Here in the Baltimore-DC area, we can’t wait for Spring to end all the cold snowy weather we’ve been having. We don’t quite see the signs yet. We need a new groundhog! Anybody want a used one?
In contrast, things are really heating up and getting exciting with DFA and ACI. Real documentation is appearing for Cisco DFA (Dynamic Fabric Automation). And the pace of new content about ACI (Application Centric Infrastructure) is picking up. In addition, there are growing hints as to how big a role ACI may play for Cisco going forward. The purpose of this blog is to share some relevant links with you.
Without further ado, here are the links:
One hour talk, Design and Deploy Dynamic Fabric Automation (video, BrightTalk registration required): https://t.co/ccDwgvzbVs. Gentle introduction to key aspects of DFA. It also talks about FabricPath and DFA co-existence. I.e. integrating Nexus 5500, which will lack DFA L3 and segment ID capability. .
Dynamic Fabric Automation Migration Guide, how to get started doing DFA: http://t.co/PEEXFGoj6B
Dynamic Fabric Automation Solution Guide: http://t.co/ls7PXkW90f
Gary Kinghorn Is ACI Really SDN? One Point of View to Clarify the Conversation: http://blogs.cisco.com/datacenter/is-aci-really-sdn-one-point-of-view-to-clarify-the-conversation/ (This link is a little older, I like the contrast to the constant message “we all must learn programming” — SDN for the rest of us?)
Two quite readable blogs about ACI principles:
ACI Design Principles: The role of SDN Overlays in Application Centric Deployments – Part 2:
http://blogs.cisco.com/datacenter/aci-design-principles-the-role-of-sdn-overlays-in-application-centric-deployments-part-1/
ACI Design Principles: The role of SDN Overlays in Application Centric Deployments – Part 2: http://blogs.cisco.com/datacenter/aci-design-principles-the-role-of-sdn-overlays-in-application-centric-deployments-part-2/
Inside Cisco’s Private Cloud (Network World): http://m.networkworld.com/news/2014/030514-cisco-private-cloud-279416.html. What particularly interested me about this was the hints of plans Cisco has to use ACI internally.
Cisco Revamps Enterprise Product Pricing (Network World): http://m.networkworld.com/news/2014/030514-cisco-revamps-enterprise-product-279446.html. This may not sound related, but take a look.It talks about Cisco considering levels of ACI licensing. And quotes Rob Lloyd (Cisco President): “We have a bunch of products. We’ll turn those products into licenses – a data center suite, a WAN suite, an access suite – for the enterprise. We’ll allow the customer to consume the full capabilities in a domain or across the full enterprise. It’ll be simpler and cost-effective to buy whole suites. The APIC controller is fundamental to every domain.” I’d say that amounts to some pretty ambitious plans for ACI / APIC!
A recent SDN Central article commented on the plethora of Cisco SDN controller offerings, and how the story is now changing to APIC for various functions (datacenter, access), with XNC / OpenDaylight positioned for multi-vendor settings. The story also mentions the turnkey product emphasis. See Cisco Slims Its SDN Story Down to ONE Controller: https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/cisco-slims-sdn-story-one-controller/2014/03/
Hashtags: #DFA #ACI #SDN
Twitter: @pjwelcher
