Implementing Cisco Data Center Unified Computing (DCUCI) is designed to serve the needs of engineers who implement Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) B-Series Blade Servers and Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Servers.

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

• Install Cisco R-Series Rack Enclosures in the data center.
• Use Cisco Integrated Management Controller to provision LAN and SAN connectivity for the C-Series server.
• Use the LSI MegaRAID web user interface to provision local hard drives into a RAID 5 array.
• Implement system management, maintenance, and high availability services for Cisco UCS B-Series.
• Maintain Cisco UCS in a high-availability configuration Implement generation 1 and generation 2 connectivity.
• Implement LAN & SAN connectivity for Cisco UCS B-Series hardware.
• Provision VLANs and fabric interconnect uplinks for server connectivity to the Layer 3 data center cloud.
• Provision VSANs and fabric interconnect Fibre Channel uplinks for server connectivity to the data center storage cloud.
• Provision service profiles with initial and updating templates Implement virtualization features.
• Provision Cisco VM-FEX

Module 1: Implement Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

• Implementing Cisco R-Series Rack Enclosures
• Unpack the Cisco R42610 rack enclosure
• Remove the Cisco R-Series rack from the pallet
• Secure the Cisco R-Series rack to the floor
• Join Cisco R42610 racks into a suite
• Install a Cisco RP208-30-U-1 PDU
• Remove and install side panels
• Remove and install Cisco R-Series rack doors
• Use cabling portholes
• Installing Cisco UCS C-Series Server Hardware
• Review ESD precautions
• Review how to open Cisco UCS C-Series cases
• Compare PCIe riser cards across Cisco UCS C-Series models
• Describe CPU population rules for dual- and quad-socket servers
• Describe the importance of color coding internal Cisco UCS C-Series components
• Describe DRAM installation and population rules
• Describe fan replacement
• Describe power supply replacement
• Installing Cisco UCS C-Series Servers in a Cisco R-Series Rack Enclosure
• Install the slide-rail assembly into the Cisco R42610 rack enclosure
• Attach the mounting brackets to the server
• Insert the server into the slide rail
• Attach the cable management arm
• Connect the Cisco UCS C-Series server to the PDU
• Connect management and data cables
• Updating Cisco UCS C-Series Firmware with the Host Upgrade Utility
• Download the Cisco UCS Host Upgrade Utility from Cisco.com
• Enable KVM and virtual media in Cisco Integrated Management Controller
• Describe the session options that are available in the KVM
• Launch virtual media and map the Cisco UCS Host Upgrade Utility ISO image
• Perform an upgrade of all components
• Provisioning Monitoring and Logging on the Cisco UCS C-Series Server
• Provision SNMP
• Provision syslog destinations for server logging data
• Access data from the system event log
• Export technical support information
• Provisioning LAN and SAN Connectivity in the Cisco Integrated Management Controller
• Provision the Cisco UCS P81E VIC to allow FCoE
• Provision a locally administered MAC address for the A- and B-side 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
• Enable RSS on Ethernet adapters
• Provision locally administered addresses for the Fibre Channel interface WWPN and WWNN
• Provision the Fibre Channel boot target for the A- and B-side Fibre Channel interfaces
• Provisioning RAID on the Cisco UCS C-Series Server
• Describe the characteristics of RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10
• Boot the server in the KVM and access the LSI MegaRAID web user interface
• Add all local hard drives to a RAID 5 array and save the configuration
• Installing VMware ESXi on the Cisco UCS C-Series Server Local RAID Array
• Open a KVM session to the Cisco UCS C-Series server
• Map virtual media to the ESXi installer ISO image
• Install ESXi on the local RAID array
• Boot ESXi from the local RAID array
• Configure a management IP address for the ESXi server
• Connect to the ESXi server with the VMware vSphere Client utility and connect to the VMware File System shared storage LUN on the Fibre Channel storage system

Module 2: Manage the Cisco UCS B-Series

• Implementing RBAC
• Describe the overall framework of RBAC in the Cisco UCS B-Series
• Implement local users, roles, and privileges
• Implement organizations and locales
• Describe the effective rights of a user as an intersection of roles and locales mapped to a user
• Implement LDAP providers and provider groups
• Implement LDAP (Microsoft Active Directory) as an external authentication and authorization service
• Implement Cisco UCS roles mapping to LDAP (Active Directory) attributes with LDAP provider maps
• Managing and Upgrading Cisco UCS B-Series Firmware
• Describe where to find Cisco UCS firmware packages on Cisco.com
• Update Cisco UCS firmware
• Direct upgrade of mezzanine adapter, Cisco Integrated Management Controller, and IOM firmware
• Describe software updates on the fabric interconnect
• Describe the requirement for firmware updates via host firmware packages in the service profile
• Describe the differences between the firmware processes of Cisco UCS fabric interconnect and IOM, Cisco Integrated Management Controller, and adapter
• Describe how to update and activate the hardware capability catalog
• Implementing Backup, Import, and Restore of the Cisco UCS Manager Database
• Differentiate between the supported backup types and the database objects to which they map in the Cisco UCS Manager database
• Differentiate between an import operation and a disaster recovery restore operation
• Implement a backup job
• Implement backup jobs to preserve abstracted identities
• Verify that the backup is created and executed
• Implement an import job to restore the AAA user database
• Verify that the AAA user database is restored
• Configure the Cisco UCS 6100/6200 Series Fabric Interconnect for disaster recovery restore
• Implementing Logging and Monitoring
• Describe Cisco UCS Manager management interfaces
• Describe the fault management system and evaluate fault severity levels
• Use the audit log to track administrative changes to the Cisco UCS Manager database
• Describe Cisco UCS Manager operations subject to FSM validation and how to interpret FSM output
• Implement logging options including local buffer, console, and external syslog servers
• Use system event log and system event log policies
• Implement the Smart Call Home feature
• Validate the Smart Call Home feature
• Configure settings for logs, events, and faults
• Configure SPAN to allow protocol analysis
• Implementing High Availability
• Describe high-availability cluster connection requirements for Cisco UCS B-Series
• Describe intercluster communications and Cisco UCS Manager database synchronization
• Differentiate between cluster partition-in-time and partition-in-space split-brain conditions
• Describe how the Cisco UCS 5108 Blade Server Chassis SEEPROM resolves a split-brain issue in the high-availability cluster
• Modify cluster IP addressing from the Cisco UCS Manager GUI and CLI

Module 3: Implement Cisco UCS B-Series Connectivity

• Implementing Cisco UCS B-Series Physical Connectivity
• Describe the relationship between I/O uplinks and bandwidth oversubscription with generation 2 hardware
• Describe the Cisco UCS 2204/2208XP IOM architecture including CMC, I/O MUX, and chassis management switch
• Describe the relationship between I/O uplinks and bandwidth oversubscription with generation 1 hardware
• Describe the Cisco UCS 2104XP IO module architecture including CMC, I/O MUX, and chassis management switch
• Describe the features of the Cisco UCS VIC 1280 and VIC 1240
• Compare the number of virtual interfaces available on the Cisco UCS M81KR VIC and the VIC 1280
• Describe new mezzanine cards including M51, M61, and M72
• Describe the Cisco Integrated Management Controller management component of the B-Series blades
• Describe the creation of port channels from the Cisco UCS 6200 Series Fabric Interconnect to the 2204/2208XP IOM
• Describe the difference between server and uplink port personalities in the fabric interconnect
• Describe the chassis discovery process and monitor using the FSM
• Configure the chassis discovery policy
• Installing Cisco UCS B-Series Hardware
• Describe the ESD precautions that are necessary when installing Cisco UCS B-Series components
• List the steps for opening the case of half- and full-slot blade servers
• List the steps for physical installation of rack-mount slides in the enclosure and on the Cisco UCS 5108 chassis
• List the steps for installation and removal of CPU, RAM, and mezzanine cards in Cisco UCS B-Series blade servers
• List the steps for physical installation and removal of local hard drives
• List the steps for physical installation of half- and full-slot blade servers
• List the steps for physical installation of IOMs and power supplies in the Cisco UCS 5108 chassis
• List the steps for physical installation and removal of fan units
• List the steps for physical installation and removal of SFP+ copper twinax and optical modules
• Implementing Cisco UCS B-Series LAN Connectivity
• Differentiate between uplink, server, appliance, FCoE storage, and monitoring Ethernet port personalities of 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces on the Cisco UCS fabric interconnect
• Describe the requirements and configuration of port channels from the Cisco UCS fabric interconnect to a northbound switch
• Describe end-host mode and its importance in forwarding over multiple Layer 2 links and maintaining a loop-free topology
• Differentiate end-host mode with switched mode
• Describe the requirements to configure VLANs in Cisco UCS Manager
• Describe the role of vNICs to abstract MAC addresses into a service profile
• Describe the automatic pinning process and recovery from failure
• Describe the configuration of manual pinning and recovery from failure
• Describe the configuration of disjoint Layer 2 domains
• Implementing Cisco UCS B-Series SAN Connectivity
• Describe Fibre Channel switching
• Describe NPV
• Differentiate between Fibre Channel uplink, Fibre Channel storage, and Fibre Channel monitoring port personalities of 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces on the Cisco UCS fabric interconnect
• Differentiate between benefits and drawbacks of Fibre Channel switching and NPV
• Describe how NPIV allows a single N Port to be associated with multiple FCIDs
• Describe the requirements and configuration of VSANs in Cisco UCS Manager
• Describe the role of the vHBA to abstract WWNNs and WWPNs into a service profile
• Describe the automatic pinning process and recovery from failure
• Describe the configuration of manual pinning and recovery from failure
• Differentiate Ethernet failover from Fibre Channel multipath I/O recovery

Module 4: Provision Cisco UCS Compute Resources

• Provisioning the Cisco UCS Cluster
• Configure the primary cluster peer from the fabric interconnect console
• Configure the secondary cluster peer from the fabric interconnect console and join to the cluster
• Log into the Cisco UCS Manager GUI and assign a pool of management IP addresses for server management
• Provisioning LAN Networking
• Provision VLANs for single fabric, both fabrics, and both fabrics configured differently
• Provision VLAN ranges
• Provision private VLANs
• Provision Ethernet uplinks
• Provision Ethernet uplink port channels
• Provision fabric port channels from the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect to a Cisco 2204/2208 IOM
• Provision FCoE storage ports
• Provision appliance ports and prune VLANs
• Provisioning SAN Networking
• Provision VSANs for single fabric, both fabrics, and both fabrics configured differently
• Provision Fibre Channel uplinks and VSAN trunking
• Provision Fibre Channel port channels
• Provision direct-attach Fibre Channel storage ports and default zoning
• Provisioning Resource Pools in Cisco UCS Manager
• Provision server pools
• Provision server pool autoplacement
• Provision UUID pools
• Provision MAC pools
• Provision WWNN pools
• Provision WWPN pools
• Provision iSCSI initiator pools
• Provisioning Server Policies in Cisco UCS Manager
• Provision a service profile using the expert service profile wizard
• Implement pools and policies in the service profile
• Associate a service profile to a server
• Describe the Cisco UCS Utility Operating System
• Observe the association process using the FSM
• Provisioning Service Profiles from Templates in Cisco UCS Manager
• Describe the requirements of service profile templates
• Describe the difference between initial templates and updating templates, including operational caveats
• Provision a vNIC template using the template wizard
• Provision a vHBA template using the template wizard
• Provision a service profile template using the template wizard
• Provision multiple servers from a service profile template
• Clone a service profile
• Provisioning Cisco UCS C-Series Server Integration in Cisco UCS Manager
• Describe the benefits of C-Series integration
• Describe the physical connectivity requirements for C-Series integration
• Install version 1.2 C-Series server firmware to allow integration with Cisco UCS prior to version 2.0(2xx)
• Describe the C-Series discovery process

Module 5: Implement Cisco UCS Server Virtualization Features

• Provisioning Cisco VM-FEX and Cisco VM-FEX Universal Pass-Through
• Describe VMware vSwitch and vDS
• Describe Cisco Nexus 1000V switching
• Describe Cisco VM-FEX
• Describe Cisco VM-FEX universal pass-through
• Provisioning Cisco VM-FEX
• Provision VMware ESXi servers with a Cisco VEM
• Provision the secure connection from Cisco UCS Manager to VMware vCenter Server
• Provision port profiles and push to vCenter as port groups
• Provision a dynamic vNIC connection policy and BIOS policy for Cisco VM-FEX
• Join ESXi hosts to the DVS
• Provision VMs to consume port groups on the DVS
• Provisioning Cisco VM-FEX Universal Pass-Through
• Describe VMware requirements for universal pass-through mode
• Provision a dynamic vNIC connection policy for Cisco VM-FEX universal pass-through
• Provision a BIOS policy for Cisco VM-FEX universal pass-through
• Associate universal pass-through policies to a service profile
• Provision a port profile for universal pass-through mode
• Provision VMs to connect to DirectPath I/O interfaces
• Verify universal pass-through mode

Course Labs Lab 1-1: Perform Initial C-Series Implementation Lab 1-2: Update Cisco UCS C-Series Firmware from the Cisco UCS Host Upgrade Utility Lab 1-3: Implement LAN and SAN Connectivity Lab 1-4: Install VMware ESXi on the Local RAID and Verify SAN Connectivity Lab 2-1: Provision Cisco UCS Ethernet Connectivity and Management IP Pools Lab 2-2: Configure RBAC Lab 2-3: Back Up and Restore Cisco UCS Manager Database Objects Lab 2-4: Configure Logging in Cisco UCS Lab 4-1: Provision Identity and Resource Pools Lab 4-2: Provision Mobile Service Profiles from Updating Templates Lab 4-3: Test High Availability Lab 5-1: Provision VMware Integration Lab 5-2: Provision M81-KR Cisco VM-FEX Lab 5-3: Provision M81-KR Cisco VM-FEX Universal Pass-Through

• Channel Partner / Reseller
• Customer
• Employee

• Understanding of server system design and architecture Familiarity with Ethernet and TCP / IP networking Familiarity with SANs Familiarity with Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP)
• Understanding of Cisco Enterprise Data Center Architecture Familiarity with hypervisor technologies (VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix Xen)
• Attendance of the following Cisco learning offerings is recommended to fully benefit from this course: Configuring Cisco Data Center Unified Computing (DCUCS)