Top 10 Reasons To Choose Cisco ACI For Data Centre Network
For a long time, the data center industry has utilized the Network Architecture of legacy 3 Tier Data centers. These networks were commonly network-centric. Traditions have changed, and in the last certain years, this industry has experienced enormous data centers shifting towards SDN solutions (Software Defined Networks).
Cisco 2013 released their SDN solution for data centers called ACI (Application Centric Infrastructure). The requirement for a solution was there that would configure the devices more efficiently than doing it manually. it resolves various issues which were with traditional networks. There are some great reasons why you should choose Cisco ACI for your data center networks.
Reasons Why You Choose Cisco ACI For Data Center Networks
1. Facilitated Automation with Application-Driven Strategy Model
Suppose a data center had 50 leaf switches along with a spine switches pair. Your role is to execute this network with new brand devices with all IP Routings, VLANs, ACLs, etc. It can be expected that it will take almost a month or more to fix everything.
However, with the help of Cisco ACI, it will take only some days. In Cisco ACI, initially, you put forward an APIC cluster, discover switches and fabric requirements, and develop strategies according to your needs. There is no requirement to go for every rack and shape all the appliances manually.
2. Elimination of Layer 2 Flooding in Fabric
The architecture of ACI is based on the CLOS model where ECMP (Equal Cost Multi Pathing) is utilized between the leaf and spine switches, hence offering IP redundancy throughout the whole fabric. ACI utilizes Layer 3 Routing links between the connectivity of the Leaf and Spine. This Routing uses one of the best routing protocols, IS-IS, that assists in utilizing ECMP between these links. Utilizing layer three routing links eradicates the significance of Layer 2 flooding between Leaf and Spines.
3. Workload Mobility
When VMware came into account, it changed the entire industry. During the 90s, we all have a Bare-Metal or physical workload. The main benefit of utilizing the VMware platform is the capability to move VMs in data centers. This is known as live vMotion. However, the issue is with IP Subnet limitation. It restricts the VM domain to the VMware server clusters with networks on similar subnets.
VXLAN is a good solution that offers a layer two tunneling aspect that survives the limitation of IP subnetting. It assists administrators in shifting VMs to any server regardless of the various IP subnets utilized in a particular network.
4. Image Management
You do not have to upload any image manually to all levers for upgradation in Cisco ACI. You have to upload your image in Cisco and update yours on switches. Commonly in the Datacentre, various devices such as security devices, servers, or routers are attached with Dual-Homed to 2-leaf switches. the better way to upgrade your switches is via the odd-even way. Spine switches can also be updated in the same way, and it will assist in preventing Traffic Disruption.
5. Unified Visibility with Real-period Health Monitoring
When monitoring the network taken into account, Cisco ACI makes your life much easier. Below are some of the characteristics that Cisco ACI offers:
- Health Scores
- Unified Topology
- Endpoint Tracker
6. ACI Inventory and Configuration
Another aspect is that you can renovate Switches and provision these switches without being concerned about switch configurations. All configurations are on the Cisco APIC. Let’s consider that if your one leaf gets damaged, you obtain a device renovated from OEM. Now, the new brand device is provided to your area, and you are supposed to configure the device manually by putting up with the console and provision configuration.
you may be in trouble if you do not accept the previous Switches’ backup. But, Cisco ACI will simplify your life; there is an availability of centralized configuration on APIC for all switches, which you can use to configure your switches.
7. Deployment Modes for various fabrics/ POD/ Clouds/ sites
Cisco ACI offers various possibilities to extend your fabric. When you have various spine-leaf architectures in the same facility or area and expect to extend your IP Subnets, VLANs, and VRFs between two networks, you may utilize Multi-Pod Architecture.
if there are two different areas, say DR and DC, which are located in two different spots and have reachability of IP through MPLS or other links. You may choose Multi-Site Deployment, where you can find similar configurations in both of these sites and will back Layer 2 stretches among these two locations with the help of VXLAN.
8. Scalable Performance
The solution of Cisco ACI is made to keep scalability in view. It utilizes Clos architecture, designed around leaf and spine architecture, where each spine is associated with every leaf. Also, you can put in various Spines and Leaf anytime without causing any traffic disruption.
9. Multi-Tenancy
The solution of Cisco ACI is designed from the start to be multi-tenant. It implies different aspects to different individuals, similar to a cloud. In the cloud service provider case, a tenant is a different customer for a particular business customer. The tenant can be a business unit, functional group, application vendor, or other. in traditional systems, giving rise to a routing strategy altered on a Layer 3 device can affect various domains and unique subnets. That is why changing the main devices of traditional systems is a little complicated.
Credit goes to the Cisco ACI model; the Tenant in this policy can develop a high-level aspect inside, which you can use in policies, IP Subnets, VRFs, etc.
10. Third-Party Integration
Various cases are there where you can combine Cisco ACI with different third-party applications for unified configurations and policies. Cisco ACI offers a solution by combining Load balancers and Firewalls with Cisco ACI for a service insertion of L4-L7. You can develop templates, policies, and provisions between workloads and third-party appliances as soon as you integrate them.
Conclusion
Cisco ACI serves as a solution that brought Data centers around the globe into the software-defined networks. Various issues, such as spanning trees, VM mobility, scalability, flooding, etc., are resolved with the help of Cisco ACI. it assists in lessening OPEX and simplifies various operations.
