Course Objectives:

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

• Describe Cisco ACI Fabric Infrastructure and basic Cisco ACI concepts
• Describe Cisco ACI policy model logical constructs
• Describe Cisco ACI basic packet forwarding
• Describe external network connectivity
• Describe VMM Integration
• Describe Layer 4 to Layer 7 integrations
• Explain Cisco ACI management features

This course will help you:

• Gain skills and hands-on practice implementing Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches in ACI mode
• Prepare for the Implementing Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (300-620 DCACI) exam
• Qualify for professional-level and expert-level data center job roles

Prerequisites:

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

• Understanding of networking protocols, routing, and switching
• Familiarity with Cisco Ethernet switching products
• Understanding of Cisco data center architecture
• Familiarity with virtualization fundamentals

Introducing Cisco ACI Fabric Infrastructure and Basic Concepts

• What Is Cisco ACI?
• Cisco ACI Topology and Hardware
• Cisco ACI Object Model
• Faults, Event Record, and Audit Log
• Cisco ACI Fabric Discovery
• Cisco ACI Access Policies

Describing Cisco ACI Policy Model Logical Constructs

• Cisco ACI Logical Constructs
• Tenant
• Virtual Routing and Forwarding
• Bridge Domain
• Endpoint Group
• Application Profile
• Tenant Components Review
• Adding Bare-Metal Servers to Endpoint Groups
• Contracts

Describing Cisco ACI Basic Packet Forwarding

• Endpoint Learning
• Basic Bridge Domain Configuration

Introducing External Network Connectivity

• Cisco ACI External Connectivity Options
• External Layer 2 Network Connectivity
• External Layer 3 Network Connectivity

Introducing VMM Integration

• VMware vCenter VDS Integration
• Resolution Immediacy in VMM
• Alternative VMM Integrations

Describing Layer 4 to Layer 7 Integrations

• Service Appliance Insertion Without ACI L4-L7 Service Graph
• Service Appliance Insertion via ACI L4-L7 Service Graph
• Service Graph Configuration Workflow
• Service Graph PBR Introduction

Explaining Cisco ACI Management

• Out-of-Band Management
• In-Band Management
• Syslog
• Simple Network Management Protocol
• Configuration Backup
• Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting
• Role-Based Access Control
• Cisco ACI Upgrade
• Collect Tech Support

Lab Outline:

• Validate Fabric Discovery
• Configure Network Time Protocol (NTP)
• Create Access Policies and Virtual Port Channel (vPC)
• Enable Layer 2 Connectivity in the Same Endpoint Group (EPG)
• Enable Inter-EPG Layer 2 Connectivity
• Enable Inter-EPG Layer 3 Connectivity
• Compare Traffic Forwarding Methods in a Bridge Domain
• Configure External Layer 2 (L2Out) Connection
• Configure External Layer 3 (L3Out) Connection
• Integrate Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) With VMware vCenter Using VMware Distributed Virtual Switch (DVS)
• Monitoring and Diagnosing ACI (Exclusive Bonus Lab)
• Using Visore to Explore an ACI Tenant (Exclusive Bonus Lab)
• Configure Tenant Span (Exclusive Bonus Lab)
• Configure RBAC using Local and Radius Users (Exclusive Bonus Lab)
• Configure the APIC Using the ACI Cobra SDK (Python) (Exclusive Bonus Lab)
• Configure the APIC Using the Cisco APIC REST to Python Adapter (ARYA) (Exclusive Bonus Lab)