Nexus 5548UP to Nexus 2248 design

[rravergalileo]

This past networkers I was at the Cisco booth discussing how the 2248 can connect to the 5548 and have server connectivity.  It was told to me that now, as of a fairly recent NX-OS release, you can have the 2248 going dual-homed to both 5548 via VPC and then have a server connected to both 2248 and be in active-active mode.  Is this correct?

When we first deployed our 5548 and 2248 we had to put the 2248 in a straight pin mode, where it only had connections to one 5548 and then the server would dual connect to the 2248's and be in active-active mode.  I was told that this changed with an NX-OS release however documentation still seems to be fragmented on what exactly is the case.  Anyone have exerpeince or knowledge into the latest releases and capabilities?

Rob

[Reza Sharifi]

Yes, you can uplink your 2248 to both 5548s. Have a look at this link for example and explanation:

you need NX-OS 5.1(3)N1(1) or later: You can also uplink your server to one or both FEXs.

http://nexusfu.blogspot.com/2012/01/enhanced-vpc.html

HTH

[Leo Laohoo]

Duplicate post #1.

[Leo Laohoo]

 It was told to me that now, as of a fairly recent NX-OS release, you can have the 2248 going dual-homed to both 5548 via VPC and then have a server connected to both 2248 and be in active-active mode.  Is this correct?

In THEORY, this is possible.

In PRACTICE, dual homing of a FEX to two 5000/5500 is best avoided.  A mis-configuration can cause the Nexus 5K to have a split brain (worst case scenario).

In practice, it's best to single-home the FEX to a single Nexus 5K.  It is also recommendable to vPC the links to-and-from the 5K and 2K.