Hi Wilson, To start with I would recommend the following deployment guide: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/nexus-1000v-switch-vmware-vsphere/guide_c07-556626.html#wp9000164 It covers the basic concepts and deployment methodology.    Next you can refer the Nexus 1000v Getting started guide below. It covers all the steps involved in the implementation. http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus1000/sw/4_2_1_s_v_1_4_b/getting_started/configuration/guide/n1000v_gsg.html   Lastly, you can also look up videos posted on Youtube for ease of installation & configuration once you go through the above guides if needed.   Thanks, Avinash ... View more

Including the details around advanced edition for reference. Maximum Supported Configurations - Advanced Edition ●  250 VMware ESX or ESXi hosts per VSM ●  10000 virtual Ethernet ports per VMware vDS, with 990 virtual Ethernet ports per physical host ●  4096 active VLANs ●  6144 active VXLANs ●  6144 port profiles ●  32 physical NICs per physical host ●  1024 PortChannels per VMware vDS, with 8 PortChannels per physical host ... View more

Hi Aziz, Thanks for your question. We will definitely take your feedback and share it with our development team/Business Unit. Although, If you look at the (below) details of maximum supported configurations in Essential Configuration. We can have upto 300 vEths (roughly around 100+ VMs per host assuming each one has around 3 vEth/adapter), 32 Physical NICs and 8 Port-Channels per Physical Host/ESXi server. Though I understand that these may not be too high for large Data Center but it should suffice any small to medium Data Center easily. You can also refer specific version release notes for changes in these values: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus1000/sw/5_2_1_s_v_3_1_2/release/notes/n1000v_rn.html Maximum Supported Configurations - Essential Edition ●  128 VMware ESX or ESXi hosts per VSM ●  4096 virtual Ethernet ports per VMware vDS, with 300 virtual Ethernet ports per physical host ●  2048 active VLANs ●  2048 active VXLANs ●  2048 port profiles ●  32 physical NICs per physical host ●  256 PortChannels per VMware vDS, with 8 PortChannels per physical host ... View more

Thanks for the perfect question to start the discussion. Following are the top of my mind reasons why I would prefer Nexus 1000v: - Nexus 1000v gives us the same management ability/interface as for any other physical switch. It has supervisory module and line cards (ESXi hosts which act as line card) similar to a physical switch. This makes the transition from physical to virtual world easy. - The integration and transition from vSwitch/dVS to Nexus 1000v is now very simple. - Not to forget the advanced switching features which are made available to VMs through Nexus 1000V. - For example, we can use features like Quality of Service (QoS); rate limits; switched port analyzer; NetFlow; Security Features like - access control lists; port security; authentication, authorization and accounting; VLANs; and port channels (to name a few). - Finally Nexus 1000v is Free which means no additional cost. (Basic features do not need any licenses) Hope this help!  ... View more