Nexus 93180YC-FX Fiber channel support

[Alexander Pickar]

Hi Community,

Does the Nexus 93180YC-FX NX-OS switch already support Fiber Channel interfaces?

- The datasheet says, that the downlink ports are FC capable

- The NX-OS configuration guide does not mention Fiber Channel interface configuration, only FCoE configuration chapter is included.

- Also the release notes only mentions FCoE config.

What Fiber Channel SFP transceivers are currently supported?

Regards,

Alexander Pickar

[Walter Dey]

According to https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/nexus-93180yc-fx-switch/index.html it does ? are you interested in ACI leaf ?

At least from the ACI point of view, FC is only supported on the downlink ports; uplink only supports FCoE.

Therefore you cannot build a native FC fabric across the ACI backbone !

Most likely only FC F ports are supported, no E ports. 

• Seamless convergence thanks to 48 downlink ports that can work as 1/10/25-Gbps Ethernet or FCoE ports or as 8/16/32-Gbps Fibre Channel ports
• Easy migration with 6 uplink ports that can be configured as 40/100-Gbps Ethernet or FCoE ports

[Alexander Pickar]

Hi Walter, I am really asking about the NX-OS mode, not ACI. Also, I am interrested in the native FC interfaces, not FCoE. Any info here? Regards, Alexander Pickar

[Rick1776]

Currently only supports FCoE
NPV will be supported Q1CY18
Will be licensed on port usage

[Walter Dey]

Hi Alexander

This is really confusing ! If you check the license documentation, and check for native Fibrechannel

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/sw/nx-os/licensing/guide/b_Cisco_NX-OS_Licensing_Guide/b_Cisco_NX-OS_Licensing_Guide_chapter_01.pdf

you will see below and no mention of N9k, only N5k and N6k.

• Native Fibre Channel • FCoE • NPV • FC Port Security • Fabric Binding • Fibre Channel Security Protocol (FC-SP) Authentication

N56-16p-SSK9 N56-12P-SSK920 N5672-72P-SSK9 N56128-128P-SSK9 N56-20P-SSK921 N56-12Q-SSK9 N56-4Q-SSK9 N56-48Q-SSK9 S

N6001-16P-SSK9 N6004-4Q-SSK9 N6004-12Q-SSK9 N6K-16P-SSK99 N6K-20P-SSK910 N6001-64P-SSK9 N6004-96Q-SSK9

There are however other documents like installation guides, that mention native FC.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus9000/hw/n93180ycfx_hig/guide/b_n93180ycFX_nxos_hardware_installation_guide/b_n93180ycFX_nxos_hardware_installation_guide_chapter_01010.html

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/datasheet-c78-736651.html

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus9000/sw/7-x/interfaces/configuration/guide/b_Cisco_Nexus_9000_Series_NX-OS_Interfaces_Configuration_Guide_7x/b_Cisco_Nexus_9000_Series_NX-OS_Interfaces_Configuration_Guide_7x_chapter_010....

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus9000/sw/7-x/FCoE/configuration/guide/b_Cisco_Nexus_9000_Series_NX-OS_FCoE_Configuration_Guide_7x/b_Cisco_Nexus_9000_Series_NX-OS_FCoE_Configuration_Guide_7x_chapter_010.html

[Rick1776]

Your right it’s totally confusing. They only way I found my information was by asking an engineer in the 9k BU. I told him the same thing. I guess they jumped the gun a little.

[Alexander Pickar]

Hi Rick,

Thanks for pointing out. My initial question was triggered by a request from a customer, who is looking for replacement of his Nexus 5548 switches.

From the FC NPV documentation, I understand, that this feature is still not a full replacement, at least this note indicates that:

Fibre Channel switching is not performed in the edge switch; all traffic is switched in the core switch.

By the way, this is a funny FC NPV documentation bug:

Ports can be converted only in groups (sequential or random) of 5 (multiples of 4).

Alexander

[Walter Dey]

Hi Alexander

What is the motivation of your customer, abandoning N5k ?

Besides MDS which is a native FC switch, the only other platforms which support FC, FCoE and Ethernet are Nexus 5k and 6k.

[Alexander Pickar]

Hi Walter,

We were proposing Nexus 5600  as the replacement box for their 5548, but then the customer has had a look into the Nexus 9300-FX datasheets, where they found the statement about FiberChannel support. They liked, that this is a newer platform which should also have FC ports. The Nexus 9300-FX was also a cheaper option, has 10/25 Ethernet port support for server connectivity .... if the FC support was really there, you might find some reasons, why to go after the N9k instead of N5k6.

Even from my perspective, I would say, that N9k-FX is a new box and should stay on the market for a longer period of time. On the other hand, I understand, that Nexus 5600 is a successor of the N5k product line.

Any information about the near future of the Nexus 5600 series? Are there any dates when to expect EoS of this product? (I understand, that this will not happen in 2018 though).

Regards,

Alexander

• Add to Phrasebook
  • No wordlists for English -> English...
  • Create a new wordlist...
• Copy

• Add to Phrasebook
  • No wordlists for English -> English...
  • Create a new wordlist...
• Copy

[Walter Dey]

OK, understood !

I compare this case with FCoE which is very misleading as well; it's ACI leaf based, but the limitation of FCoE support becomes clear, if you see Fig. 1 in

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/aci/apic/sw/2-x/L2_config/b_Cisco_APIC_Layer_2_Configuration_Guide/b_Cisco_APIC_Layer_2_Configuration_Guide_chapter_01100.html

Therefore if you see FC or FCoE support, ask what this means; full functionality or just N, NP port, NPV but no E port or NPIV (FCF)

[Alexander Pickar]

Yes, for me the (non-existing) documentation is absolutelly misleading.

Even though the Nexus 9000-FX line datasheet specifically mentions Fiber Channel support ("Fibre Channel interfaces are supported for back-end storage connectivity (93180YC-FX only)."), the fact is, that support was not there until recently. And now, you still have to ask about the various FC feature support.... For me, dealing rather with the data networking part, this is a nightmare.

But let's take it from the better part, at least I have a reason to review the SAN terms and technologies :-)

Regards,

Alexander

[Rick1776]

They just realeased general availability for FC NPV for the FX version of switches. For versions NX-OS 7.0(3)I7(2) and NXOS 7.0(3)F3(3)

Remember you still have to have the correct license.
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/sw/nx-os/licensing/guide/b_Cisco_NX-OS_Licensing_Guide/b_Cisco_NX-OS_Licensing_Guide_chapter_01.html

[maoliver]

If you go to this datasheet, you'll see that they support FC...

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/datasheet-c78-738259.html

If you go to this datasheet, you'll see that there is a footnote '[1]' stating that it's on the roadmap.
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/datasheet-c78-736651.html

I sure would like to know when, even if it's just an estimate.  I have not upgraded to the nx-os the one just released this month, I assume when this FC feature comes then the ports will be like on the 5K UP ports where you have to change the port type to FC. 

[Rick1776]

The way you configure them will be the same as the Nexus 5K as you pointed out. 

[Alexander Pickar]

Even with the latest N9k NX-OS release, our customer still has to wait for the FC support as is on the N5k. Currently, only FC NPV is supported with no local FC switching.

(as documentation says, one of the limitation is "Fibre Channel switching is not performed in the edge switch; all traffic is switched in the core switch.").

Alexander