Cisco
Technology
Data Center and Virtualization
Cisco ACI Implementation Workshop (ACI)

This Cisco ACI training course is designed for technical professionals who need to know how to deploy, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI). This Cisco ACI course offers the student a curriculum that includes an ACI overview, ACI Fabric Switches (including a Nexus 9000 overview), an Apic Overview, ACI Connectivity Policies, Application Modeling and Deployment, Initial Fabric Configuration, and much more. System administrators, Data Center Cloud System architects, and Network architects are ideal candidates for this Cisco ACI training class. 

About the course

Prerequisites

The knowledge and skills that a learner should have before attending this course are as follows:

  • Knowledge of traditional networking



Course Objectives

Upon completing this course, the learner will be able to meet these overall objectives:

  • ACI Fabric Switches
  • Initial Fabric Configuration
  • ACI Connectivity Policies
  • Application Modeling and Deployment
  • Fabric Deployment
  • Hypervisor Intergration
  • Connecting to Existing L2 Infrastructure
  • Connecting to Existing L3 Infrastructure
  • Integrating L4-7 Services with ACI
  • Operating ACI
  • Troubleshooting ACI
  • ACI Integration with Existing DC Networks
Course content

ACI Overview

  • SDN/Overlay Networking Primer
  • Cisco ACI Overview and Terminology
  • Logical Model Overview
  • Concrete Model Overview

ACI Fabric Switches

  • Nexus 9000 Overview
  • Nexus 9000 Models
  • Hardware Installation

APIC Overview

  • APIC Introduction
  • APIC Overview
  • APIC Installation
  • APIC GUI
  • LAB: ACI Fabric Discovery

ACI Connectivity Policies

  • ACI Logical Model
  • Tenant
  • VRF
  • Bridge Domain
  • Subnet
  • End Points Groups (EPG)
  • Microsegmentation
  • Application Profiles (AP) and Contracts
  • ACI Quality of Service

Application Modeling and Deployment

  • Designing an AP
  • Lab: AP
  • RESTful API Review
  • Lab: Using Postman
  • Learning Network Programmability
  • ACI Toolkit

Initial Fabric Configuration

  • ACI Initial Configuration Overview
  • OOB Configuration
  • Network Time Protocol
  • Access Policies
  • External-facing Interface Configuration
  • ACI Pools
  • ACI Domains
  • Attachable Access Entity Profile (AAEP)
  • VPC Configuration in ACI Fabric
  • Simplified Interface & Policy Configuration
  • Troubleshooting Access Policy

Fabric Operation and Forwarding

  • Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) Basics
  • ACI Fabric Fundamentals
  • Fabric Forwarding
  • Endpoint Learning & Lookup
  • Fabric Innovations

Hypervisor Integration

  • Virtualization Primer
  • ACI Hypervisor Integration Overview
  • ACI Hypervisor Integration with VMware
  • Integration with VMware VDS
  • ACI VMware Configuration
  • ACI Integration with Microsoft
  • ACI Integration with OpenStack
  • OpFlex
  • Application Virtual Switch
  • Design Considerations
  • Virtualization Integration Summary

Connecting to Existing L2 Infrastructure

  • L2 Extension Overview
  • Option A: Extend EPG
  • Option B: Extend BD
  • Design Considerations
  • Configuring External Layer 2 Connection

Connecting to Existing L3 Infrastructure

  • L3 Integration Overview
  • L3 Integration & Configuration
  • Shared L3Out
  • Multi-Site ACI

Integrating L4-7 Services with ACI

  • Service Graphs
  • Device Packages
  • Service Insertion Overview
  • L4-7 Services Configuration
  • Unmanaged Mode
  • Network Services Placement

Operating ACI

  • APIC Management Access
  • Naming Conventions
  • Operations Tools
  • Firmware Upgrades
  • Backing Up

ACI Integration with Existing DC Networks

  • DC Architecture Review
  • ACI Insertion Options
  • ACI Services Block Strategy

Troubleshooting ACI

  • APIC Troubleshooting
  • APIC Troubleshooting Tools
  • Health Scores
  • Troubleshooting Wizard
  • Statistics
  • Atomic Counters
  • Digital Optical Monitoring
  • SNMP
  • Switchport Analyzer (SPAN)
  • Syslog
  • Traceroute
  • Visore – The APIC Object Store Browser
  • Troubleshooting via the CLI
  • Removing Unwanted _ui_ Objects
  • Fabric Recovery
  • ACI Backup

Advanced Troubleshooting

  • APIC High Availability and Clustering
  • Firmware and Image Management
  • Management Tenant
  • Common Network Services
  • Unicast Data Plane Forwarding and Reachability
  • Policies and Contracts
  • Connectivity to External Networks
  • Virtual Machine Manager Insertion
  • ACI Fabric Node Process Crash Troubleshooting
  • APIC Process Crash Troubleshooting




Lab Outline

Labs are designed to assure learners a whole practical experience, through the following practical activities:

  • ACI Fabric Discovery
  • Fabric Policy Configuration
  • Configuring ACI Policies and Pools
  • Configuring ACI Forwarding Constructs
  • Configuring Application Profiles via GUI
  • Configuring Application Profiles via Python/Postman
  • Configuring VMM Integration with VMware DVS
  • Configuring External Layer 2 Connection
  • Configuring External Layer 3 Connection
  • Configuring Layer 4-7 Services
  • Configuration Export
  • Health Scores and Troubleshooting Wizard
  • Troubleshooting Tools 
  • Troubleshooting using the CLA
  • Understanding Firmware
  • Troubleshooting Common Services
  • Troubleshooting External Networks
  • Troubleshooting VMM
Who Should Attend

The primary audience for this course is as follows:

  • Network Architects
  • Data Center Cloud Systems Architects
  • System Administrators