Cisco ACI and Forward Error Correction

New and Changed Information 2

About Forwarding Error Correction 2

Switch Support for FC-FEC 2

Switch Support for RS-FEC 3

Configuring FEC Using the Advanced GUI 3

Configuring FEC Using the Basic GUI 4

Configuring FEC Using NX-OS Style CLI 4

Configuring FEC Using the REST API 5

Revised: April 11, 2017,

New and Changed InformationThe following table provides an overview of the significant changes up to this current release. The table does not provide an exhaustivelist of all changes or of the new features up to this release.

Table 1: New Features and Changed Behavior in Cisco APIC

DescriptionFeatureCisco APIC Release Version

With this release, RS-FEC issupported for 25 Gbps ports.

RS-FECRelease 2.2(2e)

--Forwarding Error Correction(FEC) was introduced.

Release 1.3(1g)

About Forwarding Error CorrectionForwarding Error Correction (FEC) is a method of obtaining error control in data transmission over an unreliable or noisy channelin which the source (transmitter) encodes the data in a redundant way using Error Correcting Code, and the destination (receiver)recognizes it and corrects the errors without requiring a retransmission. The available options are as follows:

• CL74-FC-FEC—Supports 25 Gbps speed.

• CL91-RS-FEC—Supports 25 and 100 Gbps speeds.

• Disable-FEC—Disables FEC.

• Inherit—The switch uses FEC based on the port transceiver type. All copper (CR4) transceivers have FC-FEC enabled on 25G.All interfaces with 100G transceivers have RS-FEC enabled.

The default is "Inherit".

FEC is only configurable on the front port and not on fabric ports.Note

Switch Support for FC-FECDetailsSwitch

Supported for 25Gbps ports93180YC-FX

Supported for 25Gbps ports93180YC-EX

2

Switch Support for RS-FECDetails1

Switch

Supported for 100Gbps and 25Gbps portsN9K-93180YC-FX

Supported for 100Gbps portsN9K-93180YC-EX

Supported for 100Gbps portsN9K-93108TC-FX

Supported for 100Gbps portsN9K-93108TC-EX

Supported for 100Gbps portsN9K-C93180LC-EX

1 For QSFP-100G-LR4-S / QSFP-100G-LR4 transceivers, FEC is disabled by default.

Configuring FEC Using the Advanced GUI

Procedure

Step 1 On the menu bar, click Fabric > Access Policies.Step 2 In theNavigation pane, expand Interface Policies > Policies, right click Link Level and clickCreate Link Level Policy.Step 3 In the Create Link Level Policy dialog box, perform the following actions:

a) In the Name field, enter a name for the policy.b) Enter or choose the desired options for the remaining fields in the dialog box.c) In the Forward Error Correction field, choose the desired FEC value.

The default is Inherit.

d) Click Submit.The Link Level Policy is created, and the desired FEC is configured with it.

Step 4 To verify the configuration, in the Navigation pane, click Policies > Link Level . TheWork pane, lists all the policies.Step 5 In theWork pane, choose the appropriate Link Level Policy, and verify in the Forward Error Correction column that

the desired FEC is displayed.

3

Configuring FEC Using the Basic GUI

Procedure

Step 1 On the menu bar, click Fabric > Inventory.Step 2 In the Navigation pane, expand a Pod such as Pod 1, and in theWork pane, click the Configure tab, and click Add

Switches.Step 3 In the Add Switches dialog box, choose the desired switch. Click Add Selected.Step 4 In theWork pane, from the switch displayed on the canvas, choose the desired port, and click the Configure Port tab.Step 5 In theWork pane, in the Interface area, from Forwarding Error Correction field drop-down list, choose the desired

FEC option. Click Apply Changes and Submit Changes.The Forwarding Error Correction (FEC) is configured.

Step 6 Click theOperational tab to view the properties of the physical interface, and verify that the Forwarding Error Correctionfield displays the desired value.

Configuring FEC Using NX-OS Style CLI

Procedure

PurposeCommand or Action

Enters the configuration mode.Enter the configure mode.

Example:apic1# configure

Step 1

Enters the switch mode.Enter the switch mode.

Example:apic1(config)# leaf 104

Step 2

Specifies the interface and port.Specify the interface and port.

Example:apic1(config-leaf)# int eth 1/4

Step 3

Configures RS-FEC.Configure FEC.Step 4

Example:apic1(config-leaf-if)# forward-error-correctioncl91-rs-fec

The default forward-error-correctionvalue is inherit.

Note

Exits the interface mode.Exit the interface mode.

Example:apic1(config-leaf-if)# exit

Step 5

4

Configuring FEC Using the REST API

Before You Begin

The interface selector is configured.

Procedure

Configure RS-FEC policy in a link level policy.

Example:

<!-- api/policymgr/mo/.xml --><polUni><infraInfra dn="uni/infra">

<infraFuncP><infraAccPortGrp name="25G-RS-FEC-PG">

<infraRsHIfPol tnFabricHIfPolName="RS-FEC-POL"/></infraAccPortGrp>

</infraFuncP><fabricHIfPol name="RS-FEC-POL" speed="inherit" fecMode="cl91-rs-fec"/>

</infraInfra></polUni>

5

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