Hello Community,
First time poster - long time researcher 
Could a system architect or an experienced vSphere networking person respond with some thoughts on my theoretical network design below. Please do not think too technically about the specs of each component other than the Nexus:
Background:
- I have a SAN (FC)
- I will have 8Gb/s FC HBAs for the 3 ESXi 5.0 servers I currently run
- I have several older Cisco core switches (4506, 4510) - max 1Gb/s fiber - *sigh - upgrade those later.
- I have a few Cisco 3750s for redundancy
- I currently do NOT have enough fiber ports available to me
Question:
I have been researching various methods to boost my fiber backbone to accomodate my growing environment and have come up wth the Cisco Nexus 5548UP. This seems to be an appropriate switch in that the "UP" means Unified Ports which can be individually configured to run 1Gb/s and 10Gb/s FC for network or 8, 4, 2, or 1Gb/s FC for SAN connectivity (among other options). Here is the datasheet if the link is allowed to post:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11681/index.html
Shouldn't I be able to attach my SAN and FC HBAs to the Nexus to handle all my SAN needs (my SAN provider has indicated it will be seen by the HBAs through a switch when targets are correct), while at the same time connect my existing core network to the Nexus on ports I have configured for network (FC, Uplonk, trunk)? I am assuing the vCenter handles all the necessary routing for serving requests for those VMs/Servers out to the network. (Please assume that networking within vSphere and on the switches are configured correctly.)
It does this currently all through Ethernet and iSCSI (software initiators) but I'm upping my game and scalability - so the fiber portion has yet to be purchased/deployed.
I have already ruled out the Cisco MDS 4198 as an option as it only handles SAN - no network.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10703/index.html
I just want to be sure everything will talk the way it should with this setup.
I'm getting mixed answers through various vendors, but I think it''s because they have not been in the VMWare environment to see what I'm asking. Some say FC and Ethernet will not talk to each other on the same switch (which is understandable) - but I'm not sure that matters in the vSphere/vCenter world. This my question.
here is crude diagram:
3 X ESXi 5.0 w/ 8Gb/s FC HBAs each ----> Nexus 5548UP ----> SAN
core routers FC Gbic ports (mix of LC and SC unfortunatley) -------> Nexus 5548UP
Anyone try this out? Seems fairly probable to me, but I certainly am learning.
Thanks
Alex