Cisco Nexus 5548UP

Switch Configuration Guide

Dell Product Group
February 2013

[email protected]

 2013 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell.
Dell, the Dell logo, and the Dell badge, PowerConnect, EqualLogic, and Force10 are trademarks of Dell Inc. Cisco is
a registered trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries.

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

Table of contents
1

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................ 4
1.1

Audience ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.2

Switch details ................................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.3

Cabling diagram .............................................................................................................................................................. 5

Dell recommended switch configuration ............................................................................................................................. 6

2.1

Hardware configuration ................................................................................................................................................. 6

2.2

Delete startup configuration ......................................................................................................................................... 6

2.3

Running the basic system configuration .................................................................................................................... 6

2.4

Configure the vPC domain ............................................................................................................................................ 8

2.5

Enable link level flow control (802.3x) ........................................................................................................................ 8

2.6

Configure Port Channel ................................................................................................................................................. 8

2.7

Configure portfast on edge ports ................................................................................................................................ 9

2.8

Enable VLAN ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9

2.9

Enable switch ports ...................................................................................................................................................... 10

2.10 Configure the Nexus policy engine ........................................................................................................................... 10

2.10.1 Configure CoS for iSCSI ............................................................................................................................................... 10
2.10.2

Define a QoS map for iSCSI ................................................................................................................................... 10

2.10.3

Define a QoS policy map for iSCSI........................................................................................................................ 10

2.10.4

Define a Network QoS class map........................................................................................................................... 11

2.10.5

Define a no-drop policy map and enable jumbo frames .................................................................................. 11

2.10.6

Define a queuing class-map ................................................................................................................................... 11

2.10.7Define a queuing policy-map ...................................................................................................................................... 11

2.11 Apply the Nexus policies .............................................................................................................................................. 12
2.12 Save configuration ........................................................................................................................................................ 12
2.13 Configure additional switch ........................................................................................................................................ 12
2.14 Disabling DCB ................................................................................................................................................................ 12
Additional resources ....................................................................................................................................................................... 13

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

Introduction
This document illustrates how to configure Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches for use with EqualLogic PS
Series storage using Dell best practices. The recommended configuration uses link aggregation groups
(LAGs) and Virtual Port Channel (vPC) for inter-switch connections.
Note: Cisco currently does not support iSCSI TLV, which is required by EqualLogic to support Data
Center Bridging (DCB). The configuration presented in this guide is for use as a dedicated iSCSI SAN
switch environment only and should not be used for converged or mixed traffic types.

For more information on EqualLogic SAN design recommendations, see the EqualLogic Configuration
Guide at: www.delltechcenter.com/page/equallogic+configuration+guide.

1.1

Audience
This switch configuration guide describes a verified configuration following Dell best practices for an
EqualLogic iSCSI SAN and is intended for storage or network administrators and deployment personnel.

1.2

Switch details
The table below provides an overview of the switch configuration.
Table 1

Switch specifications
Cisco Nexus 5548UP

Switch vendor

Cisco

Switch model

Nexus 5548UP

Switch firmware

5.2(1)N1(1)

The latest firmware updates and documentation can be found at: www.cisco.com. This site requires a
login.

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

1.3

Cabling diagram
The cabling diagram shown below represents the Dell recommend method for deploying your servers and
EqualLogic arrays.

Figure 1

SCG1006

Cabling diagram

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

Dell recommended switch configuration

These steps show you how to configure two Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches with a vPC interconnect. The
switches are interconnected using four of the 10Gb ports configured as the vPC link.

2.1

Hardware configuration
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

2.2

Power on both switches

Connect a serial cable to the management port.
Using Putty or another terminal utility, open a serial connection session to the switch.
Open your terminal emulator and configure it to use the serial port (usually COM1 but this may vary
depending on your system). Configure serial communications for 9600,N,8,1 and no flow control.
Connect the cables between switch 1 and switch 2 as shown in Figure 1, for ports 1-4. This will be
used as your vPC link.

Delete startup configuration

WARNING: All previous configuration settings will be deleted.
switch>enable
switch#write erase
Warning: This command will erase the startup-configuration
Do you wish to proceed anyway ? (y/n)[n] y
switch# reload
WARNING: this command will reboot the system
Do you want to continue? (y/n) [n] y
Note: The switch will reboot.

2.3

Running the basic system configuration

The following steps use the setup utility to configure connectivity for basic management of the system.
After the switch fully reboots, the following prompts will appear:
Abort Power On Auto Provisioning and continue with normal setup ?(yes/no)[n]: y
---- System Admin Account Setup ---Do you want to enforce secure password standard (yes/no): yes
Enter the password for "admin": my password

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

Confirm the password for "admin": my password

---- Basic System Configuration Dialog ---This setup utility will guide you through the basic configuration of
the system. Setup configures only enough connectivity for management
of the system.
Please register Cisco Nexus 5000 Family devices promptly with your
supplier. Failure to register may affect response times for initial
service calls. Nexus devices must be registered to receive entitled
support services.
Press Enter at anytime to skip a dialog. Use ctrl-c at anytime
to skip the remaining dialogs.

Would you like to enter the basic configuration dialog (yes/no): yes
Create another login account (yes/no) [n]: n
Configure read-only SNMP community string (yes/no) [n]: n
Configure read-write SNMP community string (yes/no) [n]: n
Enter the switch name : my switch name
Continue with Out-of-band (mgmt0) management configuration? (yes/no) [y]: y
Mgmt0 IPv4 address : my IP address
Mgmt0 IPv4 netmask : my netmask
Configure the default gateway? (yes/no) [y]: y
IPv4 address of the default gateway : my gateway
Enable the telnet service? (yes/no) [n]: y
Enable the ssh service? (yes/no) [y]: n
Configure the ntp server? (yes/no) [n]: n
Enter basic FC configurations (yes/no) [n]: n
The following configuration will be applied:
switchname my switch name
interface mgmt0
ip address my ip address my netmask
no shutdown
exit
vrf context management
ip route 0.0.0.0/0 my gateway

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

exit
telnet server enable
no ssh server enable
Would you like to edit the configuration? (yes/no) [n]: n
Use this configuration and save it? (yes/no) [y]: y
[########################################] 100%
Copy complete, now saving to disk (please wait)...

Log in with the credentials created in the previous steps.

2.4

Configure the vPC domain

switch# configure
switch(config)#feature lacp
switch(config)#feature vpc
switch(config)#vpc domain 1
switch(config-vpc-domain)#peer-keepalive destination peer IP address
--------:: Management VRF will be used as the default VRF ::-------Note: For the <peer IP address> , use the management IP address of the partner switch.
switch(config-vpc-domain)#exit

2.5

Enable link level flow control (802.3x)

You must perform this step for each individual port that is connected to a storage controller or a host
interface port, or you can specify a range of ports to configure.
switch(config)#interface ethernet 1/1-32
switch(config-if-range)#priority-flow-control mode off
switch(config-if-range)#flowcontrol send on
switch(config-if-range)#flowcontrol receive on
switch(config-if-range)#exit

2.6

Configure Port Channel

switch(config)# interface port channel 1

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

switch(config-if)# switchport mode trunk

switch(config-if)# spanning-tree port type network
switch(config-if)#priority-flow-control mode off
switch(config-if)# flowcontrol send on
switch(config-if)# flowcontrol receive on
switch(config-if)# vpc peer-link
Please note that spanning tree port type is changed to network port type on
vPC peer-link. This will enable spanning tree Bridge Assurance on vPC peer-link
provided the STP Bridge Assurance (which is enabled by default) is not disabled.
switch(config-if)# exit
switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/1-4
switch(config-if-range)# switchport mode trunk
switch(config-if-range)# channel-group 1 mode active
switch(config-if-range)# exit

2.7

Configure portfast on edge ports

switch(config)#interface ethernet 1/5-32
switch(config-if-range)#spanning-tree port type edge
Warning: edge port type (portfast) should only be enabled on ports connected to
a single host. Connecting hubs, concentrators, switches, bridges, etc to this
interface when edge port type (portfast) is enabled, can cause temporary
bridging loops. Use with CAUTION.
Edge Port Type (Portfast) will be configured in 28 interfaces due to the range
commend but will only have effect when the interfaces are in a non-trunking
mode.
switch(config-if-range)#exit

2.8

Enable VLAN
The following example uses VLAN 101 and configures a range of ports. Any valid VLAN (between 2-4094)
may be substituted.
switch(config)# vlan 101
switch(config-vlan)# exit

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/5-32

Note: Switch ports 1-4 are part of port-channel 1 so are not included in the above range.
switch(config-if-range)# switchport access vlan 101
switch(config-if-range)# exit

2.9

Enable switch ports

The following example enables a range of ports. If preferred, you may enable individual ports as needed.
switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/1-32
switch(config-if-range)# no shutdown
switch (config-if-range)# exit

2.10

Configure the Nexus policy engine

The following example configures iSCSi traffic for Class of Service (CoS) 4 and Quality of Service (QoS)
group 3.

2.10.1

Configure CoS for iSCSI

Repeat this step for each individual interface connected to host and array controller ports, or specify a
range of ports to configure.
switch(config)# interface ethernet 1/5-32
switch(config-if-range)# untagged cos 4
switch(config-if-range)# exit

2.10.2

Define a QoS map for iSCSI

switch(config)# class-map type qos class-iscsi
switch(config-cmap-qos)# match cos 4
switch(config-cmap-qos)# exit

2.10.3

Define a QoS policy map for iSCSI

switch(config)# policy-map type qos policy-qos
switch(config-pmap-qos)# class type qos class-iscsi
switch(config-pmap-c-qos)#set qos-group 3

10

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

switch(config-pmap-c-qos)# exit
switch(config-pmap-qos)# exit

2.10.4

Define a Network QoS class map

switch(config)# class-map type network-qos class-iscsi
switch(config-cmap-nq)# match qos-group 3
switch(config-cmap-nq)# exit

2.10.5

Define a no-drop policy map and enable jumbo frames

switch(config)# policy-map type network-qos policy-nq
switch(config-pmap-nq)# class type network-qos class-iscsi
switch(config-pmap-nq-c)# mtu 9216
switch(config-pmap-nq-c)# pause no-drop
switch(config-pmap-nq-c)# exit
switch(config-pmap-nq)# exit

2.10.6

Define a queuing class-map

switch(config)# class-map type queuing class-iscsi
switch(config-cmap-que)# match qos-group 3

2.10.7

Define a queuing policy-map

switch(config-cmap-que)# policy-map type queuing policy-queuing
switch(config-pmap-que)# class type queuing class-default
switch(config-pmap-c-que# bandwidth percent 5
switch(config-pmap-c-que)# class type queuing class-fcoe
switch(config-pmap-c-que))# bandwidth percent 0
switch(config-pmap-c-que)# class type queuing class-iscsi
switch(config-pmap-c-que)# bandwidth percent 95
switch(config-pmap-c-que)# exit
switch(config-pmap-que)# exit

11

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

2.11

Apply the Nexus policies

switch(config)# system qos
switch(config-sys-qos)# service-policy type qos input policy-qos
switch(config-sys-qos)# service-policy type queuing output policy-queuing
switch(config-sys-qos)# service-policy type network-qos policy-nq
switch(config-sys-qos)# exit
switch(config)# exit

2.12

Save configuration
switch#copy running-config startup-config

2.13

Configure additional switch

Repeat the commands from sections 2.1 through 2.12 to configure the second switch.

2.14

Disabling DCB
Note: With Cisco Nexus family products, there is no command to fully disable DCB functionality. Using
the configuration steps in this document results in a proper non-DCB environment. However disabling
LLDP support can effectively prevent the negotiation of DCB by preventing the transmission of DCBx
frames. It is not necessary to disable LLDP unless instructed by Dell support. The following example
disables LLDP support on ports 1 through 32.
switch#configure
switch(config)#interface ethernet 1/1-32
switch(config-if-range)# no lldp receive
switch(config-if-range)# no lldp transmit

12

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

Additional resources
Support.dell.com is focused on meeting your needs with proven services and support.
Support.cisco.com for support and information regarding Cisco networking products.
DellTechCenter.com is an IT Community where you can connect with Dell Customers and Dell employees
for the purpose of sharing knowledge, best practices, and information about Dell products and your
installations.
Referenced or recommended Dell publications:
Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide:
http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/storage/w/wiki/equallogic-configuration-guide.aspx
Dell EqualLogic Compatibility Matrix:
http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/storage/w/wiki/2661.equallogic-compatibilitymatrix.aspx

For EqualLogic best practices white papers, reference architectures, and sizing guidelines for enterprise
applications and SANs, refer to Storage Infrastructure and Solutions Team Publications at:
http://dell.to/sM4hJT

13

SCG1006

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch Configuration Guide

This white paper is for informational purposes only. The content is provided as is, without express or implied
warranties of any kind.