Nexus 9504 - ISSU

[illusion_rox]

Dear Experts, 

I am new to Nexus series so please bear with me. We are working with a customer who wants to replace their existing 6509 with Nexus 9504 switches. They primarily are interested in 2 features 

1. Virtual Stacking (i think vPC?)
2. ISSU (no downtime at all, user should not see any disconnection)

Customer wants redundant solution so we have to propose them 2 x 9504. What shall i do next to achieve above especially ISSU? do i need redundant SUP for both chassis? 

1. If i select 2 x SUP for both chassis, can i do ISSU?
2. If i select 1 x SUP for each chassis, can i still do ISSU?

[Reza Sharifi]

Hi,

The replacement for 6500 is the 6500 series as the Nexus platform is mainly used in the data centers. Regarding ISSU, you have to be careful with that as ISSU does not work for every upgrade especially when you go from one major version to another.  It usually works fine for minor version upgrades.  The other thing you need to know is that ISSU requires the devices to be used as layer-2 only.  If you are using the device for layer-3, ISSU upgrade is usually a problem. 6800 configured as VSS works well for campus environments.

HTH