There seems to be some confusion on what the supported Nexus 7000/5000 FEX topologies are.
The first section deals with the supported Nexus 5000/5500 FEX topologies. The next section will show the Nexus 7000 FEX topologies.
The following topologies are valid for these NX-OS versions.
Nexus 5000/5500: version 5.x and up
Nexus 7000: version 5.1 and up. Also the M-Series line card N7K-M132XP-12/12L is required. I have heard rumor that when NX-OS 5.2 comes out server PC/vPC will be supported.
The Nexus 2248 FEX is supported with all of these topologies.
Hopefully this post will help clarify the supported topologies.
Nexus 5000/5500 Topologies
Single attached host and single attached FEX with static FEX uplink pinning.
Single attached host and single attached FEX with port channel FEX uplink pinning.
Single attached FEX with static FEX uplink pinning, multi-attached, port channel host.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
Single attached FEX with port channel FEX uplink pinning, multi-attached host.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
Single attached FEX with static FEX uplink pinning, dual-homed host.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
Single attached FEX with port channel FEX uplink pinning, dual-homed host.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
Dual-attached FEX, single attached host.
Dual-attached FEX, dual-attached host.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
Dual-attached FEX, dual-attached host.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
Single attached FEX with static FEX uplink pinning, vPC attached host.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
Single attached FEX with port channel FEX uplink pinning, vPC attached host.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
All of the Nexus 5000/5500 supported topologies in one image
Nexus 7000 Topologies
You have a lot fewer options when it comes to connecting a FEX to a Nexus 7000. This is mainly due to the more redundant architecture of the Nexus 7000 as compared to the Nexus 5000/5500. The need for dual-attached FEX is not needed.
Single attached host with port channel FEX uplink pinning.
Dual-attached active/standby teaming host with port channel FEX uplink pinning.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
Dual-attached active/active teaming host with port channel FEX uplink pinning.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
Dual-attached active/standby teaming host with port channel FEX uplink pinning to a single Nexus 7000.
**HOST SIDE NIC TEAMING SOFTWARE REQUIRED**
Jeremy Waldrop's Blog 
Great post! Thanks for putting all of this in one place. I’ll stow it away for reference.
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Thanks Jeremy. Just for my understanding, for the NX7K to FEX topologies you cannot configure vPC like you can on the NX5K to FEX?
So in the 7k to FEX examples you have shown there is no need for vPC between 7Ks? Is that correct?
With NX-OS 5.2.1 you can create a vPC on the FEX connected to 2 different N7Ks. For example lets say you have a host with 2 NICs;1 connected to 1 FEX and 1 to another and each FEX was connected to a different N7K. This link shows a diagram of what that would look like – https://jeremywaldrop.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/image26.png
You still cannot connect a single FEX to 2 different N7Ks like you can when the parent switch is an N5K.
hi is it possible to create teaming from server pointing to two diffrent fabric extenders in a dual homed topology
yes that is supported
Thank you for your post, very useful 😉
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for clearing this up. Do you have a link to a Cisco paper that references these supported topologies?
All the best,
Mike
http://VirtuallyMikeBrown.com
Here is the latest Nexus 5000/5500 supported vPC topologies. There were a few changes with the latest NX-OS
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus5000/sw/layer2/513_n1_1/b_Cisco_n5k_layer2_config_gd_rel_513_N1_1_chapter_01001.html
Hi Jeremy, great post. When you talk about FEX to 7K, can you elaborate what you mean by “The need for dual-attached FEX is not needed.” I think in some topologies with single attached servers, customers would like to dual-home a FEX to 2 N7K’s.
thanks , its useful
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