Over the past few years, Cisco has been actively promoting a new data center network architecture in the data center - Application Centric Infrastructure (or ACI) . Some are already familiar with her. And someone even managed to introduce it at their enterprises, including in Russia. However, for most IT professionals and IT executives, ACI is either an obscure acronym or just a discussion of the future.
In this article we will try to bring this future closer. To do this, we will talk about the main architectural components of ACI, as well as illustrate how to put it into practice. In addition, in the near future we will organize a visual demonstration of the work of ACI, which every interested IT specialist can sign up for technical architect job description.
You can learn more about the new network building architecture in St. Petersburg in May 2019. All details are on the link . Sign up!
Background The
traditional and most popular model for building a network is a three-level hierarchical model: core -> distribution (aggregation) -> access. Over the years, this model has been the standard; manufacturers used it to produce various network devices of the corresponding functionality.
Previously, when information technology was a kind of necessary (and, frankly, not always desired) appendage to business, this model was convenient, very static and reliable. However, now that IT is one of the drivers of business development, and in many cases the business itself, the static nature of this model has become a big problem.
Modern business generates a large number of different complex requirements for network infrastructure. The success of the business directly depends on the timing of the implementation of these requirements. Delay in such conditions is unacceptable, and the classical model of building a network often does not allow timely satisfaction of all business needs.
For example, the emergence of a new complex business application involves network administrators performing a large number of routine operations of the same type on a large number of different network devices at different levels. Besides the fact that it takes a lot of time, it also increases the risk of making a mistake, which can lead to serious downtime of IT services and, as a result, to financial damage.
The root of the problem is not even the timing itself or the complexity of the requirements. The fact is that these requirements must be "translated" from the language of business applications into the language of network infrastructure. As you know, any translation is always a partial loss of meaning. When the application owner talks about the logic of his application, the network administrator understands the set of VLANs, Access lists on dozens of devices that need to be maintained, updated and documented.
The accumulated experience and constant communication with customers allowed Cisco to design and implement new principles for building a data center data network, which meet modern trends and are based primarily on the logic of business applications. Hence the name - Application Centric Infrastructure.
ACI architecture.
The ACI architecture is most correctly viewed not from the physical side, but from the logical one. It is based on a model of automated policies, the objects of which at the top level can be divided into the following components:
Network based on Nexus switches.
APIC controller cluster
Application profiles;
In this article we will try to bring this future closer. To do this, we will talk about the main architectural components of ACI, as well as illustrate how to put it into practice. In addition, in the near future we will organize a visual demonstration of the work of ACI, which every interested IT specialist can sign up for technical architect job description.
You can learn more about the new network building architecture in St. Petersburg in May 2019. All details are on the link . Sign up!
Background The
traditional and most popular model for building a network is a three-level hierarchical model: core -> distribution (aggregation) -> access. Over the years, this model has been the standard; manufacturers used it to produce various network devices of the corresponding functionality.
Previously, when information technology was a kind of necessary (and, frankly, not always desired) appendage to business, this model was convenient, very static and reliable. However, now that IT is one of the drivers of business development, and in many cases the business itself, the static nature of this model has become a big problem.
Modern business generates a large number of different complex requirements for network infrastructure. The success of the business directly depends on the timing of the implementation of these requirements. Delay in such conditions is unacceptable, and the classical model of building a network often does not allow timely satisfaction of all business needs.
For example, the emergence of a new complex business application involves network administrators performing a large number of routine operations of the same type on a large number of different network devices at different levels. Besides the fact that it takes a lot of time, it also increases the risk of making a mistake, which can lead to serious downtime of IT services and, as a result, to financial damage.
The root of the problem is not even the timing itself or the complexity of the requirements. The fact is that these requirements must be "translated" from the language of business applications into the language of network infrastructure. As you know, any translation is always a partial loss of meaning. When the application owner talks about the logic of his application, the network administrator understands the set of VLANs, Access lists on dozens of devices that need to be maintained, updated and documented.
The accumulated experience and constant communication with customers allowed Cisco to design and implement new principles for building a data center data network, which meet modern trends and are based primarily on the logic of business applications. Hence the name - Application Centric Infrastructure.
ACI architecture.
The ACI architecture is most correctly viewed not from the physical side, but from the logical one. It is based on a model of automated policies, the objects of which at the top level can be divided into the following components:
Network based on Nexus switches.
APIC controller cluster
Application profiles;
No comments:
Post a Comment