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Virtual Connect and Cisco Nexus Switches

YES - Virtual Connect (VC) interoperates with any industry standard Ethernet installation including the Nexus product line. Cisco is planning for Nexus to support Converged Enhanced Ethernet (industry calls this CEE; Cisco has version called DCE) with future firmware updates. The IEEE and T11 standards necessary to support CEE or DCE are only in draft form and not formalized yet. However, today Nexus 5000 and 7000 switches work with current Ethernet and all VC Ethernet modules work with them.

In the future, Nexus 5000 and 7000 switches will implement a new lossless Ethernet CEE standard that they call DCE (Data Center Ethernet). The Virtual Connect FlexFabric module supports this standard and offers even more savings.

The objective that Cisco is promoting for CEE, FCoE, the Nexus product line, and DCE is to reduce the number of switches, cables, transceivers, and adapters needed to run Ethernet and Fibre Channel (FC) in a data center. All of the adapters and most of the cables in a data center are located between the servers and the first set of Ethernet and FC switches. Most customers can eliminate more adapters, cables, and switches by using BladeSystem with VC FlexFabric modules and FlexFabric adapters than they will ever be able to with Cisco’s approach.

The reason is that BladeSystem eliminates all cables between servers and edge switches or interconnect devices - and VC FlexFabric modules consolidate 4 connections onto one adapter and one interconnect module. Today, Nexus doesn't eliminate a single switch or cable or adapter. When Nexus is finally up to full capability, then the most it will be able to eliminate will be one set of FC adapters, cables, and modules. Since customers usually have many more Ethernet cables and switch ports than FC, the FCoE reduction pales in comparison with eliminating 100% of the cables between servers and first interconnect. And now with the Virtual Connect FlexFabric module, you can eliminate up to 95% of the sprawl at the server edge..

In addition, the Virtual Connect FlexFabric Module provides simple adjustment of connection bandwidth to application needs, the least expensive way to merge 1Gb links onto a 10Gb connection, and all of the operational advantages of Virtual Connect - none of which are provided by the Nexus switch network. If a user is considering a Nexus network, then Virtual Connect FlexFabric modules and FlexFabric adapters are a great way to connect the servers to it. However, once a customer gains the advantages of BladeSystem and VC FlexFabric modules and FlexFabric adapters, he or she might find it much less risky and much more cost-effective to use ProCurve, Brocade, or Cisco traditional Ethernet and Fibre Channel switches for the aggregation layer.

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