Vm-Fex Terminology - Cisco Nexus 6000 Series Configuration Manual

VM-FEX Terminology

• Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide
• Cisco UCS Manager VM-FEX for VMware GUI Configuration Guide
Virtual Interface Card Adapter
VM-FEX is supported by the Cisco UCS P81E Virtual Interface Card (VIC), a dual-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet
PCIe adapter that supports static or dynamic virtualized interfaces, including up to 128 virtual network interface
cards (vNICs).
The configuration of the VIC and its vNICs is performed using the CIMC interface on the Cisco UCS C-Series
servers.
FEX
The physical ports of the server can be connected directly to the switch or to a fabric extender (FEX) connected
to the switch. VM-FEX is supported by the Cisco Nexus Fabric Extender.
VM-FEX and AFEX require that the FEX is connected with a fabric PO and not individual links.
Switch
VM-FEX is supported by the Cisco Nexus device. Although a single switch chassis can be connected with
VM-FEX, a typical application uses a pair of switches deployed as a virtual port channel (vPC) domain.
On the switch, a vEthernet interface represents the vNIC. All operations performed by the network administrator
are performed on the vEthernet interface.
VM-FEX Terminology
The following terms are used in describing VM-FEX components and interfaces:
virtual Ethernet interface
dynamic interface
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series NX-OS Layer 2 Switching Configuration Guide, Release 7.x
186
A virtual Ethernet interface (vEthernet or vEth) represents the switch port that is connected to the vNIC
of a virtual machine. Unlike a traditional switch interface, a vEth interface's name does not indicate the
module with which the port is associated. Where a traditional physical switch port is specified as
GigX/Y, where X is the module number and Y is the port number on the module, a vEth interface is
specified as vEthY. This notation allows the interface to keep the same name when the VM migrates
to another physical server.
A dynamic interface is a vEthernet interface that is configured automatically as a result of adapter and
switch communications. The provisioning model of a dynamic interface consists of the configuration
on the switch of a vEthernet port profile, which is propagated to the network adapter as a port group,
followed by the association of the port group with the vNIC. The port profile is created in the switch
by the network administrator, while the association with the vNIC is performed on the adapter by the
server administrator.
Configuring VM-FEX