Equipment Support > Hardware By Brand > Cisco > NX-OS

NX-OS

The 1000v will not be enough, you will either want to get rack time in a datacenter lab, or use your favorite VAR's lab if you can leverage them... Or find someone nice enough to share their lab gear.

Depending on what you would like to do, 98% of the config is pretty close to IOS and most normal CLI users can jump from the 6k to n7k without much effort.

reply to sk1939
Been toying around with N7Ks a client of ours has been running, and pretty much if you're comfortable
with the IOS command set, NX-OS doesn't change much. One thing I WILL say NX-OS lacks is a command
to figure out what make / model of SFP's present in an interface. 6500 had "show inventory raw;"
NX-OS's closest equivalent is show sfp detail or something, but doesn't tell you the exact model
to order when getting an RMA. Bugger!

Regards

HELLFIRE i believe you're looking for 'sh int trans e[x/y]' or so.
its there. believe me.

to the op -- you'll want to play with at least the n5.5k, but unless you're playing with a model with the l3 daughter-card, you'll need some n7k experience as well.
i've been a *hardcore* nx-os proponent within our organization, as i can't wait to see the c6k die a miserable death. with mpls enablement on n7k, death of the wan cards on the c6k, and l2vpn parity within the next year or so on n7k -- i will look a customer straight in the eye and tell them they are making a huge mistake by pushing c6k at all for core/agg architecture in todays campus or datacentre.

of course -- i've lived in nx-os land (which is different than nosx land) for the past 2.5 years -- so i'm incredibly biased.

q.
--
"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..."

@tubbynet
That's the command, but other than the SFP serial # and maker, it doesn't give the MODEL to ask TAC to get you an RMA.
So I've taken to just looking up the linecard the interface is on and cross referencing that for the SFPs to order.

Oh yeah, another gripe about NX-OS / Nexus... if you ever dump a 'show tech,' a) make SURE you put term len 0
before doing this, b) take a LONG coffee break while you do. A REALLY LONG one...

Regards

reply to tubbynet
I'm more worried about the oddball things like

int ether 1/19

beacon

I'm going to have to rent rack time then, otherwise there is no way I am going to get through the lab portion (no clients have Nexus gear).

I don't know, the c6k is still a very capable switch, although the 7k is around 6x faster. Also, the n7k is still incredibly expensive.

reply to HELLFIRE

Any suggestions as to where to rent rack time?

reply to HELLFIRE
HELLFIRE , here's the output from my n7k

n7k1-agg# sh int e 9/9 trans
Ethernet9/9
    transceiver is present
    type is 10Gbase-SR
    name is CISCO-SUMITOMO  
    part number is SPP5100SR-C1    
    revision is A   
    serial number is [omit]     
    nominal bitrate is 10300 MBit/sec
    Link length supported for 50/125um OM2 fiber is 82 m
    Link length supported for 50/125um OM3 fiber is 300 m
    Link length supported for 62.5/125um fiber is 26 m
    cisco id is --
    cisco extended id number is 4
 

reply to tubbynet

reply to sk1939

reply to tubbynet
Another reasons why people are still holding on the 6500 series is that it is still the good-old IOS they are familiar with while Nexus has its own NX-OS that looks and feels different, which make those people uncomfortable. For this point I agree with Juniper's perspective to keep "the same" JUNOS for all platforms whether it is a router, firewall, switch, or else in order to keep things simple. I think Cisco is trying to setup its own standard by introducing NX-OS since IOS "feel" has been mimicked by other vendors such as F5 ZebOS and Arista EOS.

Cisco certification such as CCNA, CCNP, and CCIE are still heavily based on the good-old IOS technology. Also lots of large companies still use such IOS technology as their standard. Unless some powerful hand can change these soon, the IOS still lingers on

I agree of your point tubbynet that people should invest for the future especially in building new data center or revamping existing one. However vendors always compete to be the best. One may decide to go with Juniper or Arista instead of Cisco, so discussion between IOS and NX-OS might be no longer valid. Even some companies have been shifting gears to open solution such as Vyatta or Snort in order to save money, which may or may not be correct in the long run

Personally I myself feel neutral regarding NX-OS. I see it as just another OS you may have to deal with in order to get things done. Proprietary technology such as hardware architecture, virtualization, and vendor-specific protocols you can always pick up not to mention new emerging technology. As long as you understand RFC-based technology and is willing to do packet capture to defend your network, I'll use whatever works be it NX-OS, IOS, JUNOS, ScreenOS, EOS, ZebOS, or else; but that's just me

reply to sk1939
@sk1939
Ahh yes, 'ethernet' is the only interface type, services are 'enabled' before they are running -- great for
screwing with colleagues during learning / test sessions, flashing beacons to ID the exact device you are
looking for in a (darkened) datacenter, Intel Celerons in the 'show ver' output -- I LOL'd when I saw that
for the first time... fun times indeed.

@tubbynet
If you know what SFPs you're using, great! I'm entirely remote so I don't know what SFPs are present...
so it's back to Cisco's doc of Nexus linecard / SFP model we have to go everytime one blows out. Lots of
fun for us... [/sarcasm]

As for 6500 versus Nexus... I just run em, so long as they work and don't cause me hours or days or (shudder)
weeks of problems, I don't care.

Regards

reply to HELLFIRE