Ethernet Tor Switch Topology - Cisco nexus 5000 series Cli Configuration Manual

Chapter 1 Product Overview
Typical Deployment Topologies
S e n d f e e d b a c k t o n x 5 0 0 0 - d o c f e e d b a c k @ c i s c o . c o m

Ethernet TOR Switch Topology

The Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch can be deployed as a 10-Gigabit Ethernet top-of-rack (TOR) switch,
with uplinks to the data center LAN distribution layer switches. An example configuration in shown in
Figure 1-2.
In this example, the blade server rack incorporates blade switches that support 10-Gigabit Ethernet
uplinks to the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch. The blade switches do not support FCoE, so there is no
FCoE traffic and no Fibre Channel ports on the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch.
In the example configuration, the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch has Ethernet uplinks to two Catalyst
switches. If STP is enabled in the data center LAN, the links to one of the switches will be STP active
and the links to the other switch will be STP blocked.
Figure 1-2 Ethernet TOR Switch Topology
SAN-A LAN Core SAN-B
Distribution
layer
Cisco
Access
Nexus Switch
MDS9134 Layer
All of the server-side ports on the Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switch are running standard Ethernet. FCoE
is not required, so the server ports are connected using 10-Gigabit Ethernet NICs.
The servers are connected to the data center SAN through MDS 9134 SAN switches. The server Fibre
Channel ports require standard Fibre Channel HBAs.
Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch CLI Software Configuration Guide
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