Cisco Systems has added the Nexus 3016 switch to the lineup that it’s pitching at low-latency financial trading. It’s Cisco’s first to support 40 gigabit per second ethernet communications, which reduces network serialisation latency.
The 1RU 3016 features 16 ports, each of which can be operated at 40 gigabit per second, or alternatively at 4 * 10 gigabit per second, easing the transition for firms looking to upgrade their networks.
In addition, the latest release of the NX-OS operating system provides support for Precision Time Protocol (PTP) for synchronisation of timestamps in a distributed environment.
Also recently added to NX-OS is the Dynamic Buffer Utilisation Monitor – a command that provides information on internal queues and buffers, which point to internal latencies within a switch. Stats for up to eight unicast and eight multicast queues per port can be configured, showing current and available buffer usage, and maximum buffer usage.
