Book excerpt from NX-OS and Cisco Nexus Switching

Excerpt from NX-OS and Cisco Nexus Switching: Next-Generation Data Center Architectures.

This chapter provides an introduction and overview of NX-OS and a comparison between traditional IOS and NX-OS configurations and terminology. The following sections will be covered in this chapter:

	Excerpt from NX-OS and Cisco Nexus Switching: Next-Generation Data Center Architectures.
By Kevin Corbin, Ron Fuller, and David Jansen Published by Cisco Press ISBN-10: 1-58705-892-8 ISBN-13: 978-1-58705-892-9

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This chapter provides an introduction and overview of NX-OS and a comparison between traditional IOS and NX-OS configurations and terminology. The following sections will be covered in this chapter:

• NX-OS Overview

• NX-OS User Modes

• Management Interfaces

• Managing System Files

NX-OS Overview

Cisco built the next-generation data center-class operating system designed for maximum scalability and application availability. The NX-OS data center-class operating system was built with modularity, resiliency, and serviceability at its foundation. NX-OS is based on the industry-proven Cisco Storage Area Network Operating System (SAN-OS) Software and helps ensure continuous availability to set the standard for mission-critical data center environments. The self-healing and highly modular design of Cisco NX-OS enables for operational excellence increasing the service levels and enabling exceptional operational flexibility. Several advantages of Cisco NX-OS include the following:

• Unified data center operating system

• Robust and rich feature set with a variety of Cisco innovations

• Flexibility and scalability

• Modularity

• Virtualization

• Resiliency

• IPv4 and IPv6 IP routing and multicast features

• Comprehensive security, availability, serviceability, and management features

Key features and benefits of NX-OS include

• Virtual device contexts (VDC): Cisco Nexus 7000 Series switches can be segmented into virtual devices based on customer requirements. VDCs offer several benefits such as fault isolation, administration plane, separation of data traffic, and enhanced security.

• Virtual Port Channels (vPC): Enables a server or switch to use an EtherChannel across two upstream switches without an STP-blocked port to enable use of all available uplink bandwidth.

• Continuous system operation: Maintenance, upgrades, and software certification can be performed without service interruptions due to the modular nature of NX-OS and features such as In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) and the capability for processes to restart dynamically.

• Security: Cisco NX-OS provides outstanding data confidentiality and integrity, supporting standard IEEE 802.1AE link-layer cryptography with 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cryptography. In addition to CTS, there are many additional security features such as access control lists (ACL) and port-security, for ­example.

• Base services: The default license that ships with NX-OS covers Layer 2 protocols including such features such as Spanning Tree, virtual LANs (VLAN), Private VLANS, and Unidirectional Link Detection (UDLD).

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