide where to forward packets.

Switches can be used to create virtual networks, which are separate from the physical network infrastructure. This allows for more flexibility and scalability when deploying new services or applications. Virtual networks can also be used to isolate traffic between different types of devices, or between different departments within an organization.

Switches come in a variety of form factors, including standalone units, rack-mounted units, and blade servers. Some switches are designed for specific environments, such as industrial settings or data centers.

Why are Cisco switches so popular?

Cisco switches are popular for a variety of reasons. They are well-made, reliable, and easy to use. Cisco also offers a wide range of models to choose from, so you can find one that fits your specific needs. In addition, Cisco switches are often compatible with other Cisco products, which can make your network more efficient.

Do you need a networking switch?

If you have a small business with a limited number of devices that need to be connected to a network, then you may not need a networking switch. For example, if you only have a few computers and printers in your office, you can connect them directly to each other using cables. However, if you have a larger business with many devices that need to be connected, or if you plan on expanding your network in the future, then you will need a networking switch. A switch allows you to connect multiple devices to your network so they can communicate with each other. It also gives you the ability to add more devices to your network as your business grows.

What to look for when buying networking switches?

There are a few key things to look for when buying a Cisco Catalyst switch:

1. Port count and speed: The number of ports on a switch is important to consider, as you’ll need enough to connect all of your devices. The speed of the ports is also important, as you’ll want to make sure they’re fast enough to keep up with your network traffic.

2. PoE support: If you plan on using Power over Ethernet (PoE) devices, then you’ll need a switch that supports it. Not all switches support PoE, so be sure to check before you buy.

3. Stackability: If you think you might expand your network in the future, then getting a stackable switch can be a good idea. That way you can add more switches to your network without having to replace your existing ones.

4. Warranties and support: As with any piece of equipment, it’s always a good idea to get a warranty or some sort of support plan in case something goes wrong. With Cisco Catalyst switches, you can often get a next-day replacement and 24/7 phone support.

Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series: Overview

The Cisco Catalyst 3650 Series is the next generation of enterprise-class standalone and stackable access-layer switches that provide the foundation for full convergence between wired and wireless on a single platform. The 3650 Series is built on the advanced Cisco StackWise-160 and takes advantage of the new Cisco Unified Access Data Plane (UADP) application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). This switch can enable uniform wired-wireless policy enforcement, application visibility, flexibility, application optimization, and superior resiliency. The 3650 Series switches support full IEEE 802.3at Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+), Cisco Universal Power over Ethernet (Cisco UPOE) on the Cisco Catalyst 3650 Series multigigabit switches, and offer modular and field-replaceable redundant fans and power supplies. The 3650 Series switches also come in a 12-inch lower depth form factor so that you can deploy them in tight wiring closets in remote branches and offices where the depth of the switch is a concern. In addition, the 3650 multigigabit switches support current and next-generation wireless speeds and standards (including 802.11ac Wave 2) on existing cabling infrastructure. The 3650 Series switches help increase wireless productivity and reduce TCO.

Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series: Features

Product Overview

●     Integrated wireless controller capability with:

◦     Up to 40G of wireless capacity per switch (48-port models)

◦     Support for up to 50 access points and 1000 wireless clients on each switching entity (switch or stack)

●   24 and 48 10/100/1000 data and PoE+ models with energy-efficient Ethernet (EEE) supported ports

●   24 and 48 100-Mbps and 1-, 2.5-, 5-, and 10-Gbps (multigigabit) Cisco UPOE and PoE+ models with EEE

●   Five fixed-uplink models with four Gigabit Ethernet, two 10 Gigabit Ethernet, four 10 Gigabit Ethernet, eight 10 Gigabit Ethernet, or two 40 Gigabit Ethernet Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable Plus (QSFP+) ports

●   24-port and 48-port 10/100/1000 PoE+ models with lower noise and reduced depth of 11.62 inches for shallow-depth cabinets in enterprise, retail, and branch-office environments

●   Optional Cisco StackWise-160 technology that provides scalability and resiliency with 160 Gbps of stack throughput

●   Dual redundant, modular power supplies and three modular fans providing redundancy

●   Support for external power system RPS 2300 on the 3650 mini SKUs for power redundancy

●   Full IEEE 802.3at (PoE+) with 30W power on all ports in 1 rack unit (RU) form factor

●   Cisco UPOE with 60W power per port in 1 rack unit (RU) form factor

●   IEEE 802.3bz (2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T) to go beyond 1 Gbps with existing Category 5e and Category 6

●   IEEE 802.1ba Audio Video Bridging (AVB) built in to provide a better AV experience, including improved time synchronization and quality of service (QoS)

●   Software support for IPv4 and IPv6 routing, multicast routing, modular QoS, Flexible NetFlow (FNF) Version 9, and enhanced security features

●   Single universal Cisco IOS Software image across all license levels, providing an easy upgrade path for software features

●   Enhanced limited lifetime warranty (E-LLW) with next business day (NBD) advance hardware replacement and 90-day access to Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) support

Conclusion

Compare prices from different vendors to find the best deal. The Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series switches provide the foundation for full convergence between wired and wireless on a single platform. The switches can enable uniform wired-wireless policy enforcement, application visibility, flexibility, application optimization, and superior resiliency.

Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX3P- The Ultimate Data Center Switch

A data center switch is a device that connects computing devices in a data center so that they can communicate with each other. Switches are used to create redundancy and improve network performance.

A data center switch typically has multiple ports, which can be used to connect to various types of devices. The most common type of data center switch is the Ethernet switch, which is used to connect computers and other devices that use Ethernet cables.

How to Choose the Right Data Center Switch?

A data center switch is a multi-port network switch that is specifically designed for use in a data center. They are typically used to connect servers and storage devices to each other, as well as to connect the data center to the outside world.

There are many different types of data center switches available on the market today, so it can be difficult to choose the right one for your needs. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a data center switch:

1. Make sure that the switch supports the required number of ports.

2. Choose a switch with redundant power supplies for added reliability.

3. Select a switch that offers features such as port monitoring and VLAN support.

4. Consider the overall cost of ownership when making your decision.

Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX3P: An overview

The Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX3P Switch is a multigigabit-capable fixed switch, which was built with Cisco Cloud Scale technology. It’s part of the Cisco Nexus 9300 platform. Cisco Multigigabit Ethernet technology supports bandwidth speeds from 100Mbps to 10 Gbps over traditional Category 5e/6 cabling.

Current cabling infrastructure can’t meet the bandwidth needs driven by 802,11ac Wave 2 and Wi-Fi 6. To solve this, engineers created a new method of transmitting data packets using optics, which eliminates the need for replacing the current infrastructure. The switch is built on a modern-system architecture designed to provide high performance, support cost-effective deployments, and meet the evolving needs of growing mid-size to large enterprise customers.

Cisco provides two modes of operation for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches. Organizations can deploy Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI) or Cisco NX-OS mode. Cisco ACI is a holistic, intent-driven architecture with centralized automation and policy-based application profiles.

The system is designed to manage dynamic workloads, so it can serve and balance traffic as needed. Additionally, it offers a network fabric that combines time-tested protocols and new innovations to create extremely flexible, scalable, and resilient architecture with low latency and high bandwidth links.

This fabric delivers a network that can support the most demanding and flexible data center environments. Designed for the programmable network, the Cisco NX-OS operating system automates configuration and management for customers who want to take advantage of the DevOps operation model and toolsets.

Take advantage of the Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX3P’s optimized efficiency, simplified operation, and installation combined with its wide array of device versatility to protect your investments as your business becomes more data-centric and interconnected.The expansive feature set includes 40MB of intelligent buffering, support for voice VLANs, and a full-featured Layer 2 and Layer 3 Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).

The Features of the Cisco Nexus 9372PX

The Cisco Nexus 9300-FX3 series switches provide the following features and benefits:

Architectural flexibility

  • Industry-leading software-defined networking (SDN) solution Cisco ACI support
  • Support for standards-based VXLAN EVPN fabrics, inclusive of hierarchical multisite support 
  • Three-tier BGP architectures enabling horizontal, nonblocking IPv6 network fabrics at web-scale
  • Segment routing allows the network to forward Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) packets and engineer traffic without Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) Traffic Engineering (TE). It provides a control-plane alternative for increased network scalability and virtualization.
  • Comprehensive protocol support for Layer 3 (v4/v6) unicast and multicast routing protocol suites, including BGP, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2), Protocol Independent Multicast Sparse Mode (PIM-SM), Source-Specific Multicast (SSM), and Multicast Source Discovery Protocol (MSDP).

Extensive programmability

  • Day-0 automation through Power On Auto Provisioning, drastically reducing provisioning time
  • Industry-leading integrations for leading DevOps configuration management applications, including Ansible, Chef, Puppet, SALT, Extensive Native YANG, and industry-standard OpenConfig model support through RESTCONF/NETCONF
  • Pervasive APIs for all switch CLI functions (JSON-based RPC over HTTP/HTTPS)

High scalability, flexibility, and security

  • Flexible forwarding tables support up to two million shared entries on FX3 models. Flexible use of TCAM space allows for the custom definition of Access Control List (ACL) templates.
  • MAC Security (MACsec) and CloudSec (VTEP-to-VTEP encryption) support on all ports of Cisco Nexus 9300-FX3 models with speeds greater than or equal to 1 Gbps, which allows traffic encryption at the physical layer and provides secure server, border-leaf, and leaf-to-spine connectivity

Intelligent buffer management

The platform offers Cisco’s innovative intelligent buffer management, which offers the capability to distinguish mice and elephant flows and apply different queue management schemes to them based on their network forwarding requirements in the event of link congestion.

Intelligent buffer management functions are:

  • Approximate Fair Dropping (AFD) with Elephant Trap (ETRAP). AFD uses ETRAP to distinguish long-lived elephant flows from short-lived mice flows. AFD exempts mice flows from the dropping algorithm so that mice flows will get their fair share of bandwidth without being starved by bandwidth-hungry elephant flows. Also, AFD tracks elephant flows and subjects them to the AFD algorithm in the egress queue to grant them their fair share of bandwidth.
  • ETRAP measures the byte counts of incoming flows and compares this against the user-defined ETRAP threshold. After a flow crosses the threshold, it becomes an elephant flow.
  • Dynamic Packet Prioritization (DPP), provides the capability of separating mice flows and elephant flows into two different queues so that buffer space can be allocated to them independently. Mice flow that is sensitive to congestion and latency can take priority in the queue and avoid reordering, allowing elephant flows to take full link bandwidth.

RDMA over Converged Ethernet – RoCE support

The platform offers lossless transport for RDMA over Converged Ethernet with support of DCB protocols:

  • Priority-based Flow Control (PFC) — to prevent drops in the network and pause frame propagation per priority class
  • Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS) — to reserve bandwidth per priority class in a network contention situation
  • Data Center Bridging Exchange Protocol (DCBX) — to discover and exchange priority and bandwidth information with endpoints
  • The platform also supports Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN), which provides end-to-end notification per IP flow by marking packets that experienced congestion, without dropping traffic. The platform is capable of tracking ECN statistics of the number of marked packets that have experienced congestion.

Hardware and software high availability

  • Virtual Port-Channel (vPC) technology provides Layer 2 multipathing through the elimination of the Spanning Tree Protocol. It also enables fully utilized bisectional bandwidth and simplified Layer 2 logical topologies without the need to change the existing management and deployment model.
  • The 64-way Equal-Cost MultiPath (ECMP) routing enables the use of Layer 3 fat-tree designs. This feature helps organizations prevent network bottlenecks, increase resiliency, and add capacity with little network disruption.
  • Advanced reboot capabilities include hot and cold patching
  • The switch uses hot-swappable Power-Supply Units (PSUs) and fans with N+1 redundancy.

Purpose-built Cisco NX-OS software operating system with comprehensive, proven innovations

A single binary image that supports every switch in the Cisco Nexus 9000 series, simplifying image management. The operating system is modular, with a dedicated process for each routing protocol: a design that isolates faults while increasing availability. In the event of a process failure, the process can be restarted without loss of state. The operating system supports hot and cold patching and online diagnostics.

Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) is the network management platform for all NX-OS-enabled deployments, spanning new fabric architectures, IP Fabric for Media, and storage networking deployments for the Cisco Nexus-powered data center. Accelerate provisioning from days to minutes, and simplify deployments from day 0 through day N. Reduce troubleshooting cycles with graphical operational visibility for topology, network fabric, and infrastructure. Eliminate configuration errors and automate ongoing change in a closed loop, with a templated deployment model and configuration compliance alerting with automatic remediation. Real-time health summary for fabric, devices, and topology. Correlated visibility for fabric (underlay, overlay, virtual, and physical endpoints), including computing visualization with VMware.

Network traffic monitoring with Cisco Nexus Data Broker builds simple, scalable, and cost-effective network test access points (TAPs) and Cisco Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) aggregation for network traffic monitoring and analysis.

Conclusion

The Cisco Nexus 9372PX is the perfect data center switch for those who need high performance and scalability. It offers a comprehensive feature set, including support for virtualization, making it an ideal choice for businesses of all sizes. Thanks to its easy-to-use interface, the 9372PX is also perfect for those who are new to data center networking. If you’re looking for a top-of-the-line data center switch, the Cisco Nexus 9372PX is the perfect option.

Cisco B200 M5 Server: Top yet affordable blade-based thin server on the market

The Cisco B200 M5 is a top-of-the-line, yet affordable blade-based thin server. It offers all of the features that you would expect from a high-end server, including support for virtualization and high-performance computing, but at a fraction of the cost. The Cisco B200 M5 is ideal for small to medium businesses that need a powerful server but don’t want to spend a fortune. It’s also a great choice for larger organizations that want to deploy a blade server infrastructure without breaking the bank. Read on to learn more about the Cisco B200 M5 and what it has to offer.

Should you buy a Cisco server?

Cisco servers are some of the most popular blade-based thin servers on the market for a variety of reasons. They offer excellent performance, features, and value.

First and foremost, Cisco servers offer great performance. They are designed to handle a large number of requests and can scale to meet the demands of even the most demanding applications. Additionally, Cisco servers come with a variety of features that make them ideal for enterprise use. For example, they include support for virtualization and high availability clustering.

Additionally, Cisco servers offer an outstanding value proposition. They are very competitively priced and offer a lot of features and functionality for the price. In fact, they are often one of the most cost-effective options available when compared to other blade-based thin servers on the market.

All in all, Cisco servers are an excellent option for businesses of all sizes that are looking for high-performance, feature-rich, and affordable blade-based thin servers.

What is a blade server?

A blade server is a thin, modular server used for hosting computer applications. It gets its name from its extremely thin form factor, which allows for more servers to be housed in the same amount of space as traditional servers. Blade servers are also popular because they use less power and generate less heat than traditional servers, making them more efficient to operate.

When to use a blade server?

A blade server is a thin, modular server used to improve server density and minimize power consumption in data centers. When deciding whether to use a blade server or a traditional rack-mount server, consider the following factors:

1. Server density: Blade servers offer a much higher server density than traditional rack-mount servers. This can be beneficial if you need to conserve space in your data center.

2. Power consumption: Blade servers consume less power than traditional rack-mount servers, due to their reduced size and increased efficiency.

3. Cost: While blade servers may have a higher initial cost than traditional rack-mount servers, they can save you money in the long run due to their reduced power consumption and improved density.

4. Maintenance: Blade servers are easier to maintain than traditional rack-mount servers, as they require less cable management and have fewer physical components.

Do you need a blade server?

There are many factors to consider when trying to determine if you need a blade server for your business. Some of these factors include the number of users that will be accessing the server, the types of applications that will be run on the server, the amount of storage that will be required, and the budget for the project.

If you have a small business with only a handful of employees, then a blade server might not be necessary. However, if you have a medium or large business with dozens or even hundreds of employees, then a blade server can offer many benefits. One benefit is that it can save space in your data center since blade servers are much thinner than traditional servers. Additionally, blade servers often use less energy and generate less heat, which can reduce your cooling costs.

Another benefit of blade servers is that they can be easier to manage than traditional servers since they often come with built-in management software. This can make it simpler to keep track of server usage and performance. Additionally, many blade servers come with redundant components so that if one component fails, there is a backup available. This can minimize downtime in the event of a failure.

Of course, there are also some drawbacks to using a blade server. One drawback is that they can be more expensive than traditional servers since they often come with more features and higher-quality components. Additionally, blade servers usually require special racks and cabling which can add

Overview of the Cisco B200 M5 Server

The Cisco UCS B200 M5 Blade Server is a powerful, flexible option to use when deploying in data centers and the cloud. Whether you need a powerful server for your Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), web infrastructure, distributed databases, converged infrastructure, or enterprise applications such as Oracle and SAP HANA- this server will be perfect. It provides market-leading performance and density with no compromises to the workload in question.

Cisco offers a variety of servers that can handle both physical and virtual servers, making it easier for customers to deploy workloads. The B200 M5 server is useful for deploying transactional and evolving stateless workloads; there is also Cisco UCS Manager for programmatically deploying new servers, ultimately providing simplified access to single servers through Cisco SingleConnect technology. It includes:

●     2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable and Intel Xeon Scalable processors with up to 28 cores per socket

●     Up to 24 DDR4 DIMMs for improved performance with up to 12 DIMM slots ready for Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory

●     Up to 2 GPUs

●     Up to 2 Small Form-Factor (SFF) drives

●     Up to 2 SD cards or M.2 SATA drives

●     Up to 80 Gbps of I/O throughput

The Best Features of the Cisco B200 M5 Server

One of the best features of Cisco UCS B200 M5 servers is that they’re blade servers. They are half the total width and up to 8 servers can fit in a 6RU Cisco UCS 5108 Blade Server Chassis offering one of the highest densities per rack unit of blade server chassis on the market. You can configure the B200 M5 to meet your local storage requirements without having to buy, power, and cool components that you do not need.

The Cisco UCS B200 M5 provides these main features:

●     Up to two 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable and Intel Xeon Scalable processors with up to 28 cores per CPU

●     24 DIMM slots for industry-standard DDR4 memory at speeds up to 2933 MHz, with up to 3 TB of total memory when using 128-GB DIMMs. Up to 12 DIMM slots ready for Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory to accommodate up to 6 TB of Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory

●     Modular LAN on Motherboard (mLOM) card with Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card (VIC) 1440 or 1340, a 2-port, 40-Gigabit Ethernet (GE), Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)–capable mLOM mezzanine adapter

●     Optional rear mezzanine VIC with two 40-Gbps unified I/O ports or two sets of 4 x 10-Gbps unified I/O ports, delivering 80 Gbps to the server; adapts to either 10- or 40-Gbps fabric connections

●     Two optional, hot-pluggable, Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), Solid-State Drives (SSDs), or Nonvolatile Memory Express (NVMe) 2.5-inch drives with a choice of enterprise-class Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) or pass-through controllers

●     Support for Optional SD Card or M.2 SATA drives for flexible boot and local storage capabilities

●     Support for up to 2 optional GPUs

●     Support for one rear storage mezzanine card

●     Support for one 16-GB internal flash USB drive

Conclusion

The Cisco B200 M5 is one of the top blade-based thin servers on the market. It’s affordable and easy to manage, making it a great choice for small businesses or those just starting out with server virtualization. If you’re looking for an affordable way to get started with server virtualization, the Cisco B200 M5 is a great option.

What Is the Latest Feature On the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch?

The Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch is a powerful, high-performance switch designed for use in data center environments. The switch offers 48 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet, with each port capable of supporting up to 40 Gbps of bandwidth. The switch also supports 32 ports of Fibre Channel, with each port capable of supporting up to 8 Gbps of bandwidth. In addition, the switch offers a variety of features that make it well-suited for use in data center environments, such as support for virtualization and network security.

The switch is designed for high-density 10GE deployments, providing up to 10 times the bandwidth of traditional 1GE switches. The switch also supports advanced features such as hardware-based Quality of Service (QoS), virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN), and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS).

Benefits of the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch

The Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch is designed to provide a high-density, low-power consumption solution for data center environments. The switch offers 48 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports and 6 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports in a 1U form factor. The latest features of the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch include:

High density and high availability

The Cisco Nexus 5548P provides 48 1/10-Gbps ports in 1RU, and the upcoming Cisco Nexus 5596 Switch provides a density of 96 1/10-Gbps ports in 2RUs. The Cisco Nexus 5500 Series is designed with redundant and hot-swappable power and fan modules that can be accessed from the front panel, where status lights offer an at-a-glance view of switch operation. To support efficient data center hot- and cold-aisle designs, front-to-back cooling is used for consistency with server designs.

Nonblocking line-rate performance 

All the 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports on the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform can handle packet flows at wire speed. The absence of resource sharing helps ensure the best performance of each port regardless of the traffic patterns on other ports. The Cisco Nexus 5548P can have 48 Ethernet ports at 10 Gbps sending packets simultaneously without any effect on performance, offering true 960-Gbps bidirectional bandwidth. The upcoming Cisco Nexus 5596 can have 96 Ethernet ports at 10 Gbps, offering true 1.92-terabits per second (Tbps) bidirectional bandwidth.

Low latency

The cut-through switching technology used in the application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) of the Cisco Nexus 5500 Series enables the product to offer a low latency of 2 microseconds, which remains constant regardless of the size of the packet being switched. This latency was measured on fully configured interfaces, with access control lists (ACLs), quality of service (QoS), and all other data path features turned on. The low latency on the Cisco Nexus 5500 Series together with a dedicated buffer per port and the congestion management features described next make the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform an excellent choice for latency-sensitive environments.

Single-stage fabric

 The crossbar fabric on the Cisco Nexus 5500 Series is implemented as a single-stage fabric, thus eliminating any bottleneck within the switches. Single-stage fabric means that a single crossbar fabric scheduler has full visibility into the entire system and can therefore make optimal scheduling decisions without building congestion within the switch. With a single-stage fabric, the congestion becomes exclusively a function of your network design; the switch does not contribute to it.

Congestion management

Keeping latency low is not the only critical element for a high-performance network solution. Servers tend to generate traffic in bursts, and when too many bursts occur at the same time, a short period of congestion occurs. Depending on how the burst of congestion is smoothed out, the overall network performance can be affected. The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform offers a full portfolio of congestion management features to reduce congestion. These features, described next, address congestion at different stages and offer granular control over the performance of the network.

Virtual output queues

The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform implements virtual output queues (VOQs) on all ingress interfaces so that a congested egress port does not affect traffic directed to other egress ports. Every IEEE 802.1p class of service (CoS) uses a separate VOQ in the Cisco Nexus 5500 platform architecture, resulting in a total of 8 VOQs per egress on each ingress interface, or a total of 384 VOQs per ingress interface on the Cisco Nexus 5548P, and a total of 768 VOQs per ingress interface on the Cisco Nexus 5596. The extensive use of VOQs in the system helps ensure high throughput on a per-egress, per-CoS basis. Congestion on one egress port in one CoS does not affect traffic destined for other CoSs or other egress interfaces, thus avoiding head-of-line (HOL) blocking, which would otherwise cause congestion to spread.

Separate egress queues for unicast and multicast

Traditionally, switches support 8 egress queues per output port, each servicing one IEEE 802.1p CoS. The Cisco Nexus 5500 platform increases the number of egress queues by supporting 8 egress queues for unicast and 8 egress queues for multicast. This support allows the separation of unicast and multicast that are contending for system resources within the same CoS and provides more fairness between unicast and multicast. Through configuration, the user can control the amount of egress port bandwidth for each of the 16 egress queues.

Lossless Ethernet with priority flow control (PFC)

By default, Ethernet is designed to drop packets when a switching node cannot sustain the pace of the incoming traffic. Packet drops make Ethernet very flexible in managing random traffic patterns injected into the network, but they effectively make Ethernet unreliable and push the burden of flow control and congestion management up to a higher level in the network stack.

PFC offers point-to-point flow control of Ethernet traffic based on IEEE 802.1p CoS. With a flow-control mechanism in place, congestion does not result in drops, transforming Ethernet into a reliable medium. The CoS granularity then allows some CoSs to gain a no-drop, reliable, behavior while allowing other classes to retain traditional best-effort Ethernet behavior. The no-drop benefits are significant for any protocol that assumes reliability at the media level, such as FCoE.

However, there are also some potential drawbacks to using this particular switch. One issue that has been raised is that the switch does not support Layer 3 switching, which can limit its usefulness in certain environments. Additionally, some users have reported issues with the web interface on the switch, although these appear to be relatively minor. Overall, the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch is a powerful and versatile option for data center networks but should be evaluated carefully before being deployed.

How the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Compares to Other Switches

The Cisco Nexus 5548UP switch is a powerful and versatile addition to any network. It offers a variety of features that make it an ideal choice for both small and large networks. Here’s a look at how the Cisco Nexus 5548UP switch compares to other switches on the market:

– The Cisco Nexus 5548UP switch offers 48 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet, making it one of the most scalable switches on the market.

– The switch includes eight 10GE SFP+ ports and two 40GE QSFP+ ports, providing flexibility and high-speed connectivity.

– The switch supports a virtual Port Channel (vPC), allowing for increased redundancy and resiliency.

– The switch is compliant with the IEEE 802.3af Power over Ethernet standard, making it easy to deploy in PoE environments.

– The switch is backed by a comprehensive warranty and support package, ensuring peace of mind for years to come.

Conclusion

The latest feature of the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch is its support for the Unified Port Controller (UPC). This new feature allows the switch to provide greater flexibility and scalability for unified data center deployments. The UPC makes it possible to connect multiple 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and InfiniBand ports in a single device, which simplifies administration and reduces costs. In addition, the UPC provides enhanced security features, including support for Access Control Lists (ACLs) and role-based access control (RBAC).

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