Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS IP Fabric for Media Release Notes, Release 10.4(1)F

 

Introduction

This document describes the Cisco IP fabric for media solution, new hardware, software features, upgrade instructions, and caveats for Cisco NX-OS Release 10.4(1)F software for use on the following:

●     N9K-C9332D-H2R

●     N9K-C9348GC-FX3

●     N9K-C9804

●     N9K-X98900CD-A

Table 1.           Online History Change:

IP Fabric for Media

Today, the broadcast industry uses a serial digital interface (SDI) router and SDI cables to transport video and audio traffic. The SDI cables can carry only a single unidirectional signal. As a result, many cables, frequently stretched over long distances, are required, making it difficult and time-consuming to expand or change an SDI-based infrastructure.

Cisco’s IP fabric for media solution helps transition from an SDI router to an IP-based infrastructure. In an IP-based infrastructure, a single cable can carry multiple bidirectional traffic flows and can support different flow sizes without requiring changes to the physical infrastructure. The solution uses Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches in conjunction with the Cisco non-blocking multicast (NBM) algorithm (an intelligent traffic management algorithm) and with or without the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) IP for Media Fabric (IPFM) to provide a highly reliable (zero drop multicast), highly visible, highly secure, and highly available network.

Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS IP Fabric for Media solution supports the following types of deployments:

●     Spine-leaf topology—A single or multi-spine deployment method with variable flow size that allows the NBM fabric to form a multicast flow.

●     Single modular switch—An architecture suitable for fixed deployments, with the controller providing features such as flow visibility, security, and monitoring.

New Hardware Features

The following new hardware are introduced in Cisco NX-OS Release 10.4(1)F for deployment in IP Fabric for Media solution:

●     N9K-C9332D-H2R - This is a Top of Rack (TOR) L2/L3 switch with 32 QSFP-DD, 2 X SFP, and ports on the front panel. The QSFP-DD can be used for 400G operation.  It has 6 stacked fan modules.

●     N9K-C9348GC-FX3 – This is a TOR L2/L3 switch with 48 1GBase-T (copper ports), 4x SFP28 and 2x QSFP28 ports.

●     N9K-C9804 – This is a Nexus 9800 chassis fabric module. It has 4 line card slots.

●     N9K-X98900CD-A – A line card is supported on Cisco Nexus 9808 and 9804 platform switches.

Supported Device Hardware

Table 2 lists the hardware that the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS IP Fabric for Media Release 10.4(1)F supports. For additional information about the supported hardware, see the Hardware Installation Guide for your Cisco Nexus 9000 Series device.

Table 2.           Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Hardware

New and Enhanced Features

The following features are enhanced for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS IP Fabric for Media Release 10.4(1)F:

Open Issues

There are no open issues in Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS IP Fabric for Media Release 10.4(1)F.

Resolved Issues

There are no resolved issues in Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS IP Fabric for Media Release 10.4(1)F.

Upgrade Instructions

Note:       With IFPM, ISSU is not supported, and upgrade will be disruptive.

Note:       The default upgrade process is disruptive. Non-disruptive ISSU is not supported with feature nbm enabled.

Follow these steps to upgrade from a Cisco NX-OS 7.x or 9.x release to Cisco NX-OS Release 10.4(1)F in an IP fabric for media deployment.

Note:       For Cisco Nexus N9K-C9332D-H2R and N9K-C9348GC-FX3 switches with -R line cards, you must upgrade from Cisco NX-OS Release 7.0(3)F3(4) to a 10.x release.

1.     Shut down the endpoint-facing ports on the switches.

2.     Disable NBM (using the no feature nbm command).

3.     Disable the ip pim pre-build-spt force command on the spine switches in your fabric.

4.     Disable PIM passive mode (using the no ip pim passive command).

5.     Upgrade the switch software from 7.x or 9.x to 10.4(x).

6.     For Cisco Nexus N9K-C9332D-H2R and N9K-C9348GC-FX3 switches with -R line cards, configure these TCAM carving commands in the following order and then reload the switch:

7.     Upgrade NDFC.

8.     Configure PIM and MSDP, if applicable.

9.     Enable NBM (using the feature nbm command).

10.  Configure NBM policies using the CLI or NDFC. (See the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series IP Fabric for Media Solution Guide, Release 10.4(x).)

11.  If you're not using NDFC, disable IGMP static OIF and create an NBM flow definition to establish a flow.

12.  Re-enable all ports facing the endpoints.

13.  On configuring "feature nbm", DEFAULT VRF will not come in any PMN mode (pim-active/passive). You must configure it explicitly using the command "nbm mode pim-active"/"nbm mode pim-passive" under Default VRF.

14.  On configuring NBM non-default VRF using "nbm vrf <foo>", NON-DEFAULT VRF will not come in any PMN mode (pim-active/passive). You must configure it explicitly using command "nbm mode pim-active"/"nbm mode pim-passive" under Non-Default VRF.

Limitations

Sub interfaces should be in the same nbm VRF mode as its parent interface. They (Parent port and its sub interfaces) can be in either nbm pim-active or nbm pim-passive mode.

For example: If the parent port is part of NBM VRF which is in PIM active mode, its subinterfaces must also be in the VRF (can be different VRF context) with the same PIM active mode.

Related Documentation

●     Cisco Nexus 9000 Series IP Fabric for Media Solution Guide, Release 10.4(x)

●     Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Release Notes, Release 10.4(x)

●     Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Verified Scalability Guide, Release 10.4(x)

●     Cisco Nexus 3000 and 9000 Series NX-API REST SDK User Guide and API Reference

●     Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Software Upgrade and Downgrade Guide, Release 10.4(x)

●     Cisco NDFC-Fabric Controller Configuration Guide, Release 12.1.x

●     Cisco NDFC Installation Guide, Release 12.1.x

●     The entire Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS documentation set is available at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/tsd-products-support-series-home.html

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