Why is Cisco ACI replacing traditional networks?
Why is Cisco ACI replacing traditional networks?
Companies are increasingly moving from traditional networks to SDN-based networks. Cisco ACI is an excellent SDN solution that most companies adopt.
⚡ What is Cisco ACI ? 📜
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) is a Next generation SDN solution and is designed for data centers spine-leaf architecture for the policy-driven solution. Cisco ACI provides application agility and data center automation with simplified operations.
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) uses Spine-Leaf architecture as you know and is typically deployed as two layers: spines (like an aggregation layer), and leaves (like an get right of entry to layer). spine-leaf topologies provide excessive-bandwidth, low-latency, non-blocking server-to-server connectivity.
Let's look at the top nine benefits and characteristics of ACI as compared to traditional networks.
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| Fig 1.1- Why is Cisco ACI replacing traditional networks? |
1. Management Simplification 📜
ACI integrates multiple switches into a single fabric infrastructure. Lets take an example, if you need to configure 50 switches, APIC can do it with a few clicks. If you need to add a new switch, simply connect it to the fabric, and it will instantly inherit all of the APIC policies and configuration. Saving time to login to the CLI of every device and configure helps shorten the overall time of the configuration and implementation.
2. Programmability & Automation📜
ACI has full native programmability using a REST API that enables access to all features. Ansible is another tool that ACI uses for automation. Automation handles frequent recurring updates so you don't have to log into APIC.
3. Access Control & Security📜
ACI provides uniform access policies across the domain, including for remote sites and cloud services. Micro segmentation for the same subnet traffic, even when it is spread over two datacenters.
4. Security devices integration📜
Cisco ACI allows you to establish a firewall or an intrusion prevention system (IPS) between EPGs as a Layer 4–7 service. The security device encrypts east-west traffic across application tiers within EPGs, as well as north-south traffic between users and apps.
5. Virtual Environment Support📜
The inclusion of Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) allows the ACI fabric to extend network policies to the end hosts' virtualization switching layer. ACI can integrate with VMware, Microsoft, OpenStack, Kubernetes, and Open Shift.
6. Network Configuration Failure Recovery📜
In the incident of a failure due to network configuration, ACI changes can be reversed in seconds. It is not always straightforward to roll back changes on a typical network because you may need to enter into several devices manually.
7. Scalability📜
ACI is highly scalable. Adding spine switches increases fabric bandwidth. Adding leaf switches increases end point bandwidth. They will integrate automatically using APIC's setup.
8. Visibility📜
APIC provides full network view from a single pane of glass. It is more than just interface counts and show commands; it provides full end-to-end visibility with built-in dedicated tools.
9. Software Upgrades📜
Download the image and send it to APIC. Push on the fabric. You will not be able to upgrade the entire fabric at once, but using APIC saves time and eliminates the possibility of inconsistencies.
- Cisco ACI Fabric APIC Discovery - The Network DNA
- Leveraging Cisco ACI APIC and MSO for Data Center Transformation
- Understanding the Physical Requirements of a Cisco ACI Solution
- Cisco ACI: DHCP Relay Support - The Network DNA
- Cisco ACI: Multi-Site Stretched Layer 2 (No-Flooding)
- Cisco ACI: Multi-Site Stretched Layer 2 (Flooding)
- Cisco ACI: Multi-Site Stretched Layer 3
- Cisco ACI: Control Plane components
- Cisco ACI : VMM (Virtual Machine Manager)
- Cisco ACI Infra: ASAv (Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance)
