Nexus 2000 Series - Cisco WS-C3550-12G Manual

Nexus 2000 Series

®
The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders comprise a category of data
center products designed to simplify data center access architecture and
operations. The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series uses the Cisco
Technology (IEEE 802. 1 BR) to provide a highly scalable server-access architecture
across a range of 100 Megabit Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet,
convergence (FCoE), copper and fiber connectivity, rack, and blade server
environments. The platform is ideal to support today' s traditional Gigabit Ethernet
connectivity while allowing transparent migration to 10 Gigabit Ethernet, virtual
machine-aware fabric technologies.
The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders behave as remote line cards for a
parent Cisco Nexus switch (Cisco Nexus 5000 Series or Nexus 7000 Series
Switches). The fabric extenders essentially behave as extensions of the parent
Cisco Nexus switch fabric. This architecture enables physical topologies with the
flexibility and benefits of both top-of-rack (ToR) and end-of-row (EoR) deployments.
The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series architecture provides the following benefits:
• Architecture flexibility: Common, scalable, and adaptive architecture across
data center racks that support various server options, connectivity options,
physical topologies and evolving needs.
• Highly scalable server access: Scalable Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet server
access with no reliance on Spanning Tree.
• Simplified operations: One single point of management and policy
enforcement using upstream Cisco Nexus switches eases the commissioning
and decommissioning of server racks through zero-touch installation and
automatic configuration of fabric extenders.
• Increased business benefits: Consolidation, cabling reduction, rack space
reduction, reduced power and cooling, investment protection through feature
inheritance from the parent switch, and the capability to add functions without
the need for a major equipment upgrade of server-attached infrastructure all
contribute to reduced operating expenses (OpEx) and capital expenditures
(CapEx).
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