Cisco WS-C3550-12G Switch Guide - Page 251

Nexus 2000 Series The Cisco Nexus® 2000 Series Fabric Extenders comprise a category of data center products designed to simplify data center access architecture and operations. The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series uses the Cisco® Fabric Extender Technology (IEEE 802.1BR) to provide a highly scalable server-access architecture across a range of 100 Megabit Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, convergence (FCoE), copper and fiber connectivity, rack, and blade server environments. The platform is ideal to support today's traditional Gigabit Ethernet connectivity while allowing transparent migration to 10 Gigabit Ethernet, virtual machine-aware fabric technologies. The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders behave as remote line cards for a parent Cisco Nexus switch (Cisco Nexus 5000 Series or Nexus 7000 Series Switches). The fabric extenders essentially behave as extensions of the parent Cisco Nexus switch fabric. This architecture enables physical topologies with the flexibility and benefits of both top-of-rack (ToR) and end-of-row (EoR) deployments. The Cisco Nexus 2000 Series architecture provides the following benefits: • Architecture flexibility: Common, scalable, and adaptive architecture across data center racks that support various server options, connectivity options, physical topologies and evolving needs. • Highly scalable server access: Scalable Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet server access with no reliance on Spanning Tree. • Simplified operations: One single point of management and policy enforcement using upstream Cisco Nexus switches eases the commissioning and decommissioning of server racks through zero-touch installation and automatic configuration of fabric extenders. • Increased business benefits: Consolidation, cabling reduction, rack space reduction, reduced power and cooling, investment protection through feature inheritance from the parent switch, and the capability to add functions without the need for a major equipment upgrade of server-attached infrastructure all contribute to reduced operating expenses (OpEx) and capital expenditures (CapEx). 249