Mastering VMware vSphere™ 4

5.4. Installing and Configuring the Cisco Nexus 1000V

The Cisco Nexus 1000V is a third-party vNetwork Distributed Switch, the first of its kind. Built as part of a joint engineering effort between Cisco and VMware, the Nexus 1000V completely changes the dynamics in how the networking and server teams interact in environments using VMware vSphere.

Prior to the arrival of the Cisco Nexus 1000V, the reach of the networking team ended at the uplinks from the ESX/ESXi host to the physical switches. The networking team had no visibility into and no control over the networking inside the ESX/ESXi hosts. The server team, which used the vSphere Client to create and manage vSwitches and port groups, handled that functionality. The Cisco Nexus 1000V changes ...