---
title: "Cisco Nexus 7000 DataCenter switch released - Welcome to DataCenter 3.0"
description: "A deep dive into Cisco's revolutionary Nexus 7000 Data Center switch, marking the arrival of Data Center 3.0 with groundbreaking features including a 15 Terabit backplane, unified fabric support, and advanced virtualization capabilities."
author: "Colin McNamara"
tags: ["cisco","networking","datacenter","nexus","virtualization"]
image: "https://colinmcnamara.com/images/blog/cisco-nexus-7000-datacenter-switch-release/featured.png"
date: 2008-01-27
url: https://colinmcnamara.com/blog/cisco-nexus-7000-datacenter-switch-release
---

# Cisco Nexus 7000 DataCenter switch released - Welcome to DataCenter 3.0

Data Center 3.0 has arrived with Cisco's Nexus 7000 Data Center switch. I hope I am not too sensational in saying this, but the Data Center as you know it has changed drastically.

Highlights of the Nexus 7000's features are:

* 15 Terabit per second backplane
* Support for 40 and 100 gig ports in the future
* Separate control and data planes
* Link layer encryption
* Front to back airflow (FINALLY available in a non NEBS chassis)
* Lossless non blocking fabric (VOQ enabled)
* Fibre Channel, Infiniband, and Ethernet blades in one unified platform
* Cisco Data Center Network Manager (MDS Fabric Manager on steroids)
* Virtual Device Contexts (Network Systems virtualization, the next level past VRF route tags)

You can learn more about this switch in upcoming articles, and at [Cisco's product page](http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9402/index.html).