Cisco Systems Nexus 7000 Series


Cisco Systems Nexus 7000 Series











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Cisco Systems
Nexus 7000 Series

by Faulkner Staff

Copyright 2019, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved.

Docid: 00011575

Publication Date: 1907

Report Type: PRODUCT

Preview

The Cisco Nexus 7000 Series is the company’s next-generation data center switch
portfolio for mission-critical applications. The products are designed to provide enterprise efficiency and longevity with
scalability to support virtualization. Included within this suite is the 7700
Nexus Series. 

Report Contents:

Description

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The
Nexus 7000 switching platform is the flagship product in Cisco’s line of
data center products. 


Related Faulkner Reports
Cisco Systems Company Profile

The
Nexus 7000 Series is the result of significant research and development from
Cisco Systems. Cisco reports that it took four years of development at a total
cost of $250 million to develop the product, which uses 1,513 Cisco patents.
Announced in
July 2013, the 7700 switches are a product line that are not
backwards compatible with any components from the 7000 series. These newer
models have much larger port densities. 


Vendor

Name: Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134
Phone: (408) 526-4000
Toll-Free: 800-553-6387
Web: https://www.cisco.com/
Type of Vendor: Data Networking & Server Vendor
Founded: 1984
Service Areas: Worldwide
Stock: CSCO (NASDAQ)

The Nexus 7000 Series Switches are the foundation for Cisco’s Unified Fabric.
These modular data center switches are designed for highly scalable Ethernet
networks and are intended to meet the needs for mission-critical data centers.
All Nexus 7000 Series chassis are supported by the vendor’s NX-OS Software,
which was specifically developed for mission-critical enterprise and service
provider deployments.  

Both the Nexus 7000 Series and the 7700 Series are designed to be
energy-efficient. According to Cisco, the 7000 switches use power supplies that
are 90 percent efficient to avoid lost power wasted as heat. Cisco notes that
the 7700 Series are 96 percent and 90 percent efficient or greater due to the
3.5-kW and 3-kW power supplies that are used. 

Available Models

Cisco offers eight models between the Nexus 7000 and 7700 series. The table below compares
the four models in the 7000 series. 

Table 1. Cisco Nexus 7000 Models

Specifications

Nexus 7000 4-Slot

Nexus 7000 9-Slot

Nexus 7000 10-Slot

Nexus 7000 18-Slot
Target Market Small- and mid-sized data centers,
co-locations, small operation zones		 Medium data center and
campus deployments		 Large data centers

Large data centers

Slots

4-slot chassis

9-slot chassis

10-slot chassis

18-slot chassis

Max Local Switching Capacity

 600 Gbps 600 Gbps 600 Gbps 600 Gbps

Power Module Slots

4 modules

2 modules

3 modules

4 modules

Fabric Module Slots

0 modules—Does not support
fabric modules

5 modules

5 modules

5 modules

Supervisor Modules

2: Dual supervisor modules
provide redundancy and high
availability

2: Dual supervisor modules
provide redundancy in the data
center 

2: Dual supervisor modules
provide redundancy in the data
center 

2: Dual supervisor modules
provide redundancy in the data
center

Interface Modules

2, with support for:

– 96 x 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet
ports
– 12 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet
ports
– 4 x 100 Gigabit Ethernet
ports

7: with support for:

– 336 x 1 and 10 Gigabit
Ethernet ports
– 42 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports
– 14 x 100 Gigabit Ethernet
ports

9, with support for:

– 384 x 1 and 10 Gigabit
Ethernet ports
– 48 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports
– 16 x 100 Gigabit Ethernet
ports

16, with support for:

– 768 x 1 and 10 Gigabit
Ethernet ports
– 96 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports
– 32 x 100 Gigabit Ethernet
ports

Programming Interface

XML, scriptable command-line
interface, and Cisco DCNM 6.1(2)
Web services

XML, scriptable command-line
interface, Cisco DSCM 5.2 Web
services

XML, scriptable command-line
interface, Cisco DCNM 4.0 Web
services

XML, scriptable command-line
interface, Cisco DCNM 4.1 Web
services. 

Table 2 compares the Nexus 7700 models.

Table 2. Cisco Nexus 7700 Models

Specifications

Nexus 7700 2-Slot

Nexus 7700-6 Slot

Nexus 7700 10-Slot

Nexus 7700 18-Slot

Target Market

Small campus and data centers

Small- to medium-sized data centers

Large data centers

Very large data centers

Slots

2-slot chassis

6-slot chassis

10-slot chassis

18-slot chassis

System Forwarding Capacity

No fabric modules. All I/O
modules are line rate. 

10.5T bps

21T
bps

42T bps

Power Module Slots

2 modules

4 modules

8 modules

16 modules

Fabric Module Slots

0 modules—Does not support
fabric modules

6 modules

6 modules

6 modules

Supervisor Modules

1—dedicated half-slot supervisor

2—dedicated half-slot supervisors
provide redundancy

2—dedicated half-slot supervisors
provide redundancy

2—dedicated half-slot supervisors
provide redundancy

Interface Modules

1, with support for

–  

48 x 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet
ports
–  

24 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports
– 

12 x 100 Gigabit Ethernet ports

4, with support for:

– 192 x 1 and 10 Gigabit
Ethernet ports
– 96 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports
– 48 x 100 Gigabit Ethernet
ports

8, with support for:

– 384 x 1 and 10 Gigabit
Ethernet ports
– 192 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet
ports
– 96 x 100 Gigabit Ethernet
ports

16, with support for::

– 768 x 1 and 10 Gigabit
Ethernet ports
– 384 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet
ports
– 192 x 100 Gigabit Ethernet
ports

Programming Interface

XML, scriptable command-line
interface, Cisco DCNM Web
services, Python, Tool Command
Language, Cisco IOS Embedded
Event Manager, Cisco One
Platform Kit, OpenFlow

XML, scriptable command-line
interface, Cisco DCNM Web
services, Python, Tool Command
Language, Cisco IOS Embedded
Event Manager, Cisco One Platform
Kit, OpenFlow

XML, scriptable command-line
interface, Cisco DCNM Web
services, Python, Tool Command
Language, Cisco IOS Embedded
Event Manager, Cisco One Platform
Kit, OpenFlow

XML, scriptable command-line
interface, Cisco DCNM Web
services, Python, Tool Command
Language, Cisco IOS Embedded
Event Manager, Cisco One Platform
Kit, OpenFlow

Primary Components

The
main components of the Nexus 7000 are the supervisor modules, interface modules,
and operating system.

Supervisor Module.
A key component of the Nexus 7000 is the Supervisor Module, which provides a
control plane and management functions for the chassis. Dual supervisors enable
a redundant system that provides availability and continuous operation. The
supervisor uses a dedicated connectivity management processor (CMP), based on
dual-core Intel processors, to support remote management and troubleshooting of
the system for lights out management. The supervisor module includes a packet
capture and protocol decoding tool that analyzes control-plane traffic.

Interface
Modules.

Other key components are the interface modules, which come in a variety of
configurations depending upon the type of chassis being used.

Table 3. Cisco Nexus Interface Modules

I/O Module Series

Available Configurations

Cisco Nexus 7700 M3 Series

12 port 100 G

24 port 40 Gigabit Ethernet 

48 port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet

Cisco Nexus 7000 F2e Series

48 port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet

Cisco Nexus 7000 F3 Series

12 port 40 Gigabit Ethernet

6 port 100 Gigabit Ethernet

Cisco Nexus 7700 F3 Series

24 port 40 Gigabit Ethernet

12 port 100 Gigabit Ethernet

48 port fiber 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet
Cisco Nexus 7000 M3 Series 48 port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet

24 port 40 Gigabit Ethernet
Cisco Nexus 7000 M2 Series 24 port 10 Gigabit Ethernet

6 port 40 Gigabit Ethernet

2 port 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet

Environment

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The Nexus 7000 switches run on the company’s NX OS operating system, a modular
platform capable of supporting virtualization in the data center, both in terms
of partitioning a single switch into multiple devices or combining port channels
from two switches. The Cisco NX-OS operating system is currently in Release 7.0.

The minimum OS requirements for the Nexus 7000 switches varies from model to
model.

Table 4. Cisco Nexus
7000 and 7700 Operating System Requirements

Series

Minimum OS

Nexus 7000 Series

7.3(3)D1(1), 8.2(3)

Nexus 7700 Series

7.3(3)D1(1), 8.2(3)

Support

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Cisco offers customers a variety of support options for
the Nexus 7000 Series switches. It is able to customize support offerings with people, processes, tools, and partners. Cisco’s
Web site offers a wealth of self-service options for customers including
documentation, downloads, and community information. For those requiring
additional help, technical support can be contacted via an online form or by
phone at toll-free numbers. 

Cisco also offers SMARTnet Service, which provides 24
hour access to the vendor’s technical assistance center,
hardware replacement, and personalized Web and mobile
support. 

All Nexus 7000 Series Switches come with Cisco’s one-year limited hardware
warranty. 

Pricing

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Cisco must be contacted directly for specific pricing for the Nexus 7000 Series.

Competitors

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The
Nexus 7000 and 7700 Series compete against switches offered by several vendors,
including:

  • Dell EMC PowerSwitch Data Center S Series

  • Extreme Networks SLX Series and VDX Series*

  • Hewlett Packard Enterprise FlexFabric

  • Juniper Networks EX Series

* Previously, Extreme’s SLX Series and VDX Series belonged to Brocade, which
is now folded into Broadcom. Brocade’s data center switches were acquired by
Extreme in 2017. 

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