Course Description
Description
The Designing Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric (DCUFD) v5.0 is a five-day instructor-led course aimed at providing data center designers with the knowledge and skills needed to design scalable, reliable, and intelligent data center unified fabrics, and virtualization solutions based on the Cisco Fabric Extenders (FEXs), Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Cisco FabricPath, and equipment and link virtualization technologies.
The course describes the Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric solutions, and explains how to evaluate existing data center infrastructure, determine the requirements, and design the Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric solution based on Cisco products and technologies.
To participate in the hands-on labs in this class, you need to bring a laptop computer with the following:
- Windows 7 or 8.1 or 10 is recommended. Mac OSX 10.6 or greater is supported as well.
- Intel Celeron or better processors are preferred.
- 1 GB or more of RAM
- Browser Requirements: Internet Explorer 10 or greater or Mozilla Firefox. (Safari and Mozilla Firefox for Mac OSX)
Note: Our labs currently cannot run on Microsoft Edge (Windows 10) due to it not supporting Extensions/Add-ons or Google Chrome due to Java being removed from the platform itself. - All students are required to have administrator rights to their PCs and cannot be logged in to a domain using any Group Policies that will limit their machine's capabilities.
If you do not have administrator rights to your PC, you at least need permissions to download, install, and run Cisco Any Connect Client and Java. - If you are participating in a WebEx event, it is highly recommended to take this class at a location that has bandwidth speeds at a minimum of 1 Mbps bandwidth speeds.
- All PCs require the latest Java Runtime Environment, which can be downloaded from www.java.com.
Note: Students registering for this course will be receiving their course kit in a digital format. To be able to view your digital kit you will need to bring a laptop PC and/or a compatible iPad or Android tablet. The recommended system requirements and instructions to access the course kit content can be found at the following link:Digital Course Kit Requirements and Instructions
Please be aware that this digital version is designed for online use, not for printing. You can print up to 10 pages only in each guide within a course. Please note that every time you click the Print button in the book, this counts as one page printed, whether or not you click OK in the Print dialog.
If you have any questions or issues with meeting the requirements listed above, please contact us at rlt@skyline-ats.com and provide the class name to which you are attending and we will be more than happy to help.
Objectives
Upon completing this course, the learner will be able to meet these overall objectives:
Evaluate the data center solution design and design process regarding contemporary data center challenges, Cisco Data Center Architecture solution, and components- Provide a comprehensive and detailed overview of technologies used in data centers, and describe scalability implications and their possible use in cloud environments
- Design data center connections and topologies in the core layer
- Explain and design data center storage designs, solutions, and limitations of various storage technologies
- Design secure data centers that are protected from application-based threats, network security threats, and physical security threats
- Design data center infrastructure that is required to implement network-based application services
- Design data center management to facilitate monitoring, managing, and provisioning of data center equipment and applications
Prerequisites
The knowledge and skills that a learner must have before attending this course are as follows:
- CCNA Data Center certification
- Knowledge that is covered in the Cisco Nexus product family courses
- Knowledge that is covered in the Designing for Cisco Internetwork Solutions (DESGN) course
- Knowledge that is covered in the Designing Cisco Storage Networking Solutions (DCSNS) course
Who Should Attend
The primary audience for this course is as follows:
- Data center designers, data center administrators, and system engineers
The secondary audience for this course is as follows:
- Data center engineers and managers
The tertiary audience for this course is as follows:
- Program and project managers
Outline
Course Introduction
- Overview
- Course Goal and Objectives
- Course Flow
- Additional References
- Your Training Curriculum
Module 1: Cisco Data Center SolutionsLesson 1: Defining the Data Center- Categorize general data center solution components
- Define the baseline technology and terminology used in data center solutions
- Analyze business, technical, and environmental challenges
- Recognize the cloud computing paradigm, terms, and concepts
- Recognize the importance of virtualization technologies and solutions for data center evolution
Lesson 2: Identifying the Cisco Data Center Solution- Evaluate the Cisco Data Center architectural framework
- Evaluate the Cisco Data Center architectural framework network component
- Evaluate the Cisco Data Center architectural framework storage component
Lesson 3: Designing the Cisco Data Center Solution- Describe the design process for the Cisco Data Center solution
- Assess the deliverables of the Cisco Data Center solution
- Describe Cisco Validated Designs
Module 2: Data Center TechnologiesLesson 1: Designing Layer 2 and Layer 3 Switching- Understand and explain hardware-forwarding architectures
- Describe IP addressing considerations and IP routing technologies
Lesson 2: Virtualizing Data Center Components- Identify device virtualization mechanisms
- Design virtualized solutions using VDCs
- Design virtualized services using contexts on firewalling and load-balancing devices
- Design virtualized services using virtual appliances
Lesson 3: Designing Layer 2 Multipathing Technologies- Explain link virtualization technologies that allow for scaling of the network
- Design solutions using vPCs and MEC
- Design solutions using Cisco FabricPath
Module 3: Data Center TopologiesLesson 1: Designing the Data Center Core Layer Network- Identify the need for the data center core layer
- Design a Layer 3 data center core layer
- Design a Layer 2 data center core layer
- Evaluate designs using data center collapsed core
Lesson 2: Designing the Data Center Aggregation Layer- Describe classical aggregation layer designs
- Design the aggregation layer with VDCs
- Design the aggregation layer using Cisco Unified Fabric
- Design the aggregation layer with IP storage-related specifics in mind
Lesson 3: Designing the Data Center Access Layer- Describe the classic access layer designs and design issues
- Design the access layer with vPC and MEC
- Design the access layer with FEXs
- Design the access layer with Cisco Unified Fabric
Lesson 4: Designing the Data Center Virtualized Access Layer- Define the virtual access layer
- Describe the virtual access layer solutions within virtual machine hosts
- Design solutions with Cisco Adapter FEX
- Design solutions with Cisco VM-FEX
- Design solutions with the Cisco Nexus 1000V switch
Lesson 5: Designing High Availability- Design high availability for IP-based services
- Design high availability by implementing link aggregation
- Design high availability of services using IP routing and FHRPs
- Provide high availability with RHI
- Design high availability of services using LISP
Lesson 6: Designing Data Center Interconnects- Identify the reasons for data center interconnects
- Describe data center interconnect technologies
- Design data center interconnects using Cisco OTV
- Describe storage replication technologies
Module 4: Data Center StorageLesson 1: Introducing SAN- Explain data storage and Fibre Channel basic terms
- Explain Fibre Channel basic concepts
- Explain Fibre Channel flow control mechanisms
Lesson 2: Designing SAN- Explain different storage designs and topologies
- Design SANs using Cisco best practices and Cisco Validated Designs
- Design scalable SANs with provisions for multitenancy
Lesson 3: Designing Unified Fabric- Explain flow control when using FCoE
- Explain the use of FIP
- Describe different design options with unified fabric networks
- Design unified fabric deployments with FEXs
Lesson 4: Designing SAN Services- Identify the need for SAN-based Fibre Channel services
- Design SAN-based Fibre Channel services
- Explain SAN replication
- Design long-distance Fibre Channel interconnects
- Present design examples and use cases for various SAN long-distance acceleration solutions
Module 5: Data Center SecurityLesson 1: Designing Data Center Application Security- Identify the need for data center security technologies
- Describe characteristics of firewalls
- Position security appliances within data center networks
- Design secure communication on multiple layers
Lesson 2: Designing Link Security Technologies and Device Hardening- Identify design requirements for Cisco TrustSec
- Describe device-hardening technologies
- Design secure management networks
Lesson 3: Designing Storage Security- Design secure SANs
- Explain security solutions for data encryption
- Outline security implications for IP-based storage
Module 6: Data Center Application ServicesLesson 1: Designing Data Center Application Architecture- Explain application architecture and design
- Explain application tiering
- Explain application optimization technologies
Lesson 2: Designing Application Services- Explain server load-balancing technologies
- Add application services to an existing data center
- Explain contexts
- Design secure application load-balancing solutions
Lesson 3: Designing Global Load Balancing- Explain the need for GSLB
- Design a GSLB solution
- Explain protocols that are used for site selection and site monitoring
- Explain the site selection process
Module 7: Data Center ManagementLesson 1: Designing Data Center Management Solutions- Describe the need for network management
- Describe Cisco Data Center management products
- Describe scalability limitations
- Secure management in multitenant environments
Lab Outline
Case Study 1-1: Design a Migration to vPC
Lab 1-2: Become Familiar with the Lab Equipment
Lab 3-1: Explore VDCs
Lab 3-2: Examine vPC
Lab 3-3: Explore Cisco FabricPath
Lab 3-4: Connect FEXs
Lab 3-5: Interconnect Data Centers with Cisco OTV
Case Study 3-6: Design VLAN Extension
Case Study 4-1: Design Cisco Unified Fabric