For many IT organizations, today’s greatest challenge is to drive more value, efficiency, and utilization from data centers. Virtualization is the best way to meet this challenge. Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals brings together the comprehensive knowledge Cisco professionals need to apply virtualization throughout their data center environments. Leading data center expert Gustavo A. A. Santana thoroughly explores all components of an end-to-end data center virtualization solution, including networking, storage, servers, operating systems, application optimization, and security. Rather than focusing on a single product or technology, he explores product capabilities as interoperable design tools that can be combined and integrated with other solutions, including VMware vSphere. With the author’s guidance, you’ll learn how to define and implement highly-efficient architectures for new, expanded, or retrofit data center projects. By doing so, you can deliver agile application provisioning without purchasing unnecessary infrastructure, and establish a strong foundation for new cloud computing and IT-as-a-service initiatives. Throughout, Santana illuminates key theoretical concepts through realistic use cases, real-world designs, illustrative configuration examples, and verification outputs. Appendixes provide valuable reference information, including relevant Cisco data center products and CLI principles for IOS and NX-OS. With this approach, Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals will be an indispensable resource for anyone preparing for the CCNA Data Center, CCNP Data Center, or CCIE Data Center
certification exams.
Gustavo A. A. Santana, CCIE® No. 8806, is a Cisco Technical Solutions Architect working in enterprise and service provider data center projects that require deep integration across technology areas such as networking, application optimization, storage, and servers. He has more than 15 years of data center experience, and has led and coordinated a team of specialized Cisco engineers in Brazil. He holds two CCIE certifications (Routing & Switching and Storage Networking), and is a VMware Certified Professional (VCP) and SNIA Certified Storage Networking Expert (SCSN-E). A frequent speaker at Cisco and data center industry events, he blogs on data center virtualization at gustavoaasantana.net.
Learn how virtualization can transform and improve traditional data center network topologies
Understand the key characteristics and value of each data center virtualization technology
Walk through key decisions, and transform choices into architecture
Smoothly migrate existing data centers toward greater virtualization
Burst silos that have traditionally made data centers inefficient
Master foundational technologies such as VLANs, VRF, and virtual contexts
Use virtual PortChannel and FabricPath to overcome the limits of STP
Optimize cabling and network management with fabric extender (FEX) virtualized chassis
Extend Layer 2 domains to distant data center sites using MPLS and Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV)
Use VSANs to overcome Fibre Channel fabric challenges
Improve SAN data protection, environment isolation, and scalability
Consolidate I/O through Data Center Bridging and FCoE
Use virtualization to radically simplify server environments
Create server profiles that streamline “bare metal” server provisioning
“Transcend the rack” through virtualized networking based on Nexus 1000V and VM-FEX
Leverage opportunities to deploy virtual network services more efficiently
Evolve data center virtualization toward full-fledged private clouds
-Reviews -
“The variety of material that Gustavo covers in this work would appeal to anyone responsible for Data Centers today. His grasp of virtualization technologies and ability to relate it in both technical and non-technical terms makes for compelling reading. This is not your ordinary tech manual. Through use of relatable visual cues, Gustavo provides information that is easily recalled on the subject of virtualization, reaching across Subject Matter Expertise domains. Whether you consider yourself well-versed or a novice on the topic, working in large or small environments, this work will provide a clear understanding of the diverse subject of virtualization.”
-- Bill Dufresne, CCIE 4375, Distinguished Systems Engineer, Cisco (Americas)
“..this book is an essential reference and will be valuable asset for potential candidates pursuing their Cisco Data Center certifications. I am confident that in reading this book, individuals will inevitably gain extensive knowledge and hands-on experience during their certification preparations. If you’re looking for a truly comprehensive guide to virtualization, this is the one!”
-- Yusuf Bhaiji, Senior Manager, Expert Certifications (CCIE, CCDE, CCAr),
Author(s): Gustavo A. A. Santana
Publisher: Cisco Press
Year: 2013
Language: English
Commentary: converted from ePub
Pages: 1405
Foreword
Introduction
Part I What Is Virtualization?
Chapter 1 Virtualization History and Definitions
Data Center Essential Definitions
Data Center Evolution
Operational Areas and Data Center Architecture
The Origins of Data Center Virtualization
Virtual Memory
Mainframe Virtualization
Hot Standby Router Protocol
Defining Virtualization
Data Center Virtualization Timeline
Classifying Virtualization Technologies
A Virtualization Taxonomy
Virtualization Scalability
Technology Areas
Classification Examples
Summary
Further Reading
Part II Virtualization in Network Technologies
Chapter 2 Data Center Network Evolution
Ethernet Protocol: Then and Now
Ethernet Media
Coaxial Cable
Twisted-Pair
Optical Fiber
Direct-Attach Twinaxial Cables
Ethernet Data Rate Timeline
Data Center Network Topologies
Data Center Network Layers
Design Factors for Data Center Networks
Physical Network Layout Considerations
The ANSI/TIA-942 Standard
Network Virtualization Benefits
Network Logical Partitioning
Network Simplification and Traffic Load Balancing
Management Consolidation and Cabling Optimization
Network Extension
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter3 The Humble Beginnings of Network Virtualization
Network Partitioning
Concepts from the Bridging World
Defining VLANs
VLAN Trunks
Two Common Misconceptions About VLANs
Misconception Number 1: A VLAN Must Be Associated to an IP Subnet
Misconception Number 2: Layer 3 VLANs
Spanning Tree Protocol and VLANs
Spanning Tree Protocol at Work
Port States
Spanning Tree Protocol Enhancements
Spanning Tree Instances
Private VLANs
VLAN Specifics
Native VLAN
Reserved VLANs IDs
Resource Sharing
Control and Management Plane
Concepts from the Routing World
Overlapping Addresses in a Data Center
Defining and Configuring VRFs
VRFs and Routing Protocols
VRFs and the Management Plane
VRF-Awareness
VRF Resource Allocation Control
Use Case: Data Center Network Segmentation
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 4 An Army of One: ACE Virtual Contexts
Application Networking Services
The Use of Load Balancers
Load-Balancing Concepts
Layer 4 Switching Versus Layer 7 Switching
Connection Management
Address Translation and Load Balancing
Server NAT
Dual NAT
Port Redirection
Transparent Mode
Other Load-Balancing Applications
Firewall Load Balancing
Reverse Proxy Load Balancing
Offloading Servers
SSL Offload
TCP Offload
HTTP Compression
Load Balancer Proliferation in the Data Center
Load Balancer Performance
Security Policies
Suboptimal Traffic
Application Environment Independency
ACE Virtual Contexts
Application Control Engine Physical Connections
Connecting an ACE Appliance
Connecting an ACE Module
Creating and Allocating Resources to Virtual Contexts
Integrating ACE Virtual Contexts to the Data Center Network
Routed Design
Bridged Design
One-Armed Design
Managing and Configuring ACE Virtual Contexts
Allowing Management Traffic to a Virtual Context
Allowing Load Balancing Traffic Through a Virtual Context
Controlling Management Access to Virtual Contexts
ACE Virtual Context Additional Characteristics
Sharing VLANs Among Contexts
Virtual Context Fault Tolerance
Use Case: Multitenant Data Center
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 5 Instant Switches: Virtual Device Contexts
Extending Device Virtualization
Why Use VDCs?
VDCs in Detail
Creating and Configuring VDCs
VDC Names and CLI Prompts
Virtualization Nesting
Allocating Resources to VDCs
Using Resource Templates
Managing VDCs
VDC Operations
Processes Failures and VDCs
VDC Out-of-Band Management
Role-Based Access Control and VDCs
Global Resources
Use Case: Data Center Security Zones
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 6 Fooling Spanning Tree
Spanning Tree Protocol and Link Utilization
Link Aggregation
Server Connectivity and NIC Teaming
Cross-Switch PortChannels
Virtual PortChannels
Virtual PortChannel Definitions
Configuring Virtual PortChannels
Step 1: Defining the Domain
Step 2: Establishing Peer Keepalive Connectivity
Step 3: Creating the Peer Link
Step 4: Creating the Virtual PortChannel
Spanning Tree Protocol and Virtual PortChannels
Peer Link Failure and Orphan Ports
First-Hop Routing Protocols and Virtual PortChannels
Layer 2 Multipathing and vPC+
FabricPath Data Plane
FabricPath Control Plane
FabricPath and Spanning Tree Protocol
Virtual PortChannel Plus
Use Case: Evolution of Network PODs
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 7 Virtualized Chassis with Fabric Extenders
Server Access Models
Understanding Fabric Extenders
Fabric Extender Options
Connecting a Fabric Extender to a Parent Switch
Fabric Extended Interfaces and Spanning Tree Protocol
Fabric Interfaces Redundancy
Fabric Extender Topologies
Straight-Through Topologies
Dual-Homed Topologies
Use Case: Mixed Access Data Center
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 8 A Tale of Two Data Centers
A Brief History of Distributed Data Centers
The Cold Age (Mid-1970s to 1980s)
The Hot Age (1990s to Mid-2000s)
The Active-Active Age (Mid-2000s to Today)
The Case for Layer 2 Extensions
Challenges of Layer 2 Extensions
Ethernet Extensions over Optical Connections
Virtual PortChannels
FabricPath
Ethernet Extensions over MPLS
MPLS Basic Concepts
Ethernet over MPLS
Virtual Private LAN Service
Ethernet Extensions over IP
MPLS over GRE
Overlay Transport Virtualization
OTV Terminology
OTV Basic Configuration
OTV Loop Avoidance and Multihoming
Migration to OTV
OTV Site Designs
VLAN Identifiers and Layer 2 Extensions
Internal Routing in Connected Data Centers
Use Case: Active-Active Greenfield Data Centers
Summary
Further Reading
Part III Virtualization in Storage Technologies
Chapter 9 Storage Evolution
Data Center Storage Devices
Hard Disk Drives
Disk Arrays
Tape Drives and Libraries
Accessing Data in Rest
Block-Based Access
Small Computer Systems Interface
Mainframe Storage Access
Advanced Technology Attachment
File Access
Network File System
Common Internet File System
Record Access
Storage Virtualization
Virtualizing Storage Devices
Virtualizing LUNs
Virtualizing File Systems
Virtualizing SANs
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 10 Islands in the SAN
Some Fibre Channel Definitions
Fibre Channel Layers
Fibre Channel Topologies and Port Types
Fibre Channel Addressing
Frames, Sequences, and Exchanges
Flow Control
Classes of Service
Fabric Processes
Fabric Initialization
Fabric Shortest Path First
Register State Change Notification
Fibre Channel Logins
Zoning
Defining and Exploring VSANs
SAN Islands
VSAN Creation
VSAN Trunking
Zoning and VSANs
FSPF and VSANs
VSAN Scoping
Use Case: SAN Consolidation
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 11 Secret Identities
Fibre Channel over IP
FCIP High Availability
Use Case: SAN Extension with Traffic Engineering
Inter-VSAN Routing
IVR Infrastructure
IVR Zoning
Use Case: Transit VSAN
N_Port Virtualization
Configuring N_Port Virtualization
NPV Traffic Management
Deploying Port WWN Virtualization on NPV
Use Case: Blade Server Hosting Data Center
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 12 One Cable to Unite Us All
The Case for Data Center Networking Convergence
Data Center Bridging
Priority-Based Flow Control
Enhanced Transmission Selection
Data Center Bridging eXchange Protocol
Congestion Notification
Introducing Fibre Channel over Ethernet
FCoE Elements
FCoE Initialization Protocol
Deploying Unified Server Access
Configuring Unified Server Access on Single-Context Switches
Configuring Unified Server Access with Storage VDCs
Configuring Multihop FCoE
Configuring Virtual Fibre Channel PortChannels
FCoE N_Port Virtualization
Unified Fabric Designs
Server Access Layer Unified Designs
FCoE and Virtual PortChannels
FCoE and Blade Servers
Beyond the Access Layer
Converged Access Model
Converged Aggregation Model
FCoE and SAN Extension
Use Case: LAN and SAN Management Separation
Summary
Further Reading
Part IV Virtualization in Server Technologies
Chapter 13 Server Evolution
Server Architectures
Mainframes
RISC Servers
x86 Servers
x86 Hardware Evolution
CPU Evolution
Memory Evolution
Expansion Bus Evolution
Physical Format Evolution
Introducing x86 Server Virtualization
Virtualization Unleashed
Unified Computing
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 14 Changing Personalities
Server Provisioning Challenges
Server Domain Operations
Infrastructure Domain Operations
Unified Computing and Service Profiles
Building Service Profiles
Identifying a Service Profile
Storage Definitions
Network Definitions
Virtual Interface Placement
Server Boot Order
Maintenance Policy
Server Assignment
Operational Policies
Configuration
External IPMI Management Configuration
Management IP Address
Additional Policies
Associating a Service Profile to a Server
Installing an Operating System
Verifying Stateless Computing
Using Policies
BIOS Setting Policies
Firmware Policies
Industrializing Server Provisioning
Cloning
Pools
Service Profile Templates
Server Pools
Use Case: Seasonal Workloads
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 15 Transcending the Rack
Introduction to Virtual Networking
Virtual Switch Challenges
Cisco Nexus 1000V Architecture
Nexus 1000V Communication Modes
Port Profiles and Dynamic Interface Provisioning
Deploying Nexus 1000V
External Connectivity and Link Aggregation
NX-OS Features in the Virtual World
MAC Address Table
Access Lists
Online Migrations and Nexus 1000V
Virtual Extensible Local Area Networks
Introducing Virtual Machine Fabric Extender
Deploying VM-FEX
Enabling Dynamic vNICs on a UCS Service Profile
Preparing VMware vSphere Host to Deploy VM-FEX
Using the UCS Manager VMware Integration Wizard
Migrating Virtual Machines to VM-FEX
Online Migrations and VM-FEX
VM-FEX High-Performance Mode
Use Case: Data Center Merging
Summary
Further Reading
Chapter 16 Moving Targets
Virtual Network Services Definitions
Virtual Network Services Data Path
vPath-Enabled Virtual Network Services
Cisco Virtual Security Gateway: Compute Virtual Firewall
Installing Virtual Security Gateway
Creating Security Policies
Sending Data Traffic to VSG
Virtual Machine Attributes and Virtual Zones
Cisco ASA 1000V: Edge Virtual Firewall
Installing ASA 1000V
Sending Data Traffic to ASA 1000V
Configuring Security Policies on ASA 1000V
Application Acceleration
WAN Acceleration and Online Migration
Routing in the Virtual World
Site Selection and Server Virtualization
Route Health Injection
Global Server Load Balancing
Location/ID Separation Protocol
Use Case: Virtual Data Center
Summary
Further Reading
Part V End-to-End Virtualization
Chapter 17 The Virtual Data Center and Cloud Computing
The Virtual Data Center
Automation and Standardization
What Is Cloud Computing?
Cloud Implementation Example
Journey to the Cloud
Networking in the Clouds
Software-Defined Networks
OpenStack
Network Overlays
Cisco Open Network Environment
Before We Go...
Summary
Further Reading
Part VI: Appendixes
Appendix A Cisco Data Center Portfolio
Cisco Application Control Engine
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances 5585-X
Cisco ASA 1000V Cloud Firewall
Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches
Cisco Cloud Portal
Cisco Intelligent Automation Solutions
Automation Software Components
Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud Solution
Cisco Intelligent Automation for SAP
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches
Cisco Prime Network Analysis Module
Cisco Nexus Data Center Switches
Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches
Nexus 1010 and 1100 Virtual Services Appliances
Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders
Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches
Cisco Nexus 4000 Series Switches
Cisco Nexus 5000 and 5500 Series Switches
Cisco Nexus 6000 Series Switches
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches
Cisco Unified Computing System
Cisco 6100 and 6200 Series Fabric Interconnects
Cisco UCS 5100 Series Blade Server Chassis
Cisco UCS 2100 and 2200 Series Fabric Extenders
Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers
Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Cards
Unified Management Solutions
Cisco Application Network Manager
Cisco Prime Data Center Network Manager
Cisco UCS Manager and UCS Central
Virtual Network Management Center
Virtual Security Gateway
Virtualization Techniques Mapping
Further Reading
Appendix B IOS, NX-OS, and Application Control Software Command-Line
Interface Basics
IOS Command-Line Interface Basics
Command Modes
Getting Context-Sensitive Help
Abbreviating Commands and Using Shortcuts
Managing Configuration Files
Using Debug Commands
NX-OS Command-Line Interface
NX-OS Access
NX-OS Modularity
NX-OS and Running Configuration Files
NX-OS Command-Line Interface Optimizations
Configuration Version Management, Batches, and Scripts
Application Control Software Command-Line Interface
Index 873
