Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches
The Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches operate in one of two modes: Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI) or Cisco NX-OS. In Cisco ACI mode, these switches provide a turnkey, fully automated, policy-based architecture to design and manage data center fabrics. In Cisco NX-OS mode, these switches provide the capability to use foundational Layer 2/3 technologies, as well as modern technologies such as VXLAN, with a Border Gateway Protocol–Ethernet VPN (BGP-EVPN) control plane, segment routing, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), and automation via NX-APIs.
The Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches include the Nexus 9500 Series modular switches and the Nexus 9200/9300 Series fixed switches, as shown in Figure 2-1.
Figure 2-1 Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches
Cisco Nexus 9500 Platform Switches
The Cisco Nexus 9500 platform modular switches support a comprehensive selection of line cards and fabric modules that provide 1-, 10-, 25-, 40-, 50-, 100-, 200-, and 400-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. The supervisor, system controller, power supplies, and line cards are common across all three switches. Each switch, however, has unique fabric modules and fan trays that plug in vertically into the rear of the chassis.
The Cisco Nexus 9500 Series modular switch includes the components shown in Figure 2-2.
Figure 2-2 Cisco Nexus 9500 Series Switch Components
The Cisco Nexus 9500 Series modular switches support several line cards and fabric modules. A pair of redundant supervisor modules manage all switch operations using a state-synchronized, active-standby model. The supervisor accepts an external clock and supports management through multiple ports: two USB ports, a serial port, and a 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet port. All supervisors support Cisco ACI or NX-OS deployments. Redundant supervisors should be of the same type within a chassis.
A pair of redundant system controllers offload chassis management functions from the supervisor modules. The controllers are responsible for managing the power supplies and fan trays; they are also the central point for the Gigabit Ethernet Out-of-Band Channel (EOBC) between the supervisors, fabric modules, and line cards.
Each Cisco Nexus 9500 Series chassis supports up to six fabric modules, which plug in vertically at the back of the chassis behind the fan trays.
The Cisco Nexus 9500 chassis supports two versions of hot-swappable fan trays that are compatible with specific fabric modules. Each fan tray covers two fabric module slots and enables front-to-back airflow for the entire chassis. An appropriate fabric module blank card should be installed in all empty fabric module slots to ensure proper airflow and cooling of the chassis.
The Cisco Nexus 9500 platform supports hot-swappable, front-panel-accessible AC, DC, and universal high-voltage AC/DC power supplies. The total power budget required for the mix and number of line cards and fabric modules installed in the chassis determines the ability to support power supply redundancy modes (combined, n + 1, n + n, or input-source redundancy).
