Policy Mobility; Installation; Virtual Supervisor Module - Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Deployment Manual

Switch# show port-profile name Basic-VM
port-profile Basic-VM
...
config attributes:
...
When a new virtual machine is provisioned, the server administrator selects the appropriate port profile. The Cisco
Nexus 1000V Series creates a new switch port based on the policies defined by the port profile. The server
administrator can reuse the port profile to provision similar virtual machines as needed.
Port profiles are also used to configure the physical NICs in a server. These port profiles, known as uplink port
profiles, are assigned to the physical NICs as part of the installation of the VEM on a VMware ESX host.

Policy Mobility

Network policies enforced by a port profile follow the virtual machine throughout its lifecycle, whether the virtual
machine is being migrated from one server to another, suspended, hibernated, or restarted. In addition to migrating
the policy, the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series moves the virtual machine's network state, such as the port counters and
flow statistics. Virtual machines participating in traffic monitoring activities, such as Cisco NetFlow or Encapsulated
Remote Switched Port Analyzer (ERSPAN), can continue these activities uninterrupted by VMotion operations.

Installation

Installation of the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series is outside the scope of this document. This section describes the
installation at a very high level for conceptual completeness. For guidance and detailed instructions about installation,
please refer to the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches installation guide.
1. The network administrator installs the VSM and defines one or more uplink port profiles.
2. The server administrator uses a standard web browser to download the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series plug-in from
the VSM and installs it in VMware vCenter Server.
3. The network administrator creates a link between the VSM and VMware vCenter Server. This process creates an
instance of the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series within VMware vCenter Server.
4. The server administrator adds VMware ESX hosts to the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series using the VMware vSphere
Client, assigning the uplink port profiles to the appropriate physical NICs.
5. The network administrator defines one or more port profiles to be used by virtual machines and other virtual
interfaces.
At this point, the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series installation is complete. The server administrator can begin assigning
port profiles to virtual machines, providing network connectivity to the guest OS.

Virtual Supervisor Module

The VSM provides the management plane functions of the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series. Much like a supervisor
module of a Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switch, the VSM is the single point of management for the network
administrator, providing coordination of configuration and functions across VEMs.
Unlike a traditional Cisco switch, in which the management plane is integrated into the hardware, the VSM is
deployed as a virtual machine. Running Cisco NX-OS Software, the Cisco Nexus operating system, the Cisco Nexus
1000V Series VSM is installed in a way similar to other virtual machines (such as those running Linux or Microsoft
Windows), using either an ISO file or an Open Virtualization Format (OVF) template.
© 2009 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
switchport mode access
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Deployment Guide
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