pre-provision 2248 TP FEX on 5596UP

[jgeralsky]

Hello,

1. We would like to pre-provision a 2248TP FEX on my 5596UP (NEXUS 5596 running 5.1(3)N2(1a)). Problem is that I can't choose this FEX model. I have the choice of a 2248T or a 2248TP-E, but no 2248TP. What do we need to do ?

sbnswi1# sho fex det

Extender Model: N2K-C2248TP-1GE

sbnswi1(config-slot)# provision ?

  model  Type of the module to be provisioned

sbnswi01(config-slot)# provision model ?

  N2K-B22HP          Fabric Extender 16x10G Module

  N2K-C2148T         Fabric Extender 48x1G 4x10G Module

  N2K-C2232P         Fabric Extender 32x10G Module

  N2K-C2232TM        Fabric Extender 32x10G Module - Zephyr

  N2K-C2248T         Fabric Extender 48x1G 4x10G Module

  N2K-C2248TP-E-1GE  Fabric Extender 48x1G 4x10G Module

  N2K-N2224TP        Fabric Extender 24x1G 2x10G SFP+ Module

2. on pair of NEXUS 5596 running 5.1(3)N2(1a) with a Layer-3 module installed in both.

    When doing Enhanced vPC - connecting all FEXs dual-homed to both 5596 - how  many FEXs can I have in total ?

I found different information in the documentation. Either 8 or 16 ?

Thank you,

Jan

[jgeralsky]

All,

here is the answer from Cisco :

As far as I understand from your case description you are checking which type of FEX should be taken in order to pre-provision your 2248TP chassis. Besides of that you are looking for number of fabric extenders which N5k-C5596 chassis can handle with L3 daughter card installed. 

So let’s start with first question. Definitely you are right, at first glance NX-OS gives you not full list of fabric extenders:

dewsbnswi001(config-slot)# provision model ?

  N2K-B22HP          Fabric Extender 16x10G Module

  N2K-C2148T         Fabric Extender 48x1G 4x10G Module

  N2K-C2232P         Fabric Extender 32x10G Module

  N2K-C2232TM        Fabric Extender 32x10G Module - Zephyr

  N2K-C2248T         Fabric Extender 48x1G 4x10G Module

  N2K-C2248TP-E-1GE  Fabric Extender 48x1G 4x10G Module

  N2K-N2224TP        Fabric Extender 24x1G 2x10G SFP+ Module

Reality is pretty simple here. Keyword N2K-C2248T covers all 48 Tx models except enhanced version (which has 32MB buffer extension). So for your case, this will be right choice.

And here simple example to prove theory above. I do have N2K-C2248TP-1GE which I am pre-provisioning with N2K-C2248T keyword:

TEST_CHASSIS# sh fex

  FEX         FEX           FEX                       FEX              

Number    Description      State            Model            Serial    

------------------------------------------------------------------------

101        FEX0101                Online     N2K-C2248TP-1GE   JAF1526CELS

TEST_CHASSIS # sh run | egrep -a 1 slot

slot 101

  provision model N2K-C2248T

Regarding to second question I have to admit that with L3 daughter card on board you may have up to 16 fabric extenders (Maximum FEXs dual homed to a vPC switch pair).

Please refer http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus5000/sw/configuration_limits/limits_513/nexus_5000_config_limits_513.html#wp349318 for more information about limits. In fact 8 FEXs limitation was up to 5.0(3)N1(1a). Anyway, your version should support 16 extenders in dual homed config per pair.