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Single nexus 5K with fabric extenders

suthomas1
Level 6
Level 6

Hi,

I have a bit strange issue. One of our subsidary sites has only following Nexus components;

one 5K ( with Layer 3 board )

one 2248TP

two 2232TM

one 3048TP

There are servers which needs to be connected to these infra. Following are my doubts;

1. Can i link up the 5K with 2248TP & 2232TM fabric extenders together without having another 5K, as what is usually shown in the cisco documents.

   Is there any disadvantage as we do not have a second 5K, apart from redundancy.

2. how would the 3048TP ( which i think is not a fabric extender & has some intelligence, needs correction if wrong ) connect to the 5K.

Appreciate all help.

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

From 5k to 2k, in your case is just  a portchannel.  Once the portchannel created, then you make the portchannel to be a FEX

here is an example:


switch# configure terminal  
switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/40 
switch (config-if)# switchport mode fex-fabric 
switch(config-if)# fex associate 101 

This example shows how to associate the Fabric Extender to an EtherChannel interface:

switch# configure terminal  
switch(config)# interface port-channel 4 
switch(config-if)#
switchport mode fex-fabric 
switch(config-if)# fex associate 101 

HTH

View solution in original post

8 Replies 8

Reza Sharifi
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

1. Can i link up the 5K with 2248TP & 2232TM fabric extenders  together without having another 5K, as what is usually shown in the  cisco documents.

   Is there any disadvantage as we do not have a second 5K, apart from redundancy.

No, disadvantage, but use multiple ports for your uplinks, so you al least have like redundancy.

2. how would the 3048TP ( which i think is not a fabric extender &  has some intelligence, needs correction if wrong ) connect to the 5K.

Yes, the 3048 has layer-2 and layer-3 capabilities and it can do local switching between the ports. You can also use vPC to uplink the 3048 to your 5k.

HTH

Thanks.

So,can i use like 2 links each from N5K to both 2248TP & 2232TM to have redundancy?

Do i need to use vPC to link in this way, based on the documents i read, vPC is more towards connecting two N5K i guess.

Also, will N5K with Layer3 daughterboard do normal routing or does it need to be explicity vrf instances.

I do need want to use vrf instances and would want only normal SVI's.

Appreciate all advice.

So,can i use like 2 links each from N5K to both 2248TP & 2232TM to have redundancy?

Yes, both 2248 and 2232 have 4 10Gig ports for uplinks.  So, you can use all 4 if you want.

Do i need to use vPC to link in this way, based on the documents i read, vPC is more towards connecting two N5K i guess.

Correct, sicne you are connecting to only to 1 5k, there is no need for vPC.  Just use portchannel.

Also, will N5K with Layer3 daughterboard do normal routing or does it need to be explicity vrf instances.

I do need want to use vrf instances and would want only normal SVI's.

They do normal routing.  You don't have to use VRF.  The only VRF you have to use is for mgmt0 inteface.

HTH

Thanks.

Something which i have heard from lot of folks that connections between N5K and N2k actually needs a seperate data connection link apart from usual vPC link.

What is that needed for?

From 5k to 2k, in your case is just  a portchannel.  Once the portchannel created, then you make the portchannel to be a FEX

here is an example:


switch# configure terminal  
switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/40 
switch (config-if)# switchport mode fex-fabric 
switch(config-if)# fex associate 101 

This example shows how to associate the Fabric Extender to an EtherChannel interface:

switch# configure terminal  
switch(config)# interface port-channel 4 
switch(config-if)#
switchport mode fex-fabric 
switch(config-if)# fex associate 101 

HTH

Thanks again.

I need to uplink this N5K to another Cisco 3750 switch or an ASA. Will that configuration be different for N5k ?

Do i need to enable VTP on N5K, N2k's?

Well 5k to 3750 or ASA won't be a fex-fabric port. It would be a plain Ethernet access/trunk port or set of access/trunk ports bound into an etherchannel.

VTP or trunking in general is only necessary if you plan to trunk (tag multiple VLANs for transmission between devices). The 2k can just be considered a line card in the 5k, so any port configurations are access or trunk ports (as necessary) in the 5k configuration.

(BTW Hi Reza. )

Hi Marvin

Hope you had fun at Cisco Live this year.

Reza

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