The Cisco Nexus 3132C-Z is the 32-port 100-Gbps programmable architecture switch, enabled with major data center features designed for software-defined data centers. This 1-rack-unit (1RU) model offers wire-rate Layer 2 and 3 switching.

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It is a member of the Cisco Nexus 3100 platform and runs the industry-leading Cisco®NX-OS Software operating system, providing customers with comprehensive features and functions that are widely deployed. The Cisco Nexus 3132C-Z supports both forward and reverse (port-side exhaust and port-side intake) airflow schemes with AC and DC power inputs.

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The Cisco Nexus 3132C-Z (Figure 1) is a Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP) switch with 32 QSFP28 ports. Each QSFP28 port can operate at 10, 25, 40, 50, and 100 Gbps, up to a maximum of 128 x 25-Gbps ports.

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The Cisco Nexus 3132C-Z has the following hardware configuration:

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●   32 fixed 100-Gigabit Ethernet QSFP28 ports

●   Beacon LED

●   Environment LED

●   Status LED

●   Four lane-selected LEDs

●   Dual redundant power supplies

●   Redundant (3+1) fans

●   Two 10-Gbps SFP ports

●   One RJ45 console port

●   One RJ45 and SFP management port

●   One USB port

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Cisco NX-OS software overview

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Cisco NX-OS is a data center–class operating system built with modularity, resiliency, and serviceability at its foundation. Cisco NX-OS helps ensure continuous availability and sets the standard for mission-critical data center environments. The self-healing and highly modular design of Cisco NX-OS makes zero-impact operations a reality and provides exceptional operational flexibility.

Focused on the requirements of the data center, Cisco NX-OS provides a robust and comprehensive feature set that meets the networking requirements of present and future data centers. With an XML interface and a Command-Line Interface (CLI) like that of Cisco IOS® Software, Cisco NX-OS provides state-of-the-art implementations of relevant networking standards as well as a variety of true data center–class Cisco innovations.

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Main benefits

The Cisco Nexus 3132C-Z provides the following:

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●   Data center feature richness that supports full IPv4 and IPv6 routing; Virtual Extensible LAN (VxLAN); and hardware-based                             encapsulation, including Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS), Generic Routing Encapsulation

     (GRE), and Q-in-Q tunneling

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●   Wire-rate Layer 2 and 3 switching on all ports,2 with up to 6.4 terabits per second (Tbps) and up to 2 billion packets per second (bpps)

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●   Robust programmability, with support for Cisco NX-API, Linux containers, XML and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) APIs, the     OpenStack          plug-in, Python, and Puppet and Chef configuration and automation tools

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●   High performance and scalability with a four-core CPU, 16 GB of DRAM, and 32 Mb of dynamic buffer allocation, making the switch excellent            for massively scalable data centers and big data application

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●   Flexibility

         ◦     The QSFP28 port can be configured to work as 4 x 25-Gbps ports, offering deployment flexibility, with up to a maximum of 128 x 25-Gbps                   ports.

         ◦     Both fiber and copper cabling solutions are available for 10-, 25-, 40-, 50-, and 100-Gbps connectivity, including Active Optical Cable (AOC)                  and Direct-Attached Cable (DAC).

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●   High availability

         ◦     Virtual Port Channel (vPC) technology provides Layer 2 multipath through the elimination of Spanning Tree Protocol. It also enables fully                    utilized bisectional bandwidth and simplified Layer 2 logical topologies without the need to change the existing management and                                deployment models.

         ◦     The 64-way Equal-Cost Multipath (ECMP) routing enables the use of Layer 3 fat-tree designs. This feature allows organizations to prevent                  network bottlenecks, increase resiliency, and add capacity with little network disruption.

         ◦     Advanced reboot capabilities include hot and cold patching and fast reboot capabilities.

         ◦     The switch uses hot-swappable power-supply units (PSUs) and fans.

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●   Purpose-built NX-OS operating system with comprehensive, proven innovations

         ◦     Power-on Autoprovisioning (POAP) enables touchless bootup and configuration of the switch, drastically reducing provisioning time.

         ◦     Cisco Embedded Event Manager (EEM) and Python scripting enable automation and remote operations in the data center.

         ◦     Advanced buffer monitoring reports real-time buffer utilization per port and per queue, which allows organizations to monitor traffic                            bursts and application traffic patterns.

         ◦     EtherAnalyzer is a built-in packet analyzer for monitoring and troubleshooting control-plane traffic and is based on the popular Wireshark                 open-source network protocol analyzer.

         ◦    Complete Layer 3 unicast and multicast routing protocol suites are supported, including Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Open Shortest                     Path First (OSPF), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2), Prot    ocol                           Independent Multicast Sparse Mode (PIM-SM), Source-Specific Multicast (SSM), and Multicast Source Discovery Protocol (MSDP).

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