New Training: Apply Virtual Port-Channels

In this 8-video skill, CBT Nuggets trainer Jeff Kish explores virtual port-channel technology, how it’s used in the data center, and the topologies we can build with them. Watch this new Cisco training.

Learn Cisco with one of these courses:

• Data Center Networking with Cisco Nexus Switches

• Cisco CCNP Data Center

This training includes:

• 8 videos

• 59 minutes of training

You’ll learn these topics in this skill:

• Intro

• Labbing VPCs in CML

• Configuring a VPC Domain

• VPC Roles and Failover

• Configuring VPC Roles

• VPC Configuration Options

• Configuring VPC Options

• Review and Quiz

How Does a Virtual Port-Channel Work

Virtual port-channel, or vPC, is a Cisco proprietary feature that allows two physical Nexus switches of the same model to create one single virtual switch known as a VPC pair.

The benefit to treating these separate physical switches as a single virtual switch is that this vPC pairing can establish a single Etherchannel. By establishing this Etherchannel, the peering device used to receive and transmit data via the switch is unaware data is transmitted via two physical switches. It simply sees one virtual switch.

In this Cisco-specific configuration, the VPC channel group can be thought of as the traditional Etherchannel with the addition of member ports on different switches. Likewise, the VPC Port or VPC Member Port is simply a port that is part of the VPC-based port-channel.

The value organizations gain from vPC switching is that it removes some of the bottleneck and congestion issues that arise with the implementation of a single switch. By implementing this solution, organizations can benefit from more resilient networks with optimized efficiency.