This is post 5 of 7 in the series “Cisco Network Assurance Engine” Previous posts in this series have discussed the theory behind Cisco’s Network Assurance Engine (NAE) and how it can help detect issues stemming from changes in the network. This post, in contrast, is mostly hands-on with the software. It includes screenshots showing […]
#ACI
East West Segmentation With ACI
John Harrington of The Network Sherpa comments: In a typical workflow, the network engineer will ask the service owner which ports they require open, and they often don’t know. A wasteful and extended back-and-forth debate continues until the rule is deployed. The key challenge here is that the service owner owns the requirement but doesn’t know […]
Programming an ACI Fabric
Jason Edelman writes on his blog: By now, you’ve probably heard of Cisco’s Software Defined Networking (SDN) solution that is centered around ACI, or the Application Centric Infrastructure. Like most SDN platforms, a key component is the controller otherwise known as the Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) in the case of ACI. The APIC provides […]
Cisco ACI and Lossy Control
Justin Warren of eigenmagic comments: The centralised command-and-control method doesn’t work at scale. Many people have discovered this independently, from the Romans to the Chinese. It’s just not humanly- (or even computerly-) possible to track that many interdependent variables and make smart decisions. To manage a vast array of components, a central apparatus needs to […]
Software Defined Networking is the New Way of Networking
Jason Edelman writes on his blog: Software Defined Networking (SDN) is the new way of networking. It’s plain and simple. And one of these days we’ll just go back to calling it networking because at its root, the network will still be forwarding the data needed for businesses to operate and thrive. […]
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (A Cisco ACI Story)
Joe Onisick from Define the Cloud comments: Congratulations! This is the time. The network is changing! The future is here! Read on for more of this networking rhyme. It really is worth taking the time. Deranged and crazy as it may be, I’m sure you’ll laugh as hard as me. Read more at: Oh, the […]
Musing: 40GbE BiDir Optics Means Less Cable In The Data Centre
Greg Ferro of Etherealmind writes: Many people are noticing that part of the Cisco ACI announcement includes mention of 40GbE BiDi optics where a 40GbE SFP needs only two MMF fibre cores for 40GbE connectivity. It’s worth noting that all vendors will also ship BiDi optics in the near future. For example, Arista is promoting […]
Photos from Cisco’s ACI Launch in NYC
John Herbert of Lame Journal writes: Cisco launched their Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) product two weeks ago in New York City, and I was privileged to be able to attend the event as a guest of Gestalt IT’s Tech Field Day. In my last post I gave an overview of the new products, and before […]
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure: Nexus 9000
Bob McCouch from Herding Packets writes: The keystone product that Insieme Networks was working on as part of their strategy that developed into ACI was the Nexus 9000 line. Nexus 9500 is a chassis switch, intended primarily for large data center spine nodes (with the ability to scale up to 288 line rate 40G ports […]
40GbE Over A Single MMF Pair? With QSFP-40G-SR-BD, You Can.
Ethan Banks of The Peering Introvert writes: Anyone who’s priced out data center plumbing, so to speak, knows that while not exciting, it can be quite expensive. Fiber optic cable comes in a variety of glass diameters and grades; 10GbE plus specifies OM3 or higher graded multimode fiber for short haul use — not cheap. […]