Cisco Nexus

Cisco Nexus
Name	Cisco Nexus
Developer	Cisco Systems
First release	2008
Latest release	2020s
Type	Data center switch series
Website	Cisco Systems

Cisco Nexus is a family of high-performance data center switches and orchestration software produced by Cisco Systems. Designed for enterprise and cloud-scale deployments, the product line emphasizes low-latency switching, virtualization, and programmability. Nexus platforms are positioned for integration with server virtualization, storage area networks, and network automation ecosystems.

Overview

The Nexus family targets network fabric deployments used in conjunction with VMware, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Red Hat, Inc., Amazon Web Services, and Google LLC. Cisco designed Nexus to interoperate with technologies from Intel Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, Broadcom Inc., Marvell Technology Group, and Mellanox Technologies (now part of NVIDIA Corporation). Nexus devices are commonly adopted by organizations such as Facebook, Inc., Netflix, Inc., Twitter, Inc., LinkedIn Corporation, and Uber Technologies, Inc. for data center aggregation and spine-leaf topologies. The series competes with offerings from Arista Networks, Juniper Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Extreme Networks.

Product Line and Architecture

Nexus encompasses modular chassis models and fixed-configuration switches including families that integrate with Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure and stand-alone switches for spine-leaf fabrics. Representative hardware names include chassis platforms comparable to equipment used by Rackspace Technology, and fixed-form factors employed by hyperscalers such as Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings. Architecturally, Nexus supports multichassis link aggregation, virtual port-channel interconnections used alongside F5 Networks load balancers, and high-density 10/25/40/50/100/400 Gigabit Ethernet optics interoperable with transceivers from Finisar (II-VI), Ciena Corporation, and Lumentum Holdings. The product line integrates with storage arrays from EMC Corporation (now part of Dell Technologies), NetApp, Inc., and Hewlett Packard Enterprise storage systems for SAN and NAS convergence.

Software and Features

Nexus switches run NX-OS, a network operating system sharing lineage with software used by Cisco Systems for routing and switching; NX-OS supports features familiar to customers using systems from Juniper Networks and Arista Networks while adding Cisco-specific extensions. Software capabilities include support for Overlay technologies such as VXLAN used by VMware NSX, EVPN standards developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force, and integration with orchestration platforms like OpenStack and Kubernetes. Nexus implements programmability via APIs and SDKs similar in purpose to tools from Ansible (Red Hat), Puppet (software), Chef (company), and Terraform (software), and provides telemetry comparable to solutions from Dynatrace and Splunk, Inc..

Deployment and Use Cases

Enterprises deploy Nexus for private cloud networks in data centers operated by IBM, Oracle Corporation, and regional providers such as Deutsche Telekom and NTT Communications. Service providers leverage Nexus for carrier-neutral facilities used by Equinix, Inc. and Digital Realty, and for aggregation in content delivery networks utilized by Akamai Technologies. Use cases include converged infrastructure with vendors like Cisco UCS converging compute and networking for customers such as SAP SE and Salesforce, Inc., high-frequency trading environments similar to deployments by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and research networks interconnecting facilities from CERN and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Management and Automation

Management integrates with Cisco management suites and third-party orchestration from VMware, Inc. and Red Hat, Inc.. Automation workflows are commonly authored using languages and frameworks created by Python Software Foundation, Go (programming language), and orchestration from HashiCorp tools. Nexus supports model-driven telemetry and streaming analytics that feed into monitoring platforms like Nagios, Zabbix, and Datadog, Inc.. Integration options enable policy orchestration with ServiceNow, Inc. for ITSM and with configuration management databases used by BMC Software.

Performance, Scalability, and Security

High-throughput silicon from vendors such as Broadcom Inc. and packet-processing from Intel Corporation enable low-latency forwarding suitable for clusters used by NVIDIA Corporation GPU farms and machine learning infrastructures similar to deployments at OpenAI. Scalability is achieved via spine-leaf architectures deployed at hyperscalers including Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. Security features include role-based access control aligning with NIST guidance, encryption technologies interoperable with Thales Group and Entrust Corporation key management solutions, and integration with identity providers such as Okta, Inc. and Microsoft Active Directory in enterprise environments.

History and Development

Introduced in the late 2000s, Nexus evolved alongside data center consolidation trends driven by virtualization from VMware, Inc. and cloud transformation led by Amazon Web Services and Google LLC. Over successive generations Cisco incorporated higher-density optics and programmability influenced by open networking movements involving Open Compute Project and interoperability efforts with IETF standards bodies. The Nexus roadmap intersected with acquisitions and partnerships involving Cisco Systems and ecosystem vendors including Trellis (software) collaborators and silicon partnerships with Broadcom Inc. and Marvell Technology Group.

Category:Cisco products