Nexus 2248

[Maurice Ball]

  Can a Nexus 2248 be connected to a Catalyst 2960?

[Edwin Summers]

If you mean can the 2960 "host" a Nexus 2248, then no.  The 2248 by itself is a "dumb" device, and depends on a Nexus 5k or Nexus 7k to be the host switch.  When connected, the 2248 is effectively an extension of the host switch.  Think of it as a line card on the host switch that can simply be installed away from the host.  All traffic traveling from port to port in the 2248 must actually go to the host switch first, then back.

If you're asking if a port on the 2248 can be connected to a port on a 2960 simply for the purposes of connecting two switches together, then I see no problem with that.  Again, the 2248 must be connected to a host (N5k or N7k) via FEX to be able to operate, but I don't see any reason why one of the ports wouldn't be able to connect to a 2960 simply for the purposes of passing traffic.

But I suspect your question asks if the 2248 can be connected to the 2960 to extend the ports available on the 2960.  That answer would be "no".

Best regards,

Ed

[Maurice Ball]

Sorry, for the vague question. The Nexus 2248 is connected to a Nexus 5548 as a FEX extender. My question is can you connect a Catalyst 2960 to the 2248 Fex. I was told that you could only connect host to the ports on the FEX and not switches because bpdu guard is hard coded enabled on all FEX ports.

　

[Edwin Summers · Accepted solution]

Ah - I learned something today.  I probably heard that in a prior training session but forgot.

So, I found a couple of posts that may be useful, but will defer this to someone with more N2k experience.  From what I've read, it is possible but not supported/recommended.

https://supportforums.cisco.com/thread/2095682

http://www.fragmentationneeded.net/2010/10/you-can-connect-switch-to-nexus-fabric.html

[Maurice Ball]

great info. thanks for the help

[Andras Dosztal · Accepted solution]

You're right, that's why it is not recommended in a production environment. If you connect the 2960 without creating loops, and set its FEX facing ports to portfast with bpdu filter, it will work.


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[Maurice Ball]

thanks for the help