Useful commands for Cisco Nexus zoning
Posted: February 16, 2015 Filed under: Cisco Nexus, Networking, Storage | Tags: add zones, alias, cisco nexus, device, device-alias, fibre channel, how to add zones to cisco nexus, native, nexus 5k, nexus fc, nexus native fc, zone, zones, zoneset Leave a commentAfter implementing Cisco Nexus 5ks that include native Fibre Channel switching for shops that usually don’t have dedicated SAN guys, I’m often called up sometime later to offer a refresher on how to add zones. I usually share this tidbit via email, but here it is for the internets. These commands are very similar on newer MDS models, as well.
Useful commands for Cisco Nexus zoning
Cisco Nexus Fibre Channel configuration template
Posted: May 23, 2013 Filed under: Cisco Nexus, Networking, Storage | Tags: 5548up, 5596up, cisco nexus, cisco ucs, device-alias, eisl, e_port, fc, fc config, fc configuration, fc end host mode, fc switch mode, fc ucs, fibre channel, fibre channel configuration template, fibre channel template, f_port, isl, n_port, te_port, tf_port, ucs, vsan, zone, zoneset, zoning 6 CommentsI recently had the opportunity to configure native fibre channel in my test lab at work using Nexus 55xx series switches and Cisco’s UCS. What I’ll do in this post is to share my templatized fibre channel configuration in a somewhat ordered way, at least from the Nexus point of view. This test lab was configured with the attitude that it should show off the capabilities of the hardware and software. Concepts included in this initial configuration include NPIV, NPV, SAN port-channels, F_Port trunking, VSANs, device aliases, and of course, standard FC concepts like zones and zonesets.
Let me first share the end-state as of today, what I’ll call Phase I. I’ll explain what my initial plan was for Phase I and, after learning a bit more, what I plan to do for Phase II. Please feel free to correct me in the comments below – I made a lot of mistakes configuring this and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’re a few more in there.
How to configure SPAN on a Nexus 55xx
Posted: April 13, 2013 Filed under: Cisco Nexus, Networking | Tags: 5k span, cisco nexus, configure span, how to configure span, Nexus, nexus span, span, switch port analzyer 4 CommentsI’ve recently needed to configure SPAN a couple times in the lab at work to troubleshoot some issues – or at least to see what I could see. It wasn’t exactly glamorous work, but somebody had to do it. Now, I had to look it up the first time because it had probably been a good year since I’d done it. The document I used is here. Well, the second time I needed to configure SPAN was shortly after the first. I was annoyed that I had to look at the same document and skip over all the paragraphs to get to the commands, then sort out the FC ports and other commands I didn’t need. So for my benefit, and perhaps yours, here’s my short and sweet version of how to configure SPAN on a Nexus 5k.
Replacing a Cisco Nexus 2224 Fabric Extender
Posted: January 14, 2012 Filed under: Cisco Nexus, Networking | Tags: 2224, cisco nexus, cisco nexus fabric extender, Fabric Extender, FEX, n2k, replace 2000, replace 2224 fex, replace cisco nexus fabric extender, replace fex, replace nexus, replace nexus 2000, sh few, show few 2 CommentsSo my team and I got a call to swing by a customer’s site on our way to another job. They told us half the ports went bad on a FEX and we were to install the replacement that just arrived onsite. In this post, I’ll explain how to replace the FEX (which is trivial) and more importantly how to verify that it’s working after installation.