Deploying UCS in Modern

Datacenters
Madhu Somu - Technical Marketing Engineer
Scott Garee - Technical Marketing Engineer
BRKINI-2201

Agenda

Short Historical Background

Unique Characteristics of Modern Datacenters

Role of UCS in Modern Datacenter

Datacenter Fabrics and Security

UCSM Operational, Optimization, Resiliency Enhancements

Rapidly Changing Storage Landscape

Programmability of UCS

Conclusion

Back in 2007
Relevance of Using IP based Datacenter Systems was an open question

IP is way too greedy and heavy weight

IP is not secure

IP is Lossy

IP is not optimized for Storage Transport

IP is not optimized for Datacenters

Long list of misunderstanding

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Looking Back at Datacenter

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Fragmented SILOs to True Architecture for

Datacenter

Highly fragmented (Server, Storage, Network)

Strong pockets of resistance

Few things connected

Separate Islands of networks

UCS - Network Compute/Storage Convergence to IP Fabrics

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Unique Characteristics of Modern

Datacenters

Data Centers Trends

DevOps
Distributed Storage

Orchestration
Converged LAN and SAN
Intent-based Networking

Containers

DATA CENTER
TRENDS

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Network Fabrics

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Industry Evolution & Data Centers

Digitalization and IoT/IoE
Cloud-based applications

Traditional Applications
Monolithic Model
Multi-tier Apps

Business Agility with cloud model

Micro-services / Bi-Modal IT / DevOps

Open
Source

Policy and Automation

Manual Interaction
IT Silos based approach
Configuration driven

Enterprise-wide policy, hyper-convergence

and cross-domain automation
Consumption driven with analytics and programmability

DevOps

Focus on business solutions

Focus on products
Disjoint approaches to solve technical demands
Cohesiveness as after thought

Data Center is the foundation for business agility

Delivered as a solution and / or as a service,

Agility &
Scale
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Cisco Datacenter Strategy

Cisco Data Center Strategy & Vision

Defined by Applications. Driven by Policy. Delivered as a Service / Solution

BUSINESS
REQUIREMENTS

Policy

Policy
Policy

Network

Cloud
Compute

BUSINESS OUTCOMES
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Shaping The Next DC Architecture

DevOps Tools

ServiceNow/Custom ITSM

Jenkins

Application-Centric Lifecycle Management

Model

Benchmark

Deploy

Manage

Application Profiles
Datacenter

VXLAN Controller

UCS

Storage

Profile

Private Cloud

Profile

Public Cloud

ACI

Nexus
Hyper-V

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Role of UCS in Modern Datacenter

UCS Architecture
Security Built-in at Every Layer

Mgmt. Plane

Access
CLI
Control

Context
Awareness

Threat
Prevention
(Netflow+)
APIs

UCSM

Control Plane

Data Plane

NIV, LLDP, VIC

Infrastructure
Element
Layer

XML

Application
Visibility
(Netflow+)

Common Security Policy & Management

APIs

Control and
Data Plane

Content
GUIInspection

NX-OS

L2, QoS, FCoE

Management Plane
SNMP,SSH,XML,

Memory Management , Scheduler,IPC, Services

Linux Kernel
ASIC Data Plane

Compute-Network-Storage-Security

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Software Data Plane

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13

Architecture of Cisco UCS C-Series IMC

SNMP-based NMS

Syslog Server

Events Polls
{SNMP
Traps}

Events
{Syslog
Messages}

{SNMP
GET}

Events HTTP(S)
{xml}

XML API

Syslog

SNMP

{xml}

Faults

C
I
M
C

Inventory
Sensor Data
Config

Fault Engine
IPMI

Storage Daemon

Disk
Disk

Storage Controller
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk

Disk
Disk

CPU
Memory
System Board
Fans
PCI Adaptors
PSU

Cisco UCS C-Series Server

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Cisco UCS Director Turn-Key Solution

On-Demand
Automated Delivery

Compute VMs

Storage

Policy-Driven
Provisioning

UCS Director

End-to-End Automation and

Lifecycle Management

Network

Single Pane of Glass

Secure Cloud
Container

Domain
Managers

OS and
Virtual
Machines

VM

VM

Bare
Metal

Virtualized and Bare-Metal

Compute
Compute and Hypervisor

Network

Network and Services

Storage
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Cisco UCS Director - Overview

Infrastructure Automation and Private Cloud Foundation automation
Infrastructure Automation and
Orchestration
Physical Compute, Network, Storage, Hypervisor
Day0 bring up of Infrastructure

Like musictheres an
appropriate timing and order
of operations when
provisioning infrastructure

Virtualization

Single Pane Management

Converged Infrastructure (FlexPod, Vblock, etc.)

Private Cloud Foundation

Physical Servers

Secure Multi-Tenancy
Application Infrastructure Blueprint
Resource Management
Self-Service Portal

Network

Metering and Showback

Improve IT Operational Efficiency

Storage

Reduce Opex & Decrease Service Delivery time

Reduce Capex

UCS Director

Increased Visibility
Increase focus on value-add services
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UCS Management Portfolio

UCS Director API
UCS Director
Policy Driven, Application Centric Infrastructure Management and
Orchestration

Non-Cisco
Infrastructure
API

Virtual Machines

API
UCS Performance
Manager

Policy Driven Multi DC,

Multi-Domain
Management

IMC Supervisor

Network Devices

API
UCS Central

Performance Monitoring

API

API

UCS Manager
Domain 1

UCS Manager
Domain x

API
CIMC

FlexPod

Storage
Stand-Alone UCS
C-Series

Servers

Basic Management Functionality

Unified Computing
System

vBlock

Integrated & Converged

Infrastructure

Advanced Infrastructure Abstraction & Automation

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The Power of UCS Unleashed for Modern Datacenters

Policy
Driven

Software
Defined

Secure

Simplicity of
Storage

Unified
Fabric

BootStrap
and
Provisioning

Operational
Simplicity

Virtualization
Aware

Simple, Scale
and Secure

Unified Fabric

Standard
Open
Interfaces

Open

Hyperconverged

Secure
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Open API
NetFlow

Visibility,
Automation,
Telemetry

Programmable

Server
Management
Tools

Ready for
DevOps

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18

UCS FI & IOM 3rd Generation Models

FI 6300 Series and IOM 2304
FI 6332
32 x 40GbE QSFP+ ports
2.56Tbps switching performance
1RU fixed form factor, two power supplies & four fans

FI 6332-16UP
24 x 40GbE QSFP+ & 16 x UP ports (1/10GbE or 4/8/16G FC)
2.43Tbps switching performance

1RU fixed form factor, two power supplies & four fans

IOM 2304
8 x 40GbE server links & 4 x 40GbE QSFP+ uplinks
960Gbps switching performance

Modular IOM for UCS 5108

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FI 6332 Use Case

Existing Infrastructure

FI 6332 Use Case

40G

10G

Nexus
7K/9K

Nexus
7K/9K
40G FCoE

8G FC
FI 6248
FI 6296

FI 6332
10G

UCS
B-Series
B200
B260
B460
&
IOM 2204
IOM 2208

10G
UCS
C-Series
C220
C240
C460

Storage
MDS
9706/9710/9718 Array

40G
UCS
B-Series
B200
B260
B460
&
IOM 2304

40G
UCS
C-Series
C220
C240
C460

Storage
MDS
9706/9710/9718 Array

10G

40G

10G / FC

40G FCoE

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FI 6332-16UP Use Case

Existing Infrastructure

FI 6332-16UP Use Case

40G

10G

Nexus
7K/9K

Nexus
7K/9K
16G FC

8G FC
FI 6248
FI 6296

FI 6332-16UP
10G

UCS
B-Series
B200
B260
B460
&
IOM 2204
IOM 2208

10G
UCS
C-Series
C220
C240
C460

Storage
MDS
9706/9710/9718 Array

40G
UCS
B-Series
B200
B260
B460
&
IOM 2304

40G
UCS
C-Series
C220
C240
C460

Storage
MDS
9706/9710/9718 Array

10G

40G

8G FC

16G FC

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Converged Compute Design Spin/Leaf

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UCS: Platform Integrity via Trust Anchor

Protects Against Hardware Counterfeiting, Data Manipulation, and Weak Randomization
Checks to Verify as Cisco Genuine

Authenticity and License Check

Verify Secure Identity

Foundational Security

Immutable Identity (SUDI X.509 cert)

Secure Storage (Keys)

Certifiable Entropy Source

Secure Crypto Assist

Secure Application Certificates

SUDI

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UCS Cloud Security Framework

Co-Tenancy

Co-Tenancy
Organizations
Logical Isolation Without Dedicated
Physical Infrastructure per Organization
Different Policies, Pools, and Quality of Service Definitions
Sub-Organizations

Locale Assign or Restrict User Privileges

and Roles by Organization
Network Control Policy
Disjoint Layer-2 Networks
Utilized for Connecting Shared UCS Infrastructure with
Separate Upstream Network Clouds

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Microsegmentation
SAFE Simplifies Security: Data Center
Host-based
Security
Database
Zone

Next-Gen
Intrusion
PreventionFirewall Load
Balancer Switch
System

To Campus
Flow
Analytics

PCI
Compliance
Zone
WAN
App Server
Zone

L2//L3
Network
Web
Application
Firewall

Shared
Services
Zone

Centralized Management
Flow
Analytics

Policy/
Configuration

Visibility/
Context

Analysis
Correlation

Analytics

Virtualized Capabilities
Logging/
Reporting

To Edge

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Threat
Vulnerability Monitoring
Intelligence Management

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Use Case Flows through Data Center

Complex Flows on UCS Servers

Database Zone

Clerk processing credit card

transaction

Field engineer submitting

work order

CEO sending email

to shareholders

Corporate guest accessing

Internet

Technician remotely checking

logs

Secure Apps
Access
Secure
applications
and
segmentation

Remote
Access
VPN

Client-BasedIdentity Posture TrustSec Flow

Security
Assessment
Analytics

User

Client-Based
Identity Posture VPN
Security
Authorization
Assessment

AVC

Firewall

Anti- Intrusion Threat Server-Based POS

Malware PreventionIntelligence Security

DDOSFirewall VPN Threat AVC Intrusion Anti- Flow WAF

Server-Based
Concentrator
Intelligence
Prevention
MalwareAnalytics
Security Server

Secure Mail
Client-BasedWiFi WIPS Identity MDM PostureTrustSec Flow Email Anti- AVC Threat Intrusion Firewall DDOS
Security
Assessment
AnalyticsSecurityMalware
Intelligence
Prevention

Guest
Wireless
Access

Ext to Corp
VPN

Client-Based WiFi
Security

WIPS

Identity TrustSec

Flow
AntiAnalytics Malware

Client-Based Identity Posture

VPN
VPN
Flow
Security
Assessment
ConcentratorAnalytics
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AVC

AVC

Threat Intrusion Firewall

IntelligencePrevention

DDOS

AntiThreat Intrusion Firewall

MalwareIntelligencePrevention

DDOS

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UCS Netflow+ Lancope Cyber Threat Defense

Network Reconnaissance Using Dynamic NetFlow Analysis

Detect

Monitor

Analyze

Respond

Understand your
network and data
center normal

Leverage Network
Behavior Anomaly
detection & analytics

Collect & Analyze

holistic network audit
trails

Accelerate network
troubleshooting & threat
mitigation

Gain real-time
situational awareness
of all traffic

Detect behaviors
linked to APTs,
insider threats,
DDoS, and malware

Achieve faster root

cause analysis to
conduct thorough
forensic investigations

Respond quickly to
threats by taking action

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UCSO Design

Three controller design provides HA for

OpenStack management

Pair of Cisco Nexus switches and fabric

interconnects provide HA for network

Minimum of three Ceph nodes with

replication provides HA for storage

Scalable compute and storage with

additional servers and chassis

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Cisco UCS Manager ML2 Plugin

Configures port profiles in Cisco UCS Manager (UCSM) and pass through to
Neutron for individual instance use.

PCI passthrough in UCSM for SR-IOV/VM-FEM for Cisco NICs

Configures VLANs within UCS

More details:
o

[Link]

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UCSM Operational, Optimization,

Resiliency Enhancements

Operational, Optimization, Resiliency Enhancements

Firmware Upgrades

Fabric High Availability checks 2.2.3

Fault Suppression 2.1.1

Maintenance Policy Option On Next

Boot 3.1

Fabric Evacuation 2.2.4

Server Packs - 2.2.4

Baseline Policy for upgrade checks 3.1

Per Fabric Chassis Acknowledge 2.2.4

Pre- upgrade validation check 2.2.2

Automatic UCSM Backup

UCS Health Monitoring 3.1

I2C Statistics and Improvements 3.1

UCSM policy to monitor FI/IOM link 2.2.4

Reset IOM to Factory Default 3.1

Locator LED for Disks 3.1

Smart Call Home Enhancements 2.2.3

DIMM Blacklisting 2.2.3

Memory reporting Enhancements

2.2.7,3.1.1

during Auto Install 2.2.4

Monitoring

Maintenance

Server Firmware Auto Sync 2.2.1

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HTML5 User Interface

Eliminate maintenance of JRE Desktop versions by

migrating to a browser-based technology

Completely in-browser UI built on HTML5 and

Dojo/XWT JavaScript framework

Web Sockets (for persistent channel with back-end)

Local Storage & Cookies (for cached preferences)

Identical Layout, Colors, Icons & Text (to Java-based

UI)

Available for both UCS Manager and KVM Manager

Browser Support (only HTML5-compliant modern

versions)

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HTML5 Sample Screenshots

FI Physical View
Chassis Physical View

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HTML5 Sample Screenshots

Service Profile Wizard

Local User

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Consumer Grade User Interface

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Maintenance Policy Option On Next Boot

Apply deferred changes through

Maintenance policy when the Host OS Level
reboot.

The On Next Boot option can be selected

with User Ack or Timer Automatic This option is
not available with Immediate

Deferred changes will be applied during

below scenario :

Reboot a server from host OS

Shutdown server from UCSM or host OS
Reset Server from UCSM
Host OS crash

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Maintenance Policy Option On Next Boot

Waiting for next boot status displayed

when the On next Boot is enabled and
the server is in pending activities list
waiting for reboot

When the feature is enabled, UCSM will

power OFF the host when it detects a Host
OS Level reboot or reset and will also
display a message on the KVM console
indicating the host is in maintenance mode.

This message will be displayed until the

UCSM start applying the deferred changes

The feature is supported on blades, racks

and modular servers

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Acknowledging Auto Install Primary FI reboot

Resolve the Faults before

proceeding

Check new Faults

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Fabric Evacuation

Checks for Faults before

Fabric Evacuation

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Manual Firmware Upgrade Fabric Evacuation

Checks for Faults before

Fabric Evacuation

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Baseline Policy

System will create a base line (pin

the existing faults on the system)
of the outstanding faults when a FI
is about to be rebooted.

System will store the timestamp

for the last pinned reboot. If the
time gap between the last pin time
and the current time is greater
than the pinning window (User
configurable. Default is 24 hours),
we will skip the pinning validation
during firmware upgrade process
to avoid false alarms.
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New Baseline Faults

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DIMM Blacklisting and Correctable Error Reporting

Customer benefits

Improved accuracy at identifying Degraded

DIMMs
Protect customers from running with bad DIMMs
that would otherwise pass BIOS MRC check

Feature details

Forcefully map-out a DIMM that hits an

uncorrectable error during host CPU execution

The Blacklisted DIMM will be mapped-out on the

next host reboot

UCSM will maintain historical DIMM error counts,

and provide more accurate identification of
Degraded DIMMs

Supports post-mortem DIMM failure analysis by

logging ECC info on the DIMM SPD

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FC SPAN

Sources

FC port
FC port channel
VSAN
Service profile vHBA

ACL-based

Only supported on the ingress side.

FC span supported only for FI 6332-16UP

Destination

Unconfigured Eth port

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NIF monitoring for corrupted frames

UCSM monitors the errors on

the Network Interface (NI) port
of the IOM/FEX when the
threshold has been crossed,
then UCSM can put the
corresponding FI server port
into err-disabled

UCS FI

Time based auto-recovery

I
O
M

Faulty optics or links will not

cause service interruption due
to faulty frames (CRC)

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Port Recovery

Auto recovery

Option for port auto-recovery

if port is err-disabled due
crossing the threshold

Time-based and user

configurable
UCSM will re-enabled the errdisabled after the defined
time.

Manual recovery

Disable/enable the server

port on the FI

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VSAN Span Example

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FI System Stats Enhancements

Kernel low memory usage

Low Memory is the segment of memory that the Linux

kernel can address directly

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FI Health Monitoring
Major Fault
will be raised
if Kernel
mem>100MB

KernelMemFree & KernelMemTotal

stats are added to threshold policy for
system stats where user can define
there own thresholds.

Supported on
all UCS FI
Platforms
6200,6300,
UCS Mini

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ECC Memory Error Reporting on 3GFI

Supported on
all UCS FI
Platforms
6200,6300,
UCS Mini

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ECC Memory Error Reporting on 3GFI

Uncorrectable parity errors are also retrieved in UCSM.

If UCSM finds a uncorrectable error, a major fault is raised on FI.

Triggers call home and suggested recovery action for this kind of fault is to reboot FI.

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CIMC Health Monitoring

If two health events are reported one with severity Major & other with
severity Minor, fault will be raised with major severity and details of
both the health events is displayed as health qualifier.

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IOM Health Monitoring

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IOM Health Monitoring

Following stats will be reported for FEX under

Fex System Stats:

Load
Mem Available
Mem Cached
Kernel Mem Total
Kernel Mem Free

All supported FEX for Granada release on 6200 &

3GFI will support this feature

Note: FEX stats are not supported on Mini

platform.

All FEX stats are added to threshold policy as Fex

System Stats where user can define there own
thresholds.
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54

Fan Speed Policy added (C-Series use case)

Added Fan Speed Policy to the
UCSM Power Control Policy
Allows user override of default
fan control behavior.
Use Case: Efficient cooling of
3rd party (non-managed) PCI
Adapters in C-Series Servers.

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Storage Profiles Local Storage

Legacy Initial Disk Configuration and Virtual Drive Creation

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Storage Profiles / MultiLUN

Local LUN Provisioning from Within UCSM
Storage Profiles
Virtual Drives

Advanced Disk Geometries and Configurations

Disk Group Policies

Direct Communication to Local PCIe Storage Controller

PCH Controller Integration
C240M4 Internal SSDs

Modification of Local Storage Without Reboot

Consumed by Service Profiles and Templates
UCSM Managed M3 and M4 (B,C)

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Storage Profiles Local Storage

Disk Group Policies

Each Storage Profile Defined

LUN Mapped to a Disk Group
Disk Group Configuration

Defines RAID Level, Disks and

Quantities
Automatic Configuration
Chooses from Available Disks
Disk Qualifiers
Manual Configuration Choose
Specific Disks

Virtual Drive Configuration

Defines LUN Parameters Within

Disk Group

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Storage Profiles Local Storage

Local LUN Creation

Define Individual LUNs

Claim Existing Local LUN (Orphan LUN)
Expand To Available

Auto / No Auto Deploy

Use All Remaining Space in Disk Group

Automatic or Manual LUN Deployment

Disk Group

Consume or Create Disk Group for LUN

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Acknowledging Auto Install Primary FI reboot

Resolve the Faults before

proceeding

Check new Faults

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Storage Profiles Boot Policies

Boot Policies

Boot From Local LUN

Enter Defined Boot LUN Name

PCH Controller Support

C240M4 Internal SSDs

SWRAID - Add Embedded Local
LUN
AHCI Add Embedded Local Disk

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Storage Profiles Provisioning

Local Storage Provisioning Flexibility

Specific Storage Profiles

Single System Use

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Legacy Local Disk

Configuration

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IPv6 Clients to UCS Server CIMC

KVM

vMedia

IPMI

MGMT

SOL

MGMT

LAN

FI-A
I
O
M
A

Chassis 1

CNA

B200s

FI-B

Cluster
I
O
M

I
O
M

B
A

Chassis 20

CNA

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CNA

B-Series

I
O
M
B

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Rapidly Changing Storage

Landscape

Wheres the buzz?

Software Defined Storage

Flash in the Datacenter

Hyperconverged Systems

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Definition: What is Software Defined Storage (SdS)

The programming that controls the storage

is decoupled from the physical hardware

Consists of the Storage Tier Only

Emphasizes storage services such as

deduplication or replication, instead of
storage hardware

Hosts

Software Defined Storage

A shared pool that runs on commodity

hardware

Utilizes Policy Based Management

Often referred to as Storage Virtualization

and is part of a bigger industry trend of
Software Defined Datacenter

Local Physical Storage

Storage Software can run on bare
metal or as a VM on a hypervisor host

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Use Cases for the UCS Server Family

Service Providers,
Enterprise, Cloud

Service Providers
Public Sector

Service Providers,
Enterprise

Service Providers,
Enterprise

Software Defined Storage

Object Store

Media Streaming and Content

Distribution
Video Surveillance

Exchange
Backup and Archive
(as Service)

Big Data and Analytics

SP COS

Storage Spaces

SP COS VSOM

In a box

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Servers for Software Defined Storage

UCS C3000 Series

Up to 480TB Disk Storage

UCS C240 M4
Up to 96TB Disk Storage

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Flash in the Datacenter

Flash density is increasing

Flash cost is decreasing

Flash performance in IOPs is ~1000x

Flash performance in bandwidth is ~20x

Flash $/GB is ~5x

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Evolution of Flash in Shared Storage

Flash Caching

Hybrid Arrays

All Flash Array Conversions

Purpose Built Flash Arrays

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UCS In-Server Flash Options

SFF 2.5

SFF 2.5

HHHL
Small Form Factor (SFF) 2.5

SAS

SATA

RAID Controller
RAID Controller

PCIe

PCIe - Direct
to CPU (just
like Fusion io)

Performance
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2016-2018 server-side storage technologies

Shipping now
Shipping as soon as possible

Latency

10,000 s

$1/GB

HDD

1,000 s
SAS/SATA SDD (NAND)

100 s

$2/GB

PCIe/NVMe SSD (NAND; Add in Card or

2.5 Small Form Factor)

10 s

PCIe/NVMe Xpoint (New Media, not

NAND; various Form Factors)

1 s

Streaming/Sequential
Backup
Big Data/Analytics

OLTP DB (most)
Some Analytics (Hadoop, SAS)
Virtual Servers

Flash $/GB
decreasing quickly

$3/GB
$6/GB

DRAM Extension
In-Memory DB
Caching

IOPS
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Flash Acceleration Options for Databases

Store and Accelerate

key parts of the
Database

Store and
Accelerate the
Entire Database

Accelerated
Replication and
High Availability

SGA or Data Caching

Smart Flash Cache

Accelerate Reads with Flash

Cache

Offload SAN with

ASM Preferred
Read Mirrors

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SQL Server Case Study

Summary of Results:
General 40% improvement across the
board on all production IIS traffic
Reduction in database server failover
from 10 minute outage to a seamless
seven second hiccup
Ability to provide a near real-time data
warehouse solution to clients
Increased operations efficiency through
visibility of systems status provided by
UCS
Increased headroom in available capacity
allows for additional services without
additional hardware investments

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Definition: What is Hyperconvergence?

New Converged Infrastructure offering utilizing

Software Defined Storage

Tight integration of x86 servers for compute

and storage, networking and virtualization in
all-in-one appliance. Packaging

Integration of hypervisors and physical

infrastructure

Simple Scale one unit/appliance at a time

Simple deployment measured in hours

Centralized management, intuitive UI

Storage presentation via a distributed

filesystem or object store

Controller
VM

VM

VM

VM

Hypervisor

Local Physical Storage

Controller
VM

VM

VM

VM

Hypervisor

Local Physical Storage

Controller
VM

VM

VM

VM

Hypervisor

Local Physical Storage

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The Promise of Hyperconverged Systems

Agile

Deploy at Cloud Speed

Instantly Provision, Clone or Snapshot Applications

Efficient

Flexible Deployment
Variety of Configurations to Handle Diversified Set of Workloads

Adaptable

Scale-As-You-Grow
Add Resources Non-Disruptively and Scale Performance Linearly in Small Increments

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Introducing Cisco HyperFlex Systems

Complete Hyperconvergence

Software Defined Compute,

Storage & Network

Next Generation Data

Management

Future Ready Architecture

Always-on Optimization and

Flexible Scaling

Built for Todays Workloads

and Emerging Applications

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HyperFlex Key Customer Benefits

Agile

Efficient

Adaptable

Complete
Hyperconvergence

Intuitive
Management

Cloud
Speed

All 3 Layers of Network, Compute

and Storage Intelligently Integrated
Into a Single Solution for <60 Minute
Deployment

Eliminate Infrastructure Silos and Use

Existing Management Tools to Manage
and Automate Operations

Instantly Provision, Clone or

Snapshot Applications

Built on
the UCS Platform

Flexible
Deployment

Always-on Data
Optimization

Unified Management Using Existing

Skillsets in the Organization

Variety of Configurations to Handle

Diversified Set of Workloads

Inline Dedupe and Compression

Ensuring Hyper-Efficient Resource
Utilization

Scale-As-You-Grow

Adaptive
Scaling

Non-Stop
Infrastructure

Scale Compute or Capacity to Match

Application Needs

Self-Healing Fabric Based

Hyperconvergence with
Cloud Monitoring

Add Resources Non-disruptively

and Scale Performance Linearly
in Small Increments

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Cisco HyperFlex Configurations

HX220c Nodes

HX240c Nodes

HX240c + B200 M4
for HF Hybrid Nodes

Smallest Footprint 38 Node

Cluster (VDI, ROBO)

Capacity-heavy 38 Node Cluster

(VSI: IT/Biz Apps, Test/Dev)

Compute-heavy Hybrid
(Compute Bound Apps/VDI)

Per-Node

Per-Node

1x480 GB Cache SSD

6x1.2TB HDDs
SD Card/120GB SSD
(Boot/Housekeeping)

1x1.6TB Cache SSD

up to 23x1.2TB HDDs
SD Card/120GB Back SSD
(Boot/Housekeeping)

3-8 Node HX240c Cluster

Up to 4 Blades
SD Card or SAN (Boot)

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Independent Scaling of Compute

and Capacity
VM

Scale
Compute

VM

VM

VM

HYPERVISOR

VM

CONTROLLER

VM

VM

HYPERVISOR

VM

CONTROLLER

VM

VM

HYPERVISOR

VM

CONTROLLER

VM

VM

VM

IOVisor

IOVisor

IOVisor

IOVisor

IOVisor

IOVisor

IOVisor

IOVisor

VM

HYPERVISOR

CONTROLLER

HX Data Platform
HX Data Platform

Scale Capacity Within Nodes

VM

NonHyperFlex
Hosts Can
Connect to
Storage with
IOVisor

Add Nodes
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Dynamic Data Distribution

HX Data Platform stripes data across all nodes simultaneously,
leveraging cache across all SSDs for fast writes
Balanced space utilization: no data migration required following
a VM migration

Systems Built on Conventional File

Systems Write Locally, Then Replicate,
Creating Performance Hotspots

VM

VM

VM

HYPERVISOR

VM

CONTROLLER
CONTROLLER

VM

VM

HYPERVISOR

VM

CONTROLLER

VM

VM

HYPERVISOR

VM

CONTROLLER

VM

VM

HYPERVISOR

CONTROLLER

HX Data Platform

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High Resiliency, Fast Recovery

Platform Can Sustain Node
Failures Without Data Loss;
Replication Factor Is Tunable

VM

VM

VM

HYPERVISOR

VM

CONTROLLER

Replacement Node Automatically

Configured Via UCS Service Profile

If a Node Fails, the Evacuated

VMs Re-attach With No Data
Movement Required

VM

VM

HYPERVISOR

VM

CONTROLLER

VM

HX Data Platform Automatically

Re-Distributes Data to Node

VM

HYPERVISOR

VM

CONTROLLER

VM

VM

HYPERVISOR

CONTROLLER

HX Data Platform
HX Data Platform

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UCS Programibility

UCS Management Integrations and DevOps

UCS management combined with
partner integrations enables DevOps

Integration with legacy as well

as new cloud-native tools

Development and Test Tools

Partner
Operations Tools

Test

Code

Problem
Resolution

Change

Application
Lifecycle

Provision

Partner
Orchestration Tools

UCS API

Monitor /
Alert

Deploy

UCS Management

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Unified Control Plane Across Infrastructure

Different Application Types

Bare Metal

Container

Integrations

Customization

Virtualization

Unified Control Plane

open API
UCS Management
Policy and Model Driven Infrastructure

UCS Mini

UCS B-Series

UCS C-Series
Servers

HyperFlex Systems

UCS C3260

Hyperconverged

Storage

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Infrastructure as Code Removes Barriers

What benefits have you achieved from
utilizing infrastructure as code?

Everything Is Programmable
Infrastructure as Code

Model-driven
architecture

Policy-based
automation

Open
API and
Ecosystem

Better collaboration
between development
and IT operations

55%
42%

Faster configuration
workflows

32%
33%

Faster application life

cycle overall

31%
33%

Fewer configuration errors

29%
33%
26%

More frequent releases

36%
Ops

Dev

Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Microsoft, Feb-15

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Model Driven + Profiles = Safe Automation

Programmable infrastructure enables faster
work, in a consistent and predictable way

Architecture inherently provides essential

checks to reduce risk

Combination of model-driven automation

plus best practices defined in profiles
makes sure it is implemented correctly

Speed

Reduce human error and inefficiency

Risk

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Programmability is Baked-in to UCS

UCS Service Profile
Identity for Infrastructure

Stateless Element Management

UCS
PowerTool
PowerShell
Modules

Network Policy
Storage Policy

Compute Policy

Automate and manage all aspects of

configuration within UCS Manager
including Service Profiles, policies, and
resource pools for compute, network and
storage

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Traditional Server Refresh Steps - Install and Config

Install New OS on Physical Server

PXE Installer / Virtual Media / Physical Media / LUN Cloning / others

Treat the Installed OS

IPs, Masks, Gateways, NIS, Domains, etc.

Installation and Configuration of Application

Rebuild the databases, key application identity etc.

Move services away from hardware to be retired

Time: Few weeks to month(s)

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Configuration Management To The Rescue!

Application
Workload
Management
Management by an agent
or scripts running in the
host environment (bare
metal, VM, container, etc.)
Supported today on any
UCS platform with any
configuration
management tool.

Workload
Provisioning

Infrastructure
Management

Host install and

subsequent workload
management

Nexus switch
management (NX-OS
agent today)

Next Demo: Puppet

Enterprise and Razor on
UCS

Management through
brokers using APIs is
possible

- UCS Service Profiles

provide intended host
role

Python SDK can be

broker interface for UCS

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Puppet and Razor Infrastructure Overview

Razor
Server

Puppet
Enterprise

pe-razor
iPXE
*.iso
...

UCS Manager
Domain 1

Provision bare-metal
node

UCS Manager
Domain x

Complete Configuration
Unified Computing
System
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Puppet Demo

Workflow
Basic steps for bringing a node under management
1. Setup Puppet Enterprise and Razor
2. Configure desired host role in Razor and Puppet Enterprise
3. Name a Service Profile to match a role and deploy

UCS Manager

UCS Management + API

Edge-Scale
Computing

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1. Setup Puppet Enterprise and Razor

Razor is a supported Puppet Enterprise

module

[Link]
_install.html
Razor server typically also provides DHCP,
DNS, and PXE boot

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2. Configure host roles in PE and Razor

Create node groups and add classes to PE

for workload management

[Link]
ole_classes_groups.html
Create Razor repos, tags, and policies for
host roles and provisioning

[Link]
_using.html
Razor tag is used to match a node to a
policy

With UCS Service Profiles, the profile

name is the tag

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3. Name a Service Profile to match a role

Create a UCS Service Profile with a name

matching the desired Razor/Puppet
Enterprise role

Name must contain an exact match of

the role created with a Razor tag (e.g.,
the substring redhat must be present
in a service profile name to match a
redhat Razor tag).
Configure the Profile to be PXE booted by
Razor.

Once associated and powered on, the

node will boot, be provisioned by
Razor, and passed to PE for additional
management.

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Manage the node in Puppet Enterprise!

Razor passes provisioned nodes to Puppet

Enterprise
Node facts are matches by Puppet and the
node is placed into the desired node group

Node group can specify wide range of

workload configuration options

Puppet agent on the node keeps the

node in desired state

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UCS Platform Emulator

Full fledged UCS Manager emulated in

a VM

Runs right inside a laptop/desktop

Sports the entire UCS Manager API

Imports config / inventory from real

UCS setups

Used widely for training & API

development

Available as a VM (OVA) from

[Link]

Available
Free

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Cisco Communities Support

Cisco maintained discussion forums, whitepapers, video demos,

programming examples, and links to Cisco maintained integrations (Python
SDK, PowerTool, etc.)

All things UCS:

Platform Emulator guides and free downloads:

[Link]/ucs
[Link]/ucspe

Integrations including 3rd party integrations (VMware, Microsoft, etc.)

[Link]/ucsintegrations

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Complete Your Online Session Evaluation

Give us your feedback to be

entered into a Daily Survey
Drawing. A daily winner will
receive a $750 Amazon gift card.

Complete your session surveys

through the Cisco Live mobile
app or from the Session Catalog
on [Link]/us.
Dont forget: Cisco Live sessions will be available
for viewing on-demand after the event at
[Link]/Online

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Continue Your Education

Demos in the Cisco campus

Walk-in Self-Paced Labs

Lunch & Learn

Meet the Engineer 1:1 meetings

Related sessions

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Thank you

Data Center / Virtualization Cisco Education Offerings

Course

Description

Cisco Certification

Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking (DCICN);

Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (DCICT)

Learn basic data center technologies and skills to build a

data center infrastructure.

CCNA Data Center

Implementing Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric (DCUFI);

Implementing Cisco Data Center Unified Computing (DCUCI)
Designing Cisco Data Center Unified Computing (DCUDC)
Designing Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric (DCUFD)
Troubleshooting Cisco Data Center Unified Computing
(DCUCT)
Troubleshooting Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric (DCUFT)

Obtain professional level skills to design, configure,

implement, troubleshoot data center network infrastructure.

CCNP Data Center

Product Training Portfolio: DCNMM, DCAC9K, DCINX9K,

DCMDS, DCUCS, DCNX1K, DCNX5K, DCNX7K

Gain hands-on skills using Cisco solutions to configure,

deploy, manage and troubleshoot unified computing, policydriven and virtualized data center network infrastructure.

Designing the FlexPod Solution (FPDESIGN);

Implementing and Administering the FlexPod Solution
(FPIMPADM)

Learn how to design, implement and administer FlexPod

solutions

Cisco and NetApp Certified

FlexPod Specialist

For more details, please visit: [Link]

Questions? Visit the Learning@Cisco Booth or contact ask-edu-pm-dcv@[Link]

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Cloud Cisco Education Offerings

Course

Description

Cisco Certification

Understanding Cloud Fundamentals

(CLDFND)

Learn how to perform foundational tasks related to Cloud computing, and the essentials
of Cloud infrastructure

Introducing Cloud Administration

(CLDADM)

Learn the essentials of Cloud administration and operations, including how to provision,
manage, monitor, report and remediate.

Implementing and Troubleshooting the

Cisco Cloud Infrastructure (CLDINF)

Learn how to implement and troubleshoot Cisco Cloud infrastructure: compute,

network, storage.

Designing the Cisco Cloud (CLDDES)*

Learn how to design private and hybrid Clouds including infrastructure, automation,
security and virtual network services

Automating the Cisco Enterprise Cloud

(CLDAUT)*

Learn how to automate Cloud deployments provisioning IaaS (private, private with
network automation and hybrid) and applications, life cycle management

Building the Cisco Cloud with Application

Centric Infrastructure (CLDACI)*

Learn how to build Cloud infrastructures based on Cisco Application Centric

Infrastructure, including design, implementation and automation

UCS Director Foundation (UCSDF)

Learn how to manage physical and virtual infrastructure using orchestration and
automation functions of UCS Director.

CCNA Cloud

CCNP Cloud

* Available Q2CY2016
For more details, please visit: [Link]
Questions? Visit the Learning@Cisco Booth or contact ask-edu-pm-dcv@[Link]

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