VPC ( Etherchannel ) maximum uplinks on Nexus 5K running NX-OS ver 5.2(1)

[Mohammad Al-Ammouri]

Dear Experts,

According to this below document, the maximum member interfaces per EtherChannel in Nuexus 5K switches running NX-OS ver 5.2(1) is sixteen (16):

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus5000/sw/configuration_limits/limits_521/nexus_5000_config_limits_521.html#wp327738

My questions is: What about VPC ? is it maximum 16 links per switch  ( which gives total 32 links in the upstream switch ) or it is maxmimum 16 links per VPC ?

I appreciate if you can guide me to a documentation for the same as I couldn't find any.

Thanks,

Mohammad

[Leo Laohoo]

That means sixteen (16) physical interface PER Etherchannel.   This is the IEEE standard.

You can have, for example, four (4) port-channels and each port-channel have sixteen (16) physical ethernet links.

[Mohammad Al-Ammouri]

Thank you for your quick answer Leo. I understand that IEEE standard is up to 16 x uplinks, but assuming we have two N7K Core switches connected to two N5K switches with VPC links from both sides:

Now, as per IEEE standard and assuming we will have single double sided VPC between the four switches ( 2 x N7Ks and 2 x N5Ks ) the total VPC member ports from each N5K/N7K should be maximum 16 x links ( 8 x uplinks go to each uplink/downlink switch) which would give us total of 160 x Gbps total bandwidth.

If we will use more than one VPC, we will have one of them blocked because of STP and we will still have 160 Gbps bandwisth. Is there any way to go beyond this 160 Gbps bandwidth between those switches ?

I know that 160 Gbps is more than enough for any workload, but we have a customer wants a confirmation for the above question.

Thanks again,

Mohammad

[sean_evershed · Accepted solution]

Not sure that I understand your question. With vPC there is no STP blocking.

According to the vPC design guide, for double sided vPC you get 320Gbps

http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/sw/design/vpc_design/vpc_best_practices_design_guide.pdf

[Mohammad Al-Ammouri]

Hello Leo, If we have two VPCs between the same switches, one of them will be blocked , right ?

[Leo Laohoo]

If we have two VPCs between the same switches, one of them will be blocked

Nope.  No block.