Cisco Cisco Nexus 1010 Virtual Services Appliance Data Sheet

 

 

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Figure 4 shows the internal architecture of the CSP. Cisco CSP Manager, based on the Cisco NX-OS Software, 

manages VSBs, installation, and blade configuration. Cisco CSP Manager offers a familiar Cisco NX-OS interface 

for network administrators installing and configuring VSBs. It also supports Cisco NX-OS high availability, allowing 

a standby CSP to become active if the primary CSP fails. 

Figure 4.    CSP Internal Architecture 

 

Cisco CSP High Availability 

The Cisco CSP offers high-availability features for large-scale networking. Within a single appliance, a CSP offers 

process-level availability conferred by the modular nature of Cisco NX-OS, as well as VSB availability features 

such as restart-on-failure. Cisco Nexus 1000V VSM active-standby high availability is fully supported on the CSP. 

With dual CSPs deployed in a high-availability pair, active-standby failover of Cisco CSP Manager and the VSBs is 

also supported. 

Cisco Nexus 1000V VSM on CSP Compared to a Virtual Appliance 

Table 1 compares deployment of a Cisco Nexus 1000V VSM as a virtual appliance and on the CSP. For customers 

who want a complete software deployment of the Cisco Nexus 1000V, deployment of the VSM as a virtual 

appliance provides flexibility in VSM placement and even mobility with VMware vMotion. However, for network 

administrators who want greater control over the management of the VSM, the CSP provides a complete Cisco 

NX-OS experience using the Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual access switch. In addition, the CSP has fewer 

dependencies when the data center is powered on because the VSM can be initiated at the same time as the 

Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Modules (VEMs). The VEMs reside within the hypervisor (VMware vSphere or 

Microsoft Hyper-V).