Book Image

Implementing Cisco UCS Solutions. - Second Edition

By : Prasenjit Sarkar
Book Image

Implementing Cisco UCS Solutions. - Second Edition

By: Prasenjit Sarkar

Overview of this book

Cisco Unified Computer System (UCS) is a powerful solution for modern data centers and is responsible for increasing efficiency and reducing costs. This hands-on guide will take you through deployment in Cisco UCS. Using real-world examples of configuring and deploying Cisco UCS components, we’ll prepare you for the practical deployments of Cisco UCS data center solutions. If you want to develop and enhance your hands-on skills with Cisco UCS solutions, this book is certainly for you. We start by showing you the Cisco UCS equipment options then introduce Cisco UCS Emulator so you can learn and practice deploying Cisco UCS components. We’ll also introduce you to all the areas of UCS solutions through practical configuration examples. Moving on, you’ll explore the Cisco UCS Manager, which is the centralized management interface for Cisco UCS. Once you get to know UCS Manager, you’ll dive deeper into configuring LAN, SAN, identity pools, resource pools, and service profiles for the servers. You’ll also get hands-on with administration topics including backup, restore, user’s roles, and high availability cluster configuration. Finally, you will learn about virtualized networking, third-party integration tools, and testing failure scenarios. By the end of this book, you’ll know everything you need to know to rapidly grow Cisco UCS deployments in the real world.

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Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Preface
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for
Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Downloading the color images of this book
Errata
Piracy
Questions
Free Chapter
1
What's New with Cisco UCS
What's New with Cisco UCS
UCS architecture overview
Changes in the third-generation UCS
Physical architecture of UCS
Fabric Interconnects
Fabric Extenders
Blade server chassis
B-Series blade servers
Mezzanine adapters
UCS storage servers
UCS M-Series modular servers
Cisco UCS Mini
Summary
2
Installing Cisco UCS Hardware
Installing Cisco UCS Hardware
Installing UCS hardware components
Installing racks for UCS components
Installing UCS chassis and components
Installing Fabric Interconnects
Cabling - Fabric Interconnects and Fabric Extenders
Power capacity and power plug types
Cisco SingleConnect technology
Summary
3
Setting Up a Lab Using Cisco UCS Emulator
Setting Up a Lab Using Cisco UCS Emulator
Configuring Cisco UCS Emulator
Using Cisco UCSPE
Configuring network settings
Configuring hardware settings
Launching UCS Manager using Platform Emulator
UCSPE limitations
Summary
4
Configuring Cisco UCS Using UCS Manager
Configuring Cisco UCS Using UCS Manager
Introducing Cisco UCSM
Walking through the UCSM interface
Starting with the initial configuration
Step-by-step initial configuration
Global configuration policies
UCS Manager - command-line interface
Summary
5
Configuring LAN Connectivity
Configuring LAN Connectivity
Understanding Fabric Interconnect switching modes
Introduction to Fabric Interconnect port types
Configuring northbound connectivity to upstream switches
Configuring VLANs
Using pin groups
Configuring southbound connectivity to IOMs
Configuring the last piece of the puzzle - vNICs
Summary
6
Configuring SAN Connectivity
Configuring SAN Connectivity
Learning about storage connectivity options
Overview of FC and iSCSI storage
Storage connectivity design considerations
Learning about the FC switching mode
Configuring the FC ports
Configuring the FC uplink port
Configuring the FC port channel and trunking
Configuring VSANs and zoning
Learning about VSANs
Configuring FCoE
Manual and automatic uplink pinning
Summary
7
Creating Identity Resource Pools, Policies, and Templates
Creating Identity Resource Pools, Policies, and Templates
Understanding identity and resource pools
Learning to create a UUID pool
Learning to create a MAC pool
Learning to create a WWNN pool
Learning to create a WWPN pool
Learning to create IP pools
Making your identity pools meaningful
Understanding server pools
Learning to create server pool membership and qualification policies
Summary
8
Creating and Managing Service Profiles
Creating and Managing Service Profiles
Overview of service profiles
Different ways of creating a service profile
Configuring policies
A walkthrough of the service profile creation - expert mode
Creating and applying a service profile template
Service profiles cloning
Summary
9
Managing UCS through Routine and Advanced Management
Managing UCS through Routine and Advanced Management
Licensing Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect
Starting up and shutting down of Fabric Interconnects
Controlling blade server power
Status and locator LEDs
Configuring logging
Configuring the Cisco Call Home feature
Organizational structure in UCS Manager
RBAC
Permissions in multitenancy
Summary
10
Virtual Networking in Cisco UCS
Virtual Networking in Cisco UCS
Learning about VN-Link
Using the NX-OS
Changes in the data center
Development of Nexus 1000V
Nexus 1000V components
VEM implementation
VSM implementation
VEM data plane
VSM control plane
Nexus 1000V and physical switches
Nexus and vPath
Deploying VSM
VSUM architecture
Communication between VSM and VEM
Summary
11
Configuring Backup, Restore, and High Availability
Configuring Backup, Restore, and High Availability
Backing up the Cisco UCS configuration
Creating UCS backup jobs
Restoring backups using GUI
Configuring high availability clustering
Managing high availability
Summary
12
Cisco UCS Failure Scenarios Testing
Cisco UCS Failure Scenarios Testing
Port channel uplink failure and recovery on Fabric Interconnects
Server link to Fabric Interconnect failure and recovery
FEX IO modules - failure and recovery
Fabric Interconnect device failure and recovery
UCS chassis failure, reporting, and recovery
Single Fibre Channel failure and recovery on Fabric Interconnects
Indicating a status with Beacon LEDs
Creating a tech-support file
Summary
13
Third-Party Application Integration
Third-Party Application Integration
Understanding the challenges in infrastructure
Going deep with UIM
Understanding the discovery mechanism of UIM
Learning about the UIM service life cycle
Integrating VMware vCenter Server with UCSM
Summary
14
Automation and Orchestration of Cisco UCS
Automation and Orchestration of Cisco UCS
Multiple UCS domain management
Performance monitoring and capacity planning
Powering infrastructure with a cloud solution
Summary

Configuring LAN Connectivity

UCS Fabric Interconnect provides connectivity for Ethernet and storage data traffic. UCS Fabric Interconnect also runs the Unified Computing System Management (UCSM) software. UCS Fabric Interconnect hardware is based on the Nexus series of switches and runs NX-OS; however, Fabric Interconnect has some features that are different from a standard Nexus Ethernet switch. In this chapter, we'll focus on Fabric Interconnect Ethernet connectivity to the servers and upstream switches.

In this chapter, we'll discuss the following topics:

  • Understanding Fabric Interconnect switching modes
  • Introduction to Fabric Interconnect port types
  • Configuring northbound connectivity to upstream switches
  • Configuring southbound connectivity to IOMs/FEXs
  • Configuring the last piece of the puzzle-vNICs

We'll configure Fabric Interconnect's downstream (southbound) connectivity to IOMs/Fabric...

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