Product Overview
Cisco Nexus™ 1000V Series Switches are virtual machine access switches that are an intelligent software switch implementation for VMware vSphere environments running the Cisco® NX-OS Software operating system. Operating inside the VMware ESX hypervisor, the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series supports Cisco VN-Link server virtualization technology to provide:
- Policy-based virtual machine connectivity
- Mobile virtual machine security and network policy
- Non-disruptive operational model for your server virtualization and networking teams
With the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series, you can have a consistent networking feature set and provisioning process all the way from the virtual machine access layer to the core of the data center network infrastructure. Virtual servers can now use the same network configuration, security policy, diagnostic tools, and operational models as their physical server counterparts attached to dedicated physical network ports. Virtualization administrators can access predefined network policy that follows mobile virtual machines to help ensure proper connectivity, saving valuable time for virtual machine administration. Developed in close collaboration with VMware, the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series is certified by VMware to be compatible with VMware vSphere, vCenter, ESX, and ESXi, and with many other vSphere features. You can use the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series to manage your virtual machine connectivity with confidence in the integrity of the server virtualization infrastructure.
Product Architecture
The Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switch has two major components: the virtual Ethernet module (VEM), which runs inside the hypervisor, and the external virtual supervisor module (VSM), which manages the VEMs (Figure 1).
Virtual Ethernet Module
The Cisco Nexus 1000V Series VEM runs as part of the VMware ESX or ESXi kernel and replaces the VMware virtual switch (vSwitch). This level of integration helps ensure that the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series is fully aware of all server virtualization events, such as VMware VMotion and Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). The VEM takes configuration information from the VSM provides advanced networking functions; quality of service (QoS), security features, and monitoring features.
Virtual Supervisor Module
The Cisco Nexus 1000V Series VSM controls multiple VEMs as one logical modular switch. Configuration is performed through the VSM and is automatically propagated to the VEMs. Instead of configuring soft switches inside the hypervisor on a host-by-host basis, administrators can define configurations for immediate use on all VEMs being
managed by the VSM from a single interface.
Features and Benefits
The Cisco Nexus 1000V Series provides a common management model for both physical and virtual network infrastructures through Cisco VN-Link technology, which includes policy-based virtual machine connectivity, mobility of virtual machine security and network properties, and a non-disruptive operational model.
