Network technologies and trends » Difference between shared mode and dedicated mode

Difference between shared mode and dedicated mode operation in Nexus 7000 Series Switches – Series 2

Yasir Irfan — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 07:55:32 +0000

In my previous post we discovered how Nexus 7000 Series line card works in shared mode. The other mode of operation is known as dedicated mode. Unlike in shared mode where four interfaces share the 10 Giga Bandwidth, the dedicated mode offers 10 GB bandwidth to the first interface of the group while all the three remaining will be disabled.

In previous post we learned how the of Cisco Nexus 7000 Series 32-port, 10-Gigabit Ethernet module (N7K-M132XP-12) works in shared mode by. In the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series 32-port, 10-Gigabit Ethernet module (N7K-M132XP-12) each group can be configured individually as either dedicated or shared mode. Always a dedicated port is easy to identify in any Nexus line card as they are marked yellow.

The main disadvantage of configuring a Cisco Nexus 7000 Series 32-port, 10-Gigabit Ethernet module is that you are losing 24 ports functionality as they are totally disabled, and the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series 32-port, 10-Gigabit Ethernet module works as 8 port module. Rather I prefer to use a Cisco Nexus 7000 Series 8 port, 10 Giga Ethernet module (N7K-M108X2-12L).

Difference between shared mode and dedicated mode operation in Nexus 7000 Series Switches – Series 1

Yasir Irfan — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 07:41:43 +0000

When it comes to the line cards of Nexus 7000 Series Switches, they operate in either in shared mode or dedicated mode. So what is the difference between shared mode and dedicated mode operation?

In shared mode operation say four interfaces of 10 Giga are grouped together and they offer in total of 10 GB of bandwidth, which creates an over subscription of 4:1

Take an example of Cisco Nexus 7000 Series 32-port, 10-Gigabit Ethernet module (N7K-M132XP-12), this 32 port 10 GE module have an 80 GB fabric connection so they are over 4:1 subscribed , in this module by default four interfaces grouped together either in odd numbers such as 1,3,5,7 or even numbers such as 2,4,6,8. Rather than offering 40 GB of bandwidth they offer just 10 GB of which results in over subscription. This mode of operation is known as shared mode operation, which is on by default in on all the Nexus 7000 Series Switch line cards except N7K-M108X2-12L line card.

In upcoming post I will talk about the dedicated mode and how we can configure ports to work in dedicated mode in Nexus 7000 Series Switch. Nexus 7000 Series Switch line cards, N7K-M108X2-12L line card,