DCUCI v4 - Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Implementation

This course focuses on Cisco Unified Computing System concepts, features, deployment options & operations. You will review the evolution of the modern data center & how server architecture & increased scalability pose new challenges to the server admin.

Course Outline

Learn about the Cisco UCS concepts, features, deployment options, and operations.

This course focuses on Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) concepts, features, deployment options, and operations. You will review the evolution of the modern data center and how server architecture and increased scalability pose new challenges to the server administrator. Then you will learn about the Cisco UCS features and components that were designed to address these challenges, including:

• Blade connectivity
• Unified Fabric for LAN and SAN communication
• Hardware/software components and upgrades
• Centralized/graphical management using the UCS Manager

You will reinforce your learning experience in 12 hands-on labs that let you practice configuring and managing the Cisco UCS Unified Fabric features. You will start by exploring the system hardware of a newly installed UCS 5108 series chassis. From there you will ensure its infrastructure is up-to-date by upgrading the software components, and you will configure a mobile computing environment with service profiles and resource pools.

Next, you will test High Availability options, explore options for backing up/importing systems configurations, and review detailed reports available within the UCS Manager. You will finalize your newly configured UCS environment by installing the VMware ESXi hypervisor, configuring the Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch, and configuring port profiles.

What You'll Learn

• Evolution of and challenges with the new data center
• How the Cisco UCS addresses these challenges
• Cisco UCS systems architecture, hardware components, and feature overview
• The new logical view of Cisco UCS and I/O consolidation
• Installing the Cisco UCS hardware components, including chassis, fabric interconnect, blades
• Detailed review of blade components, features, HDD, and mezzanine cards (CNA/VIC)
• How to use the Cisco UCS Manager for full fabric management
• Hardware component connectivity and High Availability options
• Software management options and procedures (download, backup, and upgrade)
• Utilizing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for UCS management
• Creating and managing connectivity and pin groups for both UCS LAN and UCS SAN
• Implementing server resources with resource pools (server pools, MACs, WWNs, and UUIDs)
• Creating and managing service profiles for stateless computing

Who Needs to Attend

• System and network engineers
• Those who need to deploy, configure, and manage the Cisco UCS

Course Outline

1. Introduction

• Implementing Cisco Virtualized Data Centers
• Evolution of Server Scalability
• Management Challenges
• Blade Challenges
• Logical View of UCS
• I/O Consolidation

2. Understanding the Cisco UCS

• Hardware Components
• Chassis Hardware
• Fabric Interconnect
• Blades
• VMware Integration
• Architecture and Features
• UCS Management Architecture
• UCS Management Assignments
• UCS Hardware Installation
• Installation Guidelines
• Configuring Chassis Power Supplies
• Chassis Module Installation

3. UCS Connectivity

• Unified Connectivity
• Hardware Component Connectivity
• High Availability Connectivity
• Fabric Interconnect Network Configuration
• UCS User Interfaces
• Graphical User Interface
• Startup and Shutdown
• Cisco UCS 6100 Startup and Shutdown
• Upgrading Software

4. Cisco UCS Manager

• UCS Manager Fundamentals
• UCS Resources
• Resource Pools
• Service Profiles
• Policies
• Basic Opt-In Model
• Logical Server Model
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Management Groups
• Remote RBAC Configuration

5. Establishing Compute Node Connectivity

• LAN Connectivity
• Server and Uplink Ports
• Ethernet Host Virtualizer Mode
• Ethernet Switching Mode
• Use of VLANs
• Virtual NICs
• Comparison
• Port Channels
• Pin Groups
• LAN Tools
• SAN Connectivity
• N Port Identifier Virtualization
• SAN Port Connectivity

6. Implementation of Server Resources

• Identity and Resource Pools
• Mobile Service Profiles
• MAC Addresses
• World Wide Names
• Universally Unique Identifiers
• Server Pools
• Creating Service Profiles
• Service Profile Expert Wizard
• Managing Service Profiles
• Associating Service Profiles

7. Cisco UCS Maintenance

• Backup and Restore
• Backup Types
• Backup and Import Jobs
• Backup Configuration
• Import Configuration
• Managing High Availability
• High Availability Connectivity
• Monitoring System Events
• GUI Monitoring
• Threshold Policies

8. UCS Deployments

• Use Cases
• Server Operations
• Virtualization
• Databases
• Operating System Provisioning
• SAN-Based Installation

9. Networks in a Virtual Server Environment

• Introduction to the Cisco Nexus 1000V
• Data Center Access Layer Networks
• Virtual Environment Overview
• Cisco Virtual Switching Overview
• Feature Overview
• Server Virtualization
• Virtual Storage Networking with VMware
• VMware Ethernet Networking
• Virtual Access Layer
• Distributed Virtual Switching
• Nexus 1000V Architecture
• Installation and Operation
• Configure VMware Switching
• Configure vSwitches
• Installing and Configuring the Cisco Nexus 1000V
• Configure VSM vSwitch Networks
• Connect the VSM to vCenter
• Configure Basic Cisco Nexus 1000V Networking
• Port Profiles
• Creating VM Data Port Profiles

Appendix: Exploring the Unified Computing User Interfaces

• Command-Line Interface
• The Connect Commands
• UCS Acronyms

Labs

Lab 0: Lab Topology and System Addressing Overview
Lab 1: Exploring Cisco UCS Hardware

• Examine UCS cluster configuration
• Identify UCS component configuration (fabric interconnect, chassis, IOM, blade)
• Connect to Cisco UCS server blade using KVM console
• Decommission and re-acknowledge the assigned Cisco UCS server blade

Lab 2: Upgrading UCS Components

• Explore firmware management options in UCS Manager
• Update the firmware on a CIMC and an interface card
• Update the firmware on an I/O module and a fabric interconnect

Lab 3: Creating Simple Service Profiles

• Create an IP pool range for KVM access
• Create a service profile
• Associate a service profile with a physical blade
• Boot a blade server and install an operating system

Lab 4: Configuring Resource Pools

• Create a MAC pool
• Create World Wide Node Name (WWNN) and World Wide Port Name (WWPN) pools
• Create a UUID Suffix pool
• Create manually and automatically populated server pools

Lab 5: Creating Mobile Service Profiles

• Configure Fibre Channel uplinks to provide SAN connectivity to the fabric interconnects
• Configure VLANs in UCS Manager
• Create a mobile service profile with virtualized identifiers
• Create firmware packages
• Move service profiles between physical blades
• Observe how blade servers communicate with devices outside of the UCS platform

Lab 6: Testing High Availability

• Demonstrate the failover capabilities of UCS Converged Network Adapters (CNAs)
• Check the cluster status of a UCS Manager cluster
• Manually fail over a UCS Manager cluster

Lab 7: Configuration Backup and Import

• Create full-state and configuration backups
• Create an import job to restore a configuration backup file

Lab 8: Reporting

• Configure threshold policies
• Configure Call Home
• Configure external logging servers
• Export event and fault information

Lab 9: Installing ESXi and vCenter Server

• Create a service profile
• Install vSphere 4.1 on your team's service profile
• Install vCenter to manage your ESX server

Lab 10: Installing a Nexus 1000V Virtual Supervisor Module (VSM)

• Import a Cisco Nexus 1000V VSM virtual machine into the ESX host's inventory

Lab 11: Configuring Port Profiles

• Create a port profile for the Cisco Nexus 1000V uplinks
• Create a Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual machine data port profile
• Add hosts to a Cisco Nexus 1000V VSM and port group
• Validate the functionality of the virtual Ethernet ports

Additional Details

Pre-Requisites

- Server administration experience - Basic knowledge of LAN, SAN, and server hardware concepts - Basic knowledge of server virtualization concepts

Certificates offered

35 Cisco Learning Credits

Cancellation Policy

We require 16 calendar days notice to reschedule or cancel any registration. Failure to provide the required notification will result in 100% charge of the course. If a student does not attend a scheduled course without prior notification it will result in full forfeiture of the funds and no reschedule will be allowed. Within the required notification period, only student substitutions will be permitted.

Reschedules are permitted at anytime with 16 or more calendar days notice. Enrollments must be rescheduled within six months of the cancel date or funds on account will be forfeited.

Map & Reviews

Global Knowledge
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Global Knowledge Montreal
800 Boul. Rene-Levesque Ouest
Bureau 990
Montreal, Quebec
Canada   H3B 1X9

Reviews

 

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Here are some reviews of the training vendor.

   

- do we get a certifiacate for completing the courseÉ - although the instructor did give us excercises to do I would have liked a few more - almost like a test, so that I made sure I retained and understood what was taught. I`m a learn to do by doing person and like the instrutor lead courses so I can have someone there to explain in my terms how things work. I`ll have to really use the online excercises to make sure Ì am confident when I need to do something in Excel.

Reviewed by Delores P. 2012

   

Should be time allocated for questions and answer

Reviewed by Vinod P. 2012

   

The instructor was excellent as was the hands-on learning approach. The only thing I took issue with was the fact that there were a lot of bilingual persons taking the course and they tended to ask questions in French, during this English class. The instructor was trying very hard to explain everything in both languages, but I felt that these students should have requested a French-speaking classroom setting if they wanted to speak French.

Reviewed by Sheila D. 2012

   

Very professional. Facility clean and comfortable.

Reviewed by Christine P. 2012

   

For the cost of this course, a hard copy of the course handout should be provided as the classes follows the handout word for word.

Reviewed by Caroline P. 2012

   

The facilities at Global Knowledge were great. The Instructor was very knowlegable and made it easy to learn the material. It was a very good experience:)

Reviewed by Tonia L. 2012

   

Note: We had 2 different trainers during this 3 day course. Course: Terminology should reflect North America and be consistent with our business lingo.

Reviewed by Harman M. 2012

   

Found the course very informative. I had little exposure to Sharepoint and learned a number of things I didn't know. Plan to take the next level of training

Reviewed by Michael R. 2011

   

A charged mannul would be provided for students to make notes whereever they think instructions are important as reminders

Reviewed by jinxiu z. 2011

   

The course is so expensive to be payed by oneself. In almost all the others participants their companies pay the fee.

Reviewed by Ricardo T. 2011

   

No course books were provided for us to take.

Reviewed by Hala M. 2011

   

Course was very detailed but more time would be helpful during workshops. An additional day would help lessen the course load.

Reviewed by Roydon F. 2011

   

should have discuss some case studies,,overall A+

Reviewed by Syed A. 2011

   

Our instructor was very knowlegable and he provided excellent real life stories.

Reviewed by Stephen W. 2011

   

The course was very relevant. I was able to apply the knowledge I aquired in the course to my job on the very next day. The only complaint I have is with the temperature of the room. It was freezing! Students has to wear a jacket or sweater. We were told the temp gage was shared with another classroom that was quite warm so they had turned the temp very low causing our room to be very uncomfortable.

Reviewed by Yasmine I. 2011

   

Given the cost of the course, the hardcopy of the manual should have been provided. It would have been useful to make notes alongside the material as we went along.

Reviewed by Jeff P. 2011

   

I am very disappointed with the handouts. I was told I could go online and download a copy of the manual, the problem is that I would like the printed copy of the manual. I chatted online with one of your technitian who was unable to help me. Then I was told someone would contact me by phone to help me. That never happened. When taking a training course, a person EXPECTS to leave the course with ALL the material.

Reviewed by Betty M. 2011

   

Great course provider, keep it on your roaster

Reviewed by Catherine G. 2011

   

Course content and labs were very good, everything worked as expected.

Reviewed by Francisco C. 2011

   

I really enjoyed this course and was surpised how ell everything was run...enjoyed the instructer very much (Par) and would like to take an other course with him. I wish we could have taken the work book home with us though!!!

Reviewed by gail h. 2010