Nexus 1000 Family Release: July, 2011 Nexus 1000V: Release 1.4a [4.2(1)SV1(4a)] Supports vSphere 5 and stateless ESXi VSM backup/restore ISSU support to upgrade VSM from 1.4 to 1.4a vPC-HM enhancements Long distance (DC-to-DC) vMotion support Nexus 1010: Release 1.3 [4.2(1)SP1(3)] Instantiate up to 6 VSMs (from 4 earlier) Now also instantiate Virtual Security Gateway (up to 6 VSGs) VSB export/import Redundant power supply Long distance (DC-to-DC) vMotion support Virtual Security Gateway: Release 1.2 [4.2(1)VSG1(2)] More VM-attributes for creating security policies TCP reset action (in addition to permit/deny/log) Long distance (DC-to-DC) vMotion support Virtual Network Management Center:Release 1.2.1 [VNMC 1.2.1b] Single-page policy editor Per-tenant dashboard Ability to export policy objects into a pdf/xls document (in addition to xml) Feature details of the four releases listed above can be found in attached PDF Presentation below which includes: What’s new? Links to documentation and video screen-casts for installation & upgrade Links to CVDs / DIGs that include 1000V / 1010 / VSG Links to webinars, white papers, deployment guides ... View more

This video describes the challenges with server virtualization, and how Nexus 1000V addresses these issues in a systematic way. ... View more

Happy belated birthday, Nexus 1000V.  Cisco first shipped  Nexus 1000V back in May 2009.  Here are some milestones over the past year. Introduced new features, such as DHCP Snooping, IP Source Guard, and Dynamic ARP Inspection, in version 1.2 (December 2009) Released 1.3 with updated installer and ERSPAN Type III, with time stamp and thus the ability for VM performance monitoring Nexus 1010, Virtual Services Appliance, which hosts up to 4 Nexus 1000V Virtual Supervisor Modules, and optional Network Analysis Module (NAM) was shipped in April 2010 Released maintenance release, version 1.3a Over 1,000 customers are using Nexus 1000V It has been a very exciting year for the Nexus 1000V team.  There are also some popular misconceptions that I would like to clear up. Myth 1:  Nexus 1000V is based on proprietary technology. Nexus 1000V is based on IEEE 802.1Q Ethernet standard and frame format.  It is simply a full-featured NX-OS based virtual Ethernet switch that provides security, quality of service and monitoring features that IT network teams are familiar with. Myth 2:  Nexus 1000V uses VNTag for software switching Nexus 1000V does NOT use VNTag for software switching.  It maintains the IEEE 802.1Q standard frame format and can interoperate with any 802.1Q upstream switch. Myth 3:  Nexus 1000V Needs 3 VLANs for Virtual Supervisor Module (VSM) to communicate with Virtual Ethernet Module (VEM) When Nexus 1000V first shipped, Cisco did recommend 3 VLANs for using L2 communication between VSM and VEM.  After doing more testing for  the 1.2 release, Cisco changed the recommendation to only 1 VLAN to ease the deployment. Please take a look at the latest Nexus 1000V Deployment Guide. Myth 4:  VSM and VEM must be in the same L2 domain Since version 1.2, VSM and VEM can communicate over L3.  Hence, VSM and VEM do not need to be in the same L2 domain. Myth 5:  VSM cannot be placed on its own VEM VSM can run on top of its own VEM.  In version 1.3, the automated installer even migrates the VSM to its own VEM Myth 6:  VSM cannot be vMotioned Since version 1.2, Cisco does allow vMotion of the VSM virtual machine.  DRS for the VSM, however, is still not recommended.  Some customers had some misconfigurations when using DRS, and hence Cisco is a bit more cautious.  Of course, for production virtual machines, Nexus 1000V supports vMotion, DRS, Fault Tolerance, and other vSphere features. Myth 7:  Traffic stops when VSM is disconnected. Nexus 1000V has a distributed forwarding model.  Hence, the VSM is not involved in traffic forwarding.  Cisco actually recommends that 2 VSMs are deployed as active/standby pairs.  Even in the case where the VEM is disconnected from the active and standby VSMs, traffic continues to flow based on the last known configuration. Myth 8:  Nexus 1000V only works with Nexus switches Nexus 1000V, being a standard-based IEEE 802.1Q switch, interoperates with any Cisco and non-Cisco Ethernet switch.       We are very encouraged by the strong customer demand for Nexus 1000V.  I can’t wait to share with you some of the innovations that we are planning to highlight at VMworld 2010. See you in San Francisco Han Yang Nexus 1000V Product Manager ... View more

Best Practices in Deploying Cisco Nexus 1000V  Series Switches on Cisco UCS B Series Blade Servers ... View more

Cisco Validated Design for VMware View 4, Nexus 1000V, WAAS, and other Cisco equipment. Cisco Solutions for a VMware View 4.0 Environment Design Guide ... View more

Are you interested in testing the next release of the Nexus 1000V?  Do you want to find out what will be the future of virtual machine  networking? Register for Nexus 1000V Beta! You will be one of the first  to get a sneak peek into the next release of Nexus 1000V. ... View more

Are you interested in testing the next release of the Nexus 1000V? Do you want to find out what will be the future of virtual machine networking? Register for Nexus 1000V Beta! You will be one of the first to get a sneak peek into the next release of Nexus 1000V. ... View more

Are you interested in testing the next release of the Nexus 1000V? Do you want to find out what will be the future of virtual machine networking? Register for Nexus 1000V Beta! You will be one of the first to get a sneak peek into the next release of Nexus 1000V. ... View more

Recently, Cisco and VMware posted a whitepaper titled How to Virtualize the DMZ with 1000V and it was heavily downloaded within hours of its posting.   In fact, within  the first weeks of Nexus 1000V  introduction, this product has received very strong customer adoption with  thousands of evaluation underway.   However, Cisco has been working on much broader view of server virtualization and security in the data center.  Here is a whitepaper that describes the overall security in the virtualized data center with Nexus 1000V in concert with other Cisco products.  Take a look at the following URL. How to Virtualize the DMZ with 1000V Is this similar to how you are securing your virtualized data center? ... View more