Challenge

Customers seek to leverage Cisco Nexus* 9000 Series Switches and Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI*) to deliver software flexibility with the scalability of hardware performance. The problem is, many customers don’t know how to build the physical infrastructure foundation to get there.

As customers migrate to 40Gig and Spine-Leaf architectures they must address the interdependencies between the logical network and physical layer infrastructure.

When deploying Cisco Nexus* 9000 and ACI*, customers must understand:

• Thephysicalinfrastructureimpactofmovingfromatraditionalthree-tiermodel (core, aggregation, access) to a two-tier model (spine-leaf or a flat network)

• Inaspine-leafnetworkarchitecture,everyleafswitchisrequiredtobeconnected to every spine switch, which can create high density cabling environments depending on the scale of the network

• Connectionsbetweenthespineandleafswitchesare40Gb/s,connections betweentheleafswitchesandserversaregenerally10Gb/s

Without proper physical infrastructure planning, execution and best practices customers may experience network performance issues due to the physical infrastructure impacting the performance of critical business applications.

Solution

Network ArchitectureCisco Nexus* 9000 and ACI* have a different network architecture than the traditional three-tier model (core, aggregation, access). Instead it utilizes a two-tier model, called spine-leaf or a flat network, which reduces the overall signal latency (though the elimination of a switching layer).

Spine-Leaf Traditional 3-Tier

Validated DesignPanduit and Cisco* have collaborated to provide validated Spine-Leaf topologies offering customers a clear path to adopting Cisco Nexus* 9000 and ACI* and ensuring a high-performance, scalable, and reliable data center design.These topologies incorporate:

• Networkdesignbestpractices • Physicallayerinfrastructure best practices • Power,cooling,space,and connectivity considerations • Datacenterstandards

Reference Architecture for Cisco Nexus* 9000 Series Switches and Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI*)

40 Gb/s Spine – Leaf Connections Supported Reaches

IL (dB) 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

OM3 Reach (m) 110 100 85 60 30

OM4 Reach (m) 150 135 115 85 50

Signature Core Reach (m) 210 200 185 165 140

IL (dB) 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

OM3 Reach (m) 125 100 70 35 –

OM4 Reach (m) 150 125 95 60 15

Signature Core Reach (m) 200 165 125 80 25

IL (dB) 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

OM3 Reach (m) 310 300 290 280 270

OM4 Reach (m) 420 400 385 365 345

Signature Core Reach (m) 630 615 595 570 540

BiD

i Op

ticsS

R4 O

ptics

CS

R4 O

ptics

*Cisco and Cisco Nexus are registered trademarks and Cisco ACI is a trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/oritsaffiliatesintheUnitedStatesandcertainothercountries.

Traditional Three-Tier Data Center Network Architecture

WAN/Core Router

Coreswitches

Aggregationswitches

Accessswitches

Servers

Accessswitches

Leafswitches

WAN/CoreRouter

Servers

Spine/Leaf Data Center Network Architecture

Solution (Continued)

Optimized Solutions for Cisco Nexus* 9000 and ACI* Panduit has developed several solutions to address the density and thermal management considerations for deploying Cisco Nexus* 9000 and ACI* architectures.

High Density 5RU Fiber Adapter Panel• Patchpanelportsaredesignedtoaligndirectlywith Cisco Nexus* 9500 36 port QSFP+ line cards• Highportdensitysaves3RUsofrackspaceversus traditional patch panel designs• PatchpanelportscanacceptLCDuplexorMPOfiber adaptersforinterchangeableuseofBiDi(LCDuplex) andCSR4/SR4(MPO)withinthepanel

Cisco Nexus* 9396 2RU and Nexus* 93128 3RU Ducts• AllowCiscoNexus*9396and93128tobeusedwithina hotaisle/coldaisledatacenterconfiguration• AllowcoldairintakesontheCiscoNexus*9396and 93128 switches (mounted in the back on the cabinet) to reach the cold air in the cold aisle• Ensurescoolairaccessfortopofrackservercabinet deployments• Shorterdepthswitchesat22.5inchesdeepeach

Part NumbersFiber Adapter PanelCFAPPACI5A–HD5RUFiberAdapterPanel

Cisco Nexus* Switch DuctsDIFBA2002S00S–9396InletDuctDIFBA3003S00S–93128InletDuct

Why Panduit and Cisco*? Cisco* and Panduit provide solutions that optimize data centers to help customers increase agility and optimize operationalefficiency.Panduit’ssolutionsconnect,manage, and automate critical infrastructure systems:

•Communication •Computing •Power •Control •Security

By extending and converging the business infrastructure across all core systems, Panduit provides customers with asmarter,unifiedbusinessfoundation.

Panduit and Cisco* help customers manage risk within the physical infrastructure by intelligently converging physical and logical systems. Panduit and Cisco* collaboratetoprovideaunifieddatacentersolutionthat delivers:

• Simplified,intelligentdatacenterplanningthrough converged systems and best practices • Operationalefficiencythroughupfrontdesign consideration of power, cooling, space, and industrystandardsrequirements • Businessagilitythroughflexibleandscalabledata center and network architectures

Contact Us: www.panduit.com/ciscoacicontact

Learn more: www.panduit.com/ciscoaci

Reference ArchitectureCisco Nexus* 9000 Series Switches and Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI*)

*Cisco and Cisco Nexus are registered trademarks and Cisco ACI is a trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc.and/oritsaffiliatesintheUnitedStatesandcertainothercountries.*MTPisaregisteredtrademarkofUSConecLtd.

CPFL67--WW-ENG10-2014