Overview

It doesn’t matter if you are completely new to Cisco ACI or you already have some experience with the technology, this book will guide you through the whole implementation lifecycle and provide you with a comprehensive toolset to become confident in any ACI-related task.  In the beginning, it’s very important to build strong fundamental knowledge about Cisco ACI components. We'll go through underlay networking based on Nexus 9000 switches and describe the APIC controller cluster acting as the management plane of ACI. By building Access Policies, you'll see how to optimally connect servers, storage, routers, switches, or L4-L7 service devices to ACI. Then we'll properly design and implement Logical Application Policies. You will understand all the fabric forwarding behavior when using different ACI settings and architectures while getting a toolset on how to verify and troubleshoot eventual problems.  This book also covers external L2 and L3 connectivity in ACI,more advanced features like integration with virtualization hypervisors and Kubernetes, service chaining of L4-L7 devices using Service Graphs, or practical approach to using REST API automation based on Python and Ansible/Terraform. Cisco ACI: Zero to Hero can additionally be used as a valuable source of theoretical and practical knowledge for all candidates preparing for CCIE DC v3.0 Written or Lab exams. What You'll Learn Understand network evolution and Cisco ACI components  Underlay ACI networking based on Nexus 9000 switches, APIC controllers, and Application Policy Model Integrate ACI with virtualization hypervisors and Kubernetes Dynamically and seamlessly include L4-L7 service devices in communication between ACI endpoints  Build ACI Anywhere: ACI Multi-Tier, Stretched Fabric, Multi-POD, Multi-Site, and Remote Leaf Utilize ACI REST API with Python, related Cobra SDK, Ansible or Terraform, to develop automation and scripts on top of the ACI platform Who This Book Is For Network engineers, architects, network developers, administrators or NOC technicians.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jan Janovic
Publisher:   APress
Imprint:   APress
Edition:   1st ed.
Weight:   1.185kg
ISBN:  

9781484288375

ISBN 10:   1484288378
Pages:   611
Publication Date:   27 December 2022
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1:  Introduction: Datacenter Network Evolution Chapter Goal: To put Cisco ACI as a next gen modern datacenter network in the context of network evolution. Why it even exists in the first place, what it can bring for companies, etc. No of pages 12 Sub -Topics 1.       Datacenter Evolution – From traditional 3 tier network architecture through network virtualization (vPC) to Leaf-Spine routed architectures. 2.       Explained need for new protocol – VXLAN 3.       Explained need for network automation – centrally managed software defined networking 4.       Explained need for datacenter network visibility   Chapter 2:  ACI Fundamentals – Underlay Infrastructure Chapter Goal: Introduce readers to Cisco ACI, its components and basic concepts. It’s very important to establish strong fundamental knowledge of the technology to later build on. This chapter will focus on Underlay Infrastructure – Nexus 9000 and APICs. It explains all the architectural options when building ACI with design considerations for physical cabling and tips for High-Level Design project phases. No of pages: 46 Sub - Topics    1.       Underlay Networking – Nexus 9000 Family Overview. To make sure readers understand advantages of HW based underlay network, its components and to explain main features of N9K CloudScale ASICs. 2.       APIC controllers. Connecting APICs to fabric, database sharding, Advantages/disadvantages of various cluster options (3, 5, 7 nodes)   3.      Introduction to ACI Control-plane and Data-plane concepts used in the underlay networking 4.       ACI Architectures – Introduction to ACI design options – Multi-Tier Fabric, Stretched Fabric, Multi-Pod, Multi-site, Remote Leaf, and Cloud deployments with Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator.   Chapter 3: ACI Fabric Initialization & Management Chapter Goal: Show readers how to properly configure all the necessary features of Cisco ACI at the beginning of the fabric deployment (including Multi-POD architecture) together with recommended best-practice global configuration and troubleshooting tips for failures in automatic switch discovery No of pages : 72 Sub - Topics:   1.    Converting standard NX-OS Leaf switch to ACI mode 2.   APIC Cluster Initialization and Leaf-Spine Fabric Discovery with troubleshooting 3.  Out-of-band and In-Band connectivity   4.  Global Best practice configuration and Fabric Policies (Management Access, DNS, NTP, SNMP, Syslog, MP-BGP, ACI Backup)   5.   Multi-POD deployment with IPN configuration and troubleshooting.   Chapter 4: ACI Fundamentals - Access Policies Chapter Goal: Introduce readers to the global Access Policies responsible for encapsulation resources management and Leaf access interface configuration. Proper understanding of Access Policies is key for using them later in Logical Tenant Application Models. No of pages : 24 Sub - Topics:   1.    ACI Access Policies – VLAN Pools, Physical domains, AAEP, Interface Policy Group and Profiles, Switch Policy Group and Profiles. All with verification options.   Chapter 5:  ACI Fundamentals – Application Policy Model Chapter Goal: It’s crucial to properly understand main Application Policy Model, all its components and design options, when deploying Cisco ACI. Readers will receive practical information from author’s implementation experience. No of pages: 62 Sub - Topics    1.       Application Policy Model – Description of main objects used for creating tenant application policies on top of common underlay network. 2.       EPG Design – Various approaches when creating your segmentation with EPGs. Description of microsegmentation possibilities using uEPG and ESGs. 3.       Contract Design – All aspects of implementing security in ACI fabric using contracts with detailed verification and hardware deployment information. 4.       Recommended Naming Convention – For ACI deployment, it’s crucial to prepare proper object design and naming convention because user cannot rename most of the object later.   Chapter 6:  Fabric Forwarding & Troubleshooting Chapter Goal: To describe in detail how forwarding in ACI works. Intra-fabric as well as inter fabric use cases with different Bridge Domain Settings for Layer-2 and Layer-3 traffic. No of pages: 58 Sub - Topics    1.       ACI main forwarding concepts – theory behind VXLAN encapsulation, detailed description of ACI’s control-plane mechanisms, followed by unicast and BUM (ARP) traffic forwarding in L2-L3 Bridge Domain settings. 2.       Multi-POD forwarding – IPN forwarding of unicast and multicast traffic. PIM/IGMP mechanisms. 3.       Multi-Site forwarding – ISN forwarding, BGP ingress replication of multicast data. 4.       Troubleshooting Toolset for Fabric Forwarding – Endpoint Tracker, ELAM, fTriage, SPAN, native Visibility & Troubleshooting Tool and interface drop analysis   Chapter 7: External Layer 2 & Layer 3 Connectivity Chapter Goal: Explain how to connect ACI to legacy networks for migration purposes and to provide general external connectivity for its Tenants. No of pages: 69 Sub - Topics: 1. L3 external connectivity – L3OUT components, configuring routing peering with external network – static/dynamic routing, OSPF, EIGPR, BGP routing protocols, prefix filtering, transit routing with verification and troubleshooting tools. 2. L2 external connectivity – Best practices when extending legacy VLANs to ACI, Extending BD vs Extending EPG.   Chapter 8: Service Chaining with L4-L7 devices Chapter Goal: Describe all the available options how to include L4-L7 devices in the data-path between ACI EPGs. No of pages: 40 1.       ACI Service Graph construction – design options 2.       Routed mode vs Transparent mode, Two-Arm vs. One-Arm Deployment 3.       Service Graphs with Policy Based Redirect 4.       Troubleshooting of Service Graphs 5.       Symmetric Policy Based Redirect   Chapter 9: Integrating ACI with Virtualization and Container Platforms Chapter Goal: Introduce readers to advantages of integrating ACI with VM & Container platforms. Access Policies, vSwitch policies, dynamic VM host discovery. No of pages:52 1.       Principles of VMware vCenter integration and configuration guide. Troubleshooting tips. 2.       Integrating ACI with Kubernetes – unique complete guide to spin up the Kubernetes cluster and integrate it to ACI in order to gain detailed visibility and enforce security rules.      Chapter 10: ACI Automation and Programmability Chapter Goal: All REST API related information with practical examples for each automation tool. Chapter covers ACI’s Object Model, Data Formats, REST Operation, Tools to access REST API – cURL, Postman, Python Requests, Cobra SDK, Ansible/Terraform orchestrators. No of pages: 82 1.       REST API Operation – HTTP Methods, Status codes and YAML/JSON/XML data formats 2.       ACI Object Information Model – Object hierarchy, how to find necessary information about objects from documentation, CLI, Visore tool, API Inspector 3.       ACI’s REST API – URL and body construction, Authentication 4.       GUI/CLI tools to access REST API – cURL, Postman 5.       Python programming – Consuming REST API using requests library and Cobra SDK 6.       Ansible and Terraform automation of ACI. 7.      Advanced API features – pre-signed calls and API subscriptions

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Author Information

Jan Janovic, 2x CCIE No. 55858 (R&S|DC) and Cisco Certified Instructor (CCSI #35493), is an IT enthusiast with 10+ years of experience with network design, implementation and support for customers from a wide variety of industry sectors. During the last years, he has focused on data center networking, mainly, but not limited to solutions based on Cisco Nexus platforms – traditional vPC architectures, VXLAN BGP EVPN network fabrics and Cisco ACI Software-Defined Networking. All with an emphasis on mutual technology integration, automation and analytic tools. Another significant part of his job is the delivery of professional training for customers all around Europe.  During his university studies, he led a group of students to the successful development of the world's first Open-Source EIGRP implementation for the Quagga Linux package (currently under the name FRRouting). He also contributed to OSPF features there. His technical focus additionally expands to public cloud topics connected with the design and deployment of AWS and Azure solutions.

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