C1-N7702 Cisco ONE Nexus 7700 2 Slots Switch Chassis

Product Overview

The Cisco C1-N7702 ONE Nexus 7700 2-Slot Switch Chassis is a high-performance, modular networking solution designed for enterprise and data center environments. Built on Cisco’s trusted Nexus 7000 Series, this chassis delivers scalability, reliability, and simplified network management for mission-critical infrastructures.

General Product Information

Manufacturer Details

• Brand: Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Product Line: Cisco Nexus
• Series: Nexus 7000

Model and Identification

• Model Number: 7702
• SKU / Part Number: C1-N7702
• Product Name: ONE Nexus 7700 2-Slot Switch
• Device Type: Switch Chassis

Interfaces and Expansion Capabilities

Port Configuration

This Cisco Nexus 7700 chassis is designed with flexibility in mind, allowing organizations to customize their network according to evolving demands.

• Uplink Ports: Not included
• Stack Ports: None

Expansion Slot Details

• Total Expansion Slots: 2
• Supported Slot Types:
  • Line Cards
  • Supervisor Engines
• Modular Architecture: Yes

Network and Communication Features

Layer Support

Switching Capabilities

The Nexus 7702 chassis supports Layer 2 networking, making it ideal for high-speed switching environments that require dependable data forwarding and efficient traffic management.

Management and Power Specifications

Management Features

Administrative Control

• Fully manageable for simplified configuration and monitoring
• Designed to integrate seamlessly into enterprise network ecosystems

Power and Redundancy

Power Supply Options

• Power Source: Dedicated power supply unit
• Redundant Power Support: Yes, for enhanced uptime and reliability

Understanding the Chassis: C1-N7702 ONE

The C1-N7702 is more than just an enclosure; it is the integrated system that delivers the power, cooling, and backplane connectivity for the entire switch. The "ONE" designation signifies that this chassis is sold as an all-inclusive bundle, typically integrating necessary components to simplify ordering and deployment. This foundational element is designed for organizations requiring the unparalleled features of the Nexus 7700 but starting with a more compact two-slot form factor.

Key Physical and Architectural Attributes

Modular Two-Slot Design

The chassis features two slots for modular line cards. One slot is dedicated to a supervisor engine, which is the operational brain of the switch, managing control-plane functions. The second slot is available for a high-density fabric-enabled I/O module, providing network connectivity. This design offers a balance between capability and size, ideal for distribution layer roles or core deployments in medium-sized data centers.

Integrated Fabric and Performance

Despite its compact size, the N7702 chassis houses an integrated, non-blocking fabric architecture. When populated with fabric-enabled modules and a supervisor, it delivers up to 2.6 Tbps of switching capacity per slot. This ensures wire-rate performance across all ports, even under full load, which is critical for bandwidth-intensive applications and low-latency environments.

High-Availability Infrastructure

The chassis is built with redundancy in mind. It supports dual, hot-swappable, load-sharing power supplies and multiple, hot-swappable fan trays with N+1 redundancy. This ensures that a single component failure does not impact switch operation, meeting the stringent availability requirements of modern data centers.

Core Components and Modules for the N7702 Chassis

The functionality of the Nexus 7700 is realized through the modules installed within the C1-N7702 chassis. Understanding these components is essential to planning a deployment.

Supervisor Engines: The Control Plane

The supervisor engine (such as the N77-SUP2E or N77-SUP3E) governs the switch's management, control, and data plane policies. It runs the modular Cisco NX-OS operating system and is responsible for system initialization, routing protocols, management interfaces, and feature enforcement.

Supervisor 2E (N77-SUP2E)

Offers a robust set of features with ample CPU and memory for most large-scale deployments, supporting a comprehensive suite of data center technologies.

Supervisor 3E (N77-SUP3E)

Provides enhanced performance, greater scalability for entries in hardware tables (like MAC, ACL, and routes), and support for the most advanced features, including full bisectional bandwidth across the fabric.

Fabric Modules

While some chassis have integrated fabric, higher-end models or expansions use fabric modules. In the context of the N7702, the fabric is integrated, but understanding this component is key to the series' scalability. Fabric modules (like the N77-FAB3) provide the crossbar switching fabric that connects all line cards, ensuring non-blocking performance.

I/O Modules (Line Cards)

The true flexibility of the Nexus 7700 comes from its wide array of I/O modules. These plug into the available slot(s) in the N7702 chassis, providing port density and interface variety.

Ethernet Modules

From 1GbE and 10GbE to 40GbE and 100GbE, a range of modules offer copper (BASE-T) and fiber (SFP+, QSFP, QSFP28) connectivity. Examples include the 48-port 10GBASE-T module or the 36-port 40GbE QSFP module.

Unified Port Modules

Some modules feature "unified ports" that can be configured as either Fibre Channel (for SAN connectivity) or Ethernet, enabling true convergence of storage and data networks on a single platform.

Application-Specific Modules

Modules like the M3 series line cards offer enhanced buffer memory, which is crucial for lossless traffic flows in environments running technologies like Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) or dealing with bursty traffic patterns.

Technical Capabilities and Feature Highlights

The Cisco Nexus 7700 platform, with the N7702 chassis at its base, is loaded with features designed for the modern data center.

Cisco NX-OS: A Robust, Data Center-Optimized Operating System

The entire platform runs on Cisco NX-OS, a mature, secure, and highly available operating system built specifically for the data center.

Resiliency and High Availability

NX-OS offers features like In-Service Software Upgrades (ISSU), allowing software updates with no network downtime. Stateful Switchover (SSO) and non-stop forwarding ensure continuous operation even during supervisor failover events.

Comprehensive Virtualization Support

It provides extensive support for network virtualization, including Virtual Device Contexts (VDCs) to partition a single physical switch into multiple logical switches, and Virtual PortChannel (vPC) for creating multi-chassis port channels without requiring a spanning-tree blocked link.

Advanced Data Center Networking Features

FabricPath and VXLAN EVPN

The Nexus 7700 is a key player in Cisco's fabric-based data center architecture. It natively supports FabricPath, providing a scalable, loop-free Layer 2 multipath network. For more modern overlay networks, it fully supports VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) with EVPN control plane, enabling massive multi-tenancy and Layer 2 extension across a Layer 3 underlay.

Comprehensive Security and QoS

The platform offers hardware-accelerated security with ACLs, Cisco TrustSec® for policy-based segmentation, and robust encryption options. Advanced Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms with granular policing and queuing ensure performance for latency-sensitive applications like financial trading or voice/video.

Deep Visibility with Cisco Nexus Data Broker

Integrated support for network packet brokers and tools like Cisco Nexus Data Broker allows for intelligent traffic mirroring and analysis, which is vital for security monitoring, performance management, and regulatory compliance.

Deployment Scenarios and Use Cases

The Cisco C1-N7702 chassis is versatile and finds its place in several critical network roles.

Data Center Core Switching

With its high throughput, low latency, and support for large routing tables, the N7702 can act as the core switch for medium to large enterprise data centers, aggregating traffic from multiple aggregation or access layers and providing connectivity to WAN routers and firewalls.

Data Center Aggregation Layer

This is a primary role for the two-slot chassis. It aggregates traffic from rows of top-of-rack (ToR) switches, applying policies, performing routing, and connecting to storage area networks (SANs), often using its unified port capabilities for converged network and storage traffic.

High-Density 10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet Aggregation

By populating the I/O slot with high-density modules, the N7702 becomes a powerful aggregation point for server farms or as a spine in a leaf-spine architecture, providing massive east-west bandwidth.

Unified Fabric and SAN Gateway

Its ability to run FCoE natively makes it an ideal gateway between traditional Fibre Channel SANs and converged FCoE networks, consolidating cabling and reducing capital and operational expenses.