Learning the Cisco Application-Centric Infrastructure (ACI)

Learning the Cisco Application-Centric Infrastructure (ACI)

by Rene Cardona
Released May 2020
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781800205475

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Video description

Master Cisco's ACI and become an expert NOW!

About This Video

  • This course will help you get from zero to hero and master the policy-driven Data Center approach that ACI offers
  • ACI involves a big learning curve and you'll learn to change your traditional network design mentality, which will be crucial to mastering ACI
  • We will work with ACI APIC version 3.x. which provides the current SDN feature set you need to perform all data center functions and requirements

In Detail

Automation, objects, and policies are replacing traditional networks as we know them. North-to-South or East-to-West traffic flows—do you know the difference between the two? Don't worry if you don't: this course will remedy that! Traditional campus networks are static, and won't change much because they can't scale up. Data centers are not meant to be static.

Today's Data Center architecture requirements are: scalability, geo-redundancy, security, multi-tenancy, and speed! Data center traffic flow should be highly available and predictable. As the demand for talented ACI engineers and architects is rapidly increasing, knowing the foundational aspects of SDN-based architectures and being able to implement and support them are crucial for your career development.

This fast-paced course uses a whiteboard-based approach with hand written explanations. We start with an introduction to fabric data center designs, Spine and Leaf architectures, and ACI. We then start to implement them and deploy a fabric from the ground up. Then we build a multi-tenant environment.

After completing this video training course, you will have gained a solid understanding of how to administer an Application Centric Infrastructure.

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Table of contents

  1. Chapter 1 : Introduction to Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI)
    1. Course Overview 00:05:39
    2. Spine and Leaf Architecture 00:20:39
    3. ACI Fabric Components 00:17:14
    4. Policy Driven Architectures 00:15:59
  2. Chapter 2 : Let's Bring the ACI Fabric to Life
    1. Connecting an ACI Fabric Together 00:06:32
    2. Building the Fabric from the ACI APIC 00:11:52
    3. Fabric Inventory Hardware Membership 00:09:39
    4. ACI APIC Web User Interface 00:17:37
  3. Chapter 3 : Enabling Connectivity in ACI
    1. Interface Policy Groups, Profiles, and Policies 00:15:02
    2. Switch Policies and Profiles 00:11:23
    3. Fabric Domains and VLAN Pools 00:14:51
    4. Configure Fabric Domains and VLAN Pools 00:11:11
    5. Attachable Entity Profiles 00:05:18
    6. Virtual Machine Manager Integration in ACI 00:18:54
  4. Chapter 4 : Multi-Tenancy: ACI's Ultimate Weapon
    1. Fabric Tenants 00:14:00
    2. Application Profiles and Endpoint Groups 00:14:51
    3. Subjects, Filters, and Contracts 00:14:34
    4. ACI Domains to Tenant Relationship 00:19:37
  5. Chapter 5 : Secured Internal Connectivity In ACI
    1. ACI Tenant Networking 00:10:26
    2. VRF and Bridge Domains 00:13:19
    3. Inter and Intra Tenant Communications and Contract Interfaces 00:16:54
  6. Chapter 6 : Secured External Connectivity with L3OUTs
    1. External L3OUT with BGP 00:25:46
    2. External L3OUT with OSPF 00:19:29
    3. Tenants to L3OUT: Part One 00:22:36
    4. Tenants to L3OUT: Part Two 00:16:40
    5. ACI As an External Transit Network 00:12:19
  7. Chapter 7 : Layer 2 Through Layer 7 Service Insertion
    1. External L2OUT 00:21:20
    2. Vlan Stitching 00:15:05
    3. DHCP Services In ACI 00:19:46
    4. L4-L7 Service Graph and Templates 00:12:14
    5. Adding Routed Firewalls in ACI 00:19:36
  8. Chapter 8 : Automation and Orchestration with ACI
    1. Rest API with ACI Toolkit 00:16:15
    2. Automation with Python and the ACI Toolkit 00:11:44
    3. Bulk ACI Tenant Automation using Python Loops 00:21:32
    4. Working with ACI Command-Line Interface 00:12:55
  9. Chapter 9 : ACI Management and Troubleshooting
    1. Understanding Faults and Health Scores 00:08:43
    2. Working with Visibility and Troubleshooting 00:11:34
    3. Maintenance Policies and Administration Rights 00:15:11
    4. Fabric Backups and Restores 00:08:21
    5. Out-Of-Band and In-Band Management Access 00:07:29

Product information

  • Title: Learning the Cisco Application-Centric Infrastructure (ACI)
  • Author(s): Rene Cardona
  • Release date: May 2020
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781800205475