Today, we’ll look at the significance of Cisco ACI.
Let’s start with a definition of the ACI and why it’s become a must-have for anyone looking into SDN solutions!!!!
What is Cisco ACI?
Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) is an acronym for Application Centric Infrastructure. It’s Cisco’s data center SDN solutions. It is important not to mix it up with ACI-EM, which stands for Enterprise Module.
It’s a distinct product with a distinct function. Because ACI is designed for data centers, you should only connect servers to it, not PCs, IP phones, or anything else that is associated with campus networking.
Key features of ACI are: –
- Automation
- Focus on apps
- Integration Capabilities such as VMware, vSphere, or Microsoft hyper-v
- Virtualization
- Container networking such as Kubernetes
- Orchestration such as the Cisco cloud center is one of the key aspects of ACI.
When compared to alternative DC solutions, such as the great employed by ACI VS, CIO SPO Network will profit. The Fabric route is just one example of technology.
Why ACI?
- It has a DC networking and VxLAN complicated that must be manually managed.
To begin with, ACI improves data center management and hides a great deal of complexity from administrators.
Behind the scenes, an ACI employs Vic stand, and if you’ve ever used Vixen on solitary Nexus switches, you’ll agree with me that it’s not a straightforward configuration.
- Managing each networking device individually is difficult.
It hides complexity from you and you don’t have to configure each switch in your fabric independently, such as if you want to configure the excellent inside our fabric using your traditional Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 key switches and you don’t have any automation software.
You’ll need to deal with each switch individually. You can use the CLI or the REST API, but the key purpose is to configure each of your switches individually within your fabric. In the case of ACI, this is not the case.
You will configure your ACI fabric as a whole using a cluster of AP controllers, which allows you to configure your fabric as a whole rather than individually configuring each switch in your fabric.
- Automation
Because an ACI has a REST API, it offers far greater automation features, such as CLI scraping, which is still utilized because it’s the only way to deal with all patterns.
- Integration capabilities
You may use ACI to connect to a Visio VMware infrastructure hyper-v, which has virtualization, open stack container networking, and orchestration tools, among other things.
The primary purpose of all of this integration is to ensure quick network infrastructure deployment for end applications.
- Application-oriented
When you utilize ACI, you start thinking about applications rather than traditional networking aspects like events, subnets, trunks, routing, and so on.
This is logical because, at the end of the day, we employ all of our event networking equipment for one purpose: to give application to consumers.
Advantages of ACI are: –
- The basic and scalable Leaf-Spine-Leaf (CLOS) Topology.
- ECMP (Active/Active Ethernet Routing Protocol)
- Anycast gateway on each leaf for East-West traffic optimization
- Micro-segmentation is not a concern if the subnets are the same!
- Security- white policy by default
ACI components
ACI consists of two main components: – switches and controllers
- Switches
Nexus 19k switches are used by ACI.
Roots, leaves, and spines make up the two halves of a switch.
Because there can’t be a model that’s both a spine and a leaf, each physical box model is linked to a specific fabric roll.
It’s either a spine or a leaf, and one box cannot be both spine and leaf at the same time. So, if you want to build an ACI fabric, you’ll need to purchase some switches, and each switch in your fabric will only have one roll.
It all depends on your data center design, such as the top of rack switches, which have a much lower density than spine switches, which typically have a lot of ports with very high bandwidth, such as 40 gigabit Ethernet or 100-gigabit ecozone.
In addition, the majority of Nexus 19k switches feature two modes of operation. It’s a CI’s bashful mode as well as a Standalone access mode.
Only the CI mode is supported by 102 modules.
- Controller
The acronym for application policy infrastructure controller (APIC) is application policy infrastructure controller. It is the brain of the entire ACI system and should be installed in a high-availability configuration with three or more APIC clusters.
A Cisco UCS-C server serves as the physical controller. If you have a small amount of fabric, you can choose between different capacities for different fabric sizes.
You are not required to purchase the most powerful UCS-C server, but if your fabric is larger, you should consider purchasing a more powerful server for the AP cluster.
You are unable to use Cisco hardware, virtual machine VN, or anything else unless you purchase UCS season.
The Benefit of Cisco ACI
Follow are some important benefits you receive through Cisco ACI
- Increase the efficiency of your automation.
- Multiple active locations are supported
- Increases your competitiveness
- Improve your abilities
- Assists you in understanding network design.
- Able to see frequent problems on the go.
- Assists you in implementing cloud computing successfully.
- Assist you with network upgrades.
Some frequently asked questions?
- What is the purpose of Cisco ACI?
The application deployment lifecycle will be simplified, optimized, and accelerated.
- Full form of ACI?
ACI stands for Application Centric Infrastructure.
- What is Nexus ACI mode?
Clustering, leaf nodes, and spine nodes are all involved.
- What is APIC?
APIC stands for application policy infrastructure controller.
- Components of ACI?
There are two components of ACI that is switch and controller.
Conclusion
Managing networks and adapting to new models has become an essential ability for an expert as software-defined networking has become a requirement in various businesses around the world.
Cisco’s application-centric infrastructure (ACI) has transformed the way people think about networking, and those in the field are expected to pick it up on the fly.
