Nexus Interview Questions and Answers

Ques1. How Many VDC can be configured in Nexus Switches?

4 VDC’s (including 1 VDC for management) with SUP1 or SUP2; and 8 + 1 (management) VDC’s
with SUP2E.

Ques2. What is major difference between sup2 and sup2e?

Ques3. How can we limit the no of path in routing table of Fabric-path?

Limiting the number of paths can be performed by issuing following command –

Maximum-paths <max-paths>

Example:

switch(config-fabricpath-isis)# maximum-paths 4

Ques4. What is the command is used to verify the "HSRP Active State" on a Nexus 7000 Series
Switch?

The command is “show hsrp active” or “show hsrp brief”

Below is one example which shows “Active” and “Standby” state of respective N7K Switch.

Nexux_7K# show hsrp brief

P indicates configured to preempt.

Interface Grp Prio P State Active addr Standby addr Group addr

Vlan10 10 90 P Standby 192.168.1.253 local 192.168.1.254(conf)

Ques5. What is vPC and what are its benefits?

Virtual PortChannel (vPC) is a port-channeling concept that extends link aggregation to two
separate physical switches.

Benefits of vPC are enlisted below –

 Utilizes all available uplink bandwidth

 Allows the creation of resilient Layer 2 topologies based on link aggregation.
 Eliminates the dependence of Spanning Tree Protocol in Layer 2 access distribution layer(s)
 Enables transparent server mobility and server high availability (HA) clusters
 Scales available Layer 2 bandwidth
 Simplifies network design
 Dual-homed servers can operate in active-active mode
 Faster convergence upon link failure
 Improves convergence time when a single device fails
 Reduces capex and opex

Ques6. What is VPC Peer Link?

vPC peer-link is used to synchronize the state between vPC peer devices. The vPC peer link carries
control traffic between two vPC switches and also multicast, broadcast data traffic. We should have
at least two 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces for peer links.

Below is sample configuration where vPC Peer-link is configured between 2 Nexus Core Switches –

switch(config)# interface port-channel 10

switch(config-if)# vpc peer-link

Ques7. What happens when VPC Peer Link is down?

When vPC peer-link fails down however vPC peer-keepalive link is still up, the vPC secondary
peer device performs the following operations:
● suspends its vPC member ports
● shuts down the SVI associated to the vPC VLAN
This allows vPC allows to redirect all southbound and northbound traffic to primary peer device.
In this scenario, both vPC peer devices cannot synchronize each other anymore which leads to
isolation of one of secondary peer device from the data path.

Ques8. How do I verify the features enabled on Nexus 7000 Series Switch with NX-OS 4.2?

Issue the show feature command in order to verify.

switch-N7K# show feature
Feature Name Instance State
-------------------- -------- --------
tacacs 1 enabled
scheduler 1 enabled
isis 2 disabled
isis 3 disabled
isis 4 disabled
ospf 1 enabled
ospf 2 disabled
ospf 3 disabled

switch-N7K# show run | I feature

feature vrrp
feature tacacs+
feature scheduler
feature ospf
feature bgp
feature pim
feature pim6
feature eigrp
feature pbr
feature private-vlan
feature udld
feature interface-vlan
feature netflow
feature hsrp
feature lacp
feature dhcp
feature tunnel

Ques9. Which nexus series support glbp?

7K series support GLBP. N5k and N2K don’t support GLBP.

Ques10. How many syslog servers can be added to a Nexus 7000 Series Switch?

The maximum number of syslog servers configured is 3.

Ques11. What are orphan ports?

Orphan ports are single attached devices that are not connected via a vPC, but still carry vPC
VLANs. In the instance of a peer-link shut or restoration, an orphan port's connectivity may be
bound to the vPC failure or restoration process. Issue the show vpc orphan-ports command in
order to identify the impacted VLANs.

Ques12. What is use of G bit while using HSRP with VPC?

For HSRP and vPC to work in active mode, G bit is required. What it does is when the packet
reaches backup Nexus HSRP member, the packet is routed (on seeing G bit in the MAC address
table, instead of forwarding over virtual link to primary HSRP member) by backup HSRP member
to .This is the reason why the HSRP with vPC works as active/active. Henceforth, from the data
plane perspective, both peer devices are forwarding.

Ques13. Which Nexus 7000 modules support Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)?

The Cisco Nexus 7000 Series 32-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module support FCoE. The part
number of the product is N7K-F132XP-15.

Ques14. What is the equivalent NX-OS command for the "ip multicast-routing" IOS
command?

The command is feature pim. In NX-OS, multicast is enabled only after enabling the PIM or PIM6
feature on each router and then enabling PIM or PIM6 sparse mode on each interface that you
want to participate in multicast.

For example:

switch(config)#feature pim

switch(config)#interface Vlan[536]

switch(config-if)#ip pim sparse-mode

Ques15. What is Static Pinning? What is the max limit of Pinning of Links can be set when we
use Port channel?

Cisco Nexus 2200 Fabric Extenders can be connected to the parent switches using two different
modes: Static and Dynamic interfaces pinning. Static pinning mode instructs the switch to
virtually split FEX into few blocks of ports and statically associate each block of ports with its own
 physical uplink. In other words, if one particular uplink fails, a range of FEX ports, associated with
this uplink, fail as well. Hence, the word Static.

Initially maximum limit was 4, however after 4.2(1) N1 (1) the number of uplinks is extended to
8.

Ques16. How do I check the Network Time Protocol (NTP) status on a Nexus 7000 Series
Switch?

In order to display the status of the NTP peers, issue the show ntp peer-status command:

switch#show ntp peer-status

Ques17. How do I implement VTP in a Nexus 7000 Series Switch where VLANs are manually
configured?

Cisco does not recommend running VTP in data centers. If someone attaches a switch to the
network with a higher revision number without changing the VTP mode from the server, it will
override the VLAN configuration on the switch

Ques18. Is there a best practice for port-channel load balancing between Nexus 1000V Series
and Nexus 7000 Series Switches?

There is no recommended best practice for load-balancing between the Nexus 1000V Series and
Nexus 7000 Series Switches. You can choose either a flow-based or a source-based model
depending on the network's requirement.

Ques19. Nexus - show feature. What is equivalent command in 6500?

There is no equivalent nexus command of “show feature” in Cisco 6500.

Ques20. Why leaf switch should be Root Bridge in nexus fabric path?

If leaf Switches are not configured as Root bridge in Nexus fabric Path, Ports will become
Inconsistent via Root Guard when they receive superior BPDU.

Ques21. Nexus Commands to check the list of Modules?

Show module

Ques22. How to find Unique Host ID of Nexus Device for Licensing?

When we use the terms Host ID in Nexus terminology, it refers to a unique chassis serial number
that is specific to each device.
Ques23. What is the main Difference between M series Line Card and F Series?

F Series cards are for Layer 2 functionality only (Some advance F Series cards may have Layer 3).
M series Modules support Layer 2 and Layer 3. M Series Module has to be in Your Chassis to be
able to do Routing. F series modules can use Proxy routing using M Series Modules present in
Device.

Ques24. What is FEX?

A fabric extender, the term marketed by Cisco, is basically a port extender. A Nexus 2000 is also
called a fabric extender, or FEX. The idea is that they extend the switching fabric of a Nexus 5000
or 7000 . A FEX has no management interface, but instead has to be connected to a Nexus 5000
or 7000, after which it becomes a logical part of that parent switch. A 32-port Nexus 5000 with
ten 48-port Nexus 2000 attached will list a whopping 512 ports under ‘show ip interface brief’,
not counting any VLAN interfaces. All interfaces will show as ‘Ethernet’, no matter their link
speed, so no guessing ‘was it f0/1 or g0/1’ here.

Ques25. What is the max limit of Pinning of Links can be set when we use Port channel?

Initially maximum limit was 4, however after 4.2(1) N1 (1) the number of uplinks is extended to
8.

Ques26. What are the differences in F1, F2 and F3 cards?

Ques27. How do I enable/disable logging link status per port basis on a Nexus 7000 Series
Switch?

All interface link status (up/down) messages are logged by default. Link status events can be
configured globally or per interface. The interface command enables link status logging
messages for a specific interface.

For example:

N7k(config)#interface ethernet x/x

 N7k(config-if)#logging event port link-status

Ques28. On a Nexus 7k, on performing a 'no shut' on Ethernet 1/2, following error is received
– “Ethernet1/3: Config not allowed, as first port in the port-grp is dedicated error message is
received. “What is reason for this error?

The device thinks that the first port in the port-grp is in dedicated mode instead of shared mode.
When the first port of a port-grp is in dedicated mode, the other ports of the port-grp cannot be
used.

Ques29. Does a Nexus 2k has an operating system (OS)?

No software is included with the Fabric Extender. The software is automatically downloaded and
upgraded from its parent device.

Ques30. What is difference between shared mode vs dedicated mode?

Ques31. Can we connect a Nexus 2k to Nexus 7k?

Yes, we can connect Nexus 2K directly to a N7K.

Ques32. Can a device in one VDC communicate with device in another VDC?

We need to connect physical cable between ports in different VDC for them to communicate.

One VDC cannot communicate to another VDC internally.

Ques33. Can we mix different cards like M and F series in same VDC?

As a generalized statement, yes we can mix all cards in same VDC .One exception to this
understanding is F2 card. We can't mix F2 cards with M1 or M2 and F1 in the same VDC
Ques34. What are the differences between VPC and VSS?

Ques35. How many FEX can be connected on Nexus 5000?

Maximum FEX per Cisco Nexus 5500 Series Switch that can be connected are 25

Ques36. Which models of N7K are presently in market?

Below models of N7K are presently in market

 7000 4-slot
 7000 9-slot
 7000 10-slot
 7000 18-slot
 7700 2-slot
 7700 6-slot
 7700 10-slot
 7700 18-slot

Ques37. What are the differences between M and F series line cards?

While both M series and F series line cards support VPC, their differences have been enlisted in
the below table -
Ques38. Which models of N5K are presently in market?

Below models of Nexus 5k are presently in market

 Cisco Nexus 5672UP
 Cisco Nexus 5672UP-16G
 Cisco Nexus 56128P
 Cisco Nexus 5624Q
 Cisco Nexus 5648Q
 Cisco Nexus 5696Q

Ques39. Does nexus 5K support VDCs?

No Nexus 5K does not support VDCs.

Ques40. Which models of N2K are presently in market?

 Cisco Nexus 2224TP

 Cisco Nexus 2248TP
 Cisco Nexus 2248TP-E
 Cisco Nexus 2332TQ
 Cisco Nexus 2348TQ
 Cisco Nexus 2348TQ-E
 Cisco Nexus 2232TM-E
 Cisco Nexus 2232TM
 Cisco Nexus 2348UPQ
 Cisco Nexus 2248PQ
 Cisco Nexus 2232PP

Ques41. Does the Nexus 7000 support MPLS? If so, are there any restrictions on software and
hardware?

Yes, Nexus 7000 supports MPLS

Ques42. What is OTV?

OTV (Overlay Transport Virtualization) is a technology that provide layer2 extension capabilities
between different data centers. OTV is an NX-OS feature that allows us to extend LANs between
Data Centers. OTV is transport independent i.e. the connectivity between data centers can be L2
or L3 or even IP switched almost anything that can transport IP.

Ques43. Which Line card type of Nexus supports OTV?

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series and Cisco Nexus 7700 platform support OTV based on -

Any M-Series (Cisco Nexus 7000 Series) or F3 (Cisco Nexus 7000 Series or 7700 platform) line
card for encapsulation.

Ques44. What is checkpoint?

The Cisco NX-OS checkpoint feature provides the capability to capture at any time a snapshot
(backup) of the Cisco Nexus configuration before making any changes. The captured
configuration (checkpoint) can then be used to roll back and restore the original configuration.

Checkpoints are primarily used for rollback situations. They allow you to make changes on the
system and if required due to an error rollback to a known good configuration on the system.
Ques45. How to compare checkpoint?

Configuration differences can be compared between checkpoints, files, startup-configuration

and the running-configuration using the show diff rollback-path command (files and running-
confutation cannot be compared).

N5k(config)# show diff rollback-patch running-config checkpoint Checkpoint-1

Ques46. What hardware and licenses are required in a Nexus 7000 LISP deployment?

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Release 5.2(1) onwards, LISP License is included in the package.

Ques47. What hardware and licenses are required in a Nexus 7000 FCOE deployment?

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Release 5.2(1) onwards, LISP License is included in the package.

Ques48. What hardware and licenses are required in a Nexus 7000 Fabric Path deployment?

Enhanced Layer 2 Package (N7K-EL21K9) allows Fabric path support on F Series module for
Nexus 7000.

Ques49. How do I verify packet drops on a Nexus 7000 Switch?

Verify the Rx Pause and TailDrops fields from the output of the show interface {/} and show
hardware internal errors module module # commands for the module with these ports.

For example:

Nexus7K#show interface e7/25

Ethernet7/25 is up

Ques50. Is there a tool available for configuration conversion on Cisco 6500 series to the
Nexus platform?

Cisco has developed the IOS-NXOS Migration Tool for quick configuration conversion on Cisco
6500 series to the Nexus series OS.