The definitive guide to UCS and the Cisco® Data Center Server: planning, architecture, components, deployment, and benefits With its new Unified Computing System (UCS) family of products, Cisco has introduced a fundamentally new vision for data center computing: one that reduces ownership cost, improves agility, and radically simplifies management. In this book, three Cisco insiders thoroughly explain UCS, and offer practical insights for IT professionals and decision-makers who are evaluating or implementing it. The authors establish the context for UCS by discussing the implications of virtualization, unified I/O, large memories and other key technologies, and showing how trends like cloud computing and green IT will drive the next-generation data center. Next, they take a closer look at the evolution of server CPU, memory, and I/O subsystems, covering advances such as the Intel® XEON® 5500, 5600, 7500, DDR3 memory, and unified I/O over 10 Gbps Ethernet. Building on these fundamentals, the authors then discuss UCS in detail, showing how it systematically overcomes key limitations of current data center environments. They review UCS features, components, and architecture, and demonstrate how it can improve data center performance, reliability, simplicity, flexibility, and energy efficiency. Along the way, they offer realistic planning, installation, and migration guidance: everything decision-makers and technical implementers need to gain maximum value from UCS–now, and for years to come. Silvano Gai has spent 11 years as Cisco Fellow, architecting Catalyst®, MDS, and Nexus switches. He has written several books on networking, written multiple Internet Drafts and RFCs, and is responsible for 80 patents and applications. He teaches a course on this book’s topics at Stanford University. Tommi Salli, Cisco Technical Marketing Engineer, has nearly 20 years of experience with servers and applications at Cisco, Sun, VERITAS, and Nuova Systems. Roger Andersson, Cisco Manager, Technical Marketing, spent more than 12 years in the CLARiiON® Engineering Division at EMC, and 5 years as Technical Product Manager at VERITAS/Symantec. He is now focused on Cisco UCS system management. Streamline data centers with UCS to systematically reduce cost of ownership Eliminate unnecessary server components–and their setup, management, power, cooling, and cabling Use UCS to scale service delivery, simplify service movement, and improve agility Review the latest advances in processor, memory, I/O, and virtualization architectures for data center servers Understand the specific technical advantages of UCS Integrate UCS 6100 Fabric Interconnect, Cisco UCS 2100 Series Fabric Extenders, UCS 5100 Series Blade Server Enclosures, UCS B-Series Blade Servers, UCS C-Series Rack Servers, and UCS Adapters Use Cisco UCS Manager to manage all Cisco UCS components as a single, seamless entity Integrate third-party management tools from companies like BMC ®, CA ®, EMC ®, IBM ®, Microsoft ®, and VMware ® Practice all this with a copy of Cisco Unified Computing SystemTM Platform Emulator Lite (UCSPE Lite) on the DVD in the back of the book This book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press®, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.

A tutorial-based approach which will help you understand the practical methodologies and deploying of Cisco UCS components. If you are a professional such as a system, network, or storage administrator who is responsible for Cisco UCS deployments, this is the perfect book for you. You should have some basic knowledge of the server’s architecture, network, and storage technologies. Familiarity with virtualization technologies is also recommended (though not necessary) as the majority of real-world UCS deployments run virtualized loads. Knowledge of Nexus OS is not necessary as the majority of the management tasks are handled in a graphical user interface with very few exceptions using the CLI.

The Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) can be found in the majority of data centers across the world. However, getting hands-on practice to learn this infrastructure can be difficult, as many companies will push to have it production-ready as soon as possible. Home-labs are also cost-prohibitive, cumbersome, electricity-hungry, and noisy. So, how do you get hands-on experience? With Unified Computing System Platform Emulator (UCSPE) and this book. UCSPE is free and can run on a laptop. Using it along with this book, you will learn how to set up, manage and troubleshoot a UCS, including the fabric interconnects, chassis and IOMs, and servers through the GUI and the CLI. All from the comfort of your own home. Introducing Cisco Unified Computing System will show you how to set up a UCS (comparing the UCSPE to a real-world deployment), customize the hardware, configure the UCS system, and secure it. You'll start by creating an organization and then the policies to control storage, networking, boot options, maintenance policies, and server pools. Once you have the required policies you'll use them to create service profiles (using the policies) and templates and assign these to the blade and rack-mount servers in the virtual environment. You'll also be looking at real-life scenarios such as upgrades (and downgrades), northbound networking, and Storage Area Networking (SAN) connectivity. Using the GUI and the CLI you'll look at real-world examples that data center engineers may encounter. What You'll Learn Set up the Cisco UCSPE on VMWare Create UCS service profiles Secure the UCS system Troubleshoot the UCS Who This Book Is For Datacenter and network engineers and individuals studying for the CCNA and CCNP Cisco data center qualification.

Discover how to simplify your data center architecture, reduces costs, and improve speed and agility with Cisco UCS at your side About This Book Learn how to reduce equipment and operating costs, consolidate resources, and automate data center processes Eliminate manual, time-consuming tasks that were traditionally required to connect servers in data centers A practical hands-on guide that will help you to deploy servers and application stacks with ease Who This Book Is For This book is for system, network, and storage administrators who are responsible for Cisco UCS deployments. You need to have basic knowledge of server architecture, network, and storage technologies. What You Will Learn Set up your Lab using Cisco UCS Emulator Configure Cisco UCS, LAN, and SAN connectivity Create and manage Service profiles Perform various tasks using UCS Backup and restore Cisco UCS configuration Test various Cisco UCS scenarios Manage and automate multiple domains In Detail 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. Style and approach This hands-on book takes a tutorial-based approach to help you understand the practical methodologies and deployment of Cisco UCS components.

Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals For many IT organizations, today''s greatest challenge is to drive more value, efficiency, and utilization from data centers. Virtualization is the best way to meet this challenge. Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals brings together the comprehensive knowledge Cisco professionals need to apply virtualization throughout their data center environments. Leading data center expert Gustavo A. A. Santana thoroughly explores all components of an end-to-end data center virtualization solution, including networking, storage, servers, operating systems, application optimization, and security. Rather than focusing on a single product or technology, he explores product capabilities as interoperable design tools that can be combined and integrated with other solutions, including VMware vSphere. With the author''s guidance, you''ll learn how to define and implement highly-efficient architectures for new, expanded, or retrofit data center projects. By doing so, you can deliver agile application provisioning without purchasing unnecessary infrastructure, and establish a strong foundation for new cloud computing and IT-as-a-service initiatives. Throughout, Santana illuminates key theoretical concepts through realistic use cases, real-world designs, illustrative configuration examples, and verification outputs. Appendixes provide valuable reference information, including relevant Cisco data center products and CLI principles for IOS and NX-OS. With this approach, Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals will be an indispensable resource for anyone preparing for the CCNA Data Center, CCNP Data Center, or CCIE Data Center certification exams. Gustavo A. A. Santana, CCIE® No. 8806, is a Cisco Technical Solutions Architect working in enterprise and service provider data center projects that require deep integration across technology areas such as networking, application optimization, storage, and servers. He has more than 15 years of data center experience, and has led and coordinated a team of specialized Cisco engineers in Brazil. He holds two CCIE certifications (Routing & Switching and Storage Networking), and is a VMware Certified Professional (VCP) and SNIA Certified Storage Networking Expert (SCSN-E). A frequent speaker at Cisco and data center industry events, he blogs on data center virtualization at gustavoaasantana.net. Learn how virtualization can transform and improve traditional data center network topologies Understand the key characteristics and value of each data center virtualization technology Walk through key decisions, and transform choices into architecture Smoothly migrate existing data centers toward greater virtualization Burst silos that have traditionally made data centers inefficient Master foundational technologies such as VLANs, VRF, and virtual contexts Use virtual PortChannel and FabricPath to overcome the limits of STP Optimize cabling and network management with fabric extender (FEX) virtualized chassis Extend Layer 2 domains to distant data center sites using MPLS and Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV) Use VSANs to overcome Fibre Channel fabric challenges Improve SAN data protection, environment isolation, and scalability Consolidate I/O through Data Center Bridging and FCoE Use virtualization to radically simplify server environments Create server profiles that streamline "bare metal" server provisioning "Transcend the rack" through virtualized networking based on Nexus 1000V and VM-FEX Leverage opportunities to deploy virtual network services more efficiently Evolve data center virtualization toward full-fledged private clouds -Reviews - "The variety of material that Gustavo covers in this work would appeal to anyone responsible for Data Centers today. His grasp of virtualization technologies and ability to relate it in both technical and non-technical terms makes for compelling reading. This is not your ordinary tech manual. Through use of relatable visual cues, Gustavo provides information that is easily recalled on the subject of virtualization, reaching across Subject Matter Expertise domains. Whether you consider yourself well-versed or a novice on the topic, working in large or small environments, this work will provide a clear understanding of the diverse subject of virtualization." -- Bill Dufresne, CCIE 4375, Distinguished Systems Engineer, Cisco (Americas) "..this book is an essential reference and will be valuable asset for potential candidates pursuing their Cisco Data Center certifications. I am confident that in reading this book, individuals will inevitably gain extensive knowledge and hands-on experience during their certification preparations. If you''re looking for a truly comprehensive guide to virtualization, this is the one!" -- Yusuf Bhaiji, Senior Manager, Expert Certifications (CCIE, CCDE, CCAr), Learning@Cisco "When one first looks at those classic Cisco Data Center blueprints, it is very common to become distracted with the overwhelming number of pieces and linkages. By creating a solid theoretical foundation and providing rich sets of companion examples to illustrate each concept, Gustavo''s book brings hope back to IT Professionals from different areas of expertise. Apparently complex topics are demystified and the insertion of products, mechanisms, protocols and technologies in the overall Data Center Architecture is clearly explained, thus enabling you to achieve robust designs and successful deployments. A must read... Definitely!" -- Alexandre M. S. P. Moraes, Consulting Systems Engineer -- Author of "Cisco Firewalls"

Improve Manageability, Flexibility, Scalability, and Control with Hyperconverged Infrastructure Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) combines storage, compute, and networking in one unified system, managed locally or from the cloud. With HCI, you can leverage the cloud’s simplicity, flexibility, and scalability without losing control or compromising your ability to scale. In Hyperconverged Infrastructure Data Centers, best-selling author Sam Halabi demystifies HCI technology, outlines its use cases, and compares solutions from a vendor-neutral perspective. He guides you through evaluation, planning, implementation, and management, helping you decide where HCI makes sense, and how to migrate legacy data centers without disrupting production systems. The author brings together all the HCI knowledge technical professionals and IT managers need, whether their background is in storage, compute, virtualization, switching/routing, automation, or public cloud platforms. He explores leading solutions including the Cisco HyperFlex platform, VMware vSAN, Nutanix Enterprise Cloud, Cisco Application-Centric Infrastructure (ACI), VMware’s NSX, the open source OpenStack and Open vSwitch (OVS) / Open Virtual Network (OVN), and Cisco CloudCenter for multicloud management. As you explore discussions of automation, policy management, and other key HCI capabilities, you’ll discover powerful new opportunities to improve control, security, agility, and performance. Understand and overcome key limits of traditional data center designs Discover improvements made possible by advances in compute, bus interconnect, virtualization, and software-defined storage Simplify rollouts, management, and integration with converged infrastructure (CI) based on the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Explore HCI functionality, advanced capabilities, and benefits Evaluate key HCI applications, including DevOps, virtual desktops, ROBO, edge computing, Tier 1 enterprise applications, backup, and disaster recovery Simplify application deployment and policy setting by implementing a new model for provisioning, deployment, and management Plan, integrate, deploy, provision, manage, and optimize the Cisco HyperFlex hyperconverged infrastructure platform Assess alternatives such as VMware vSAN, Nutanix, open source OpenStack, and OVS/OVN, and compare architectural differences with HyperFlex Compare Cisco ACI (Application- Centric Infrastructure) and VMware NSX approaches to network automation, policies, and security This book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.