UCS Mini Implementation and Deployment

Overview
Outline

About this Course

The Cisco UCS Mini is an “All in One Solution” offering the same innovations associated with unified infrastructure and optimizes this for entry level server, remote office, branch office deployments or where physical separation of devices is required within a data center. UCS Mini delivers servers, storage, and 10 Gigabit networking in an easy-to-deploy, compact form factor.

This 2-day course is designed to provide in-depth day one knowledge of the Cisco UCS Mini solution, for Field Engineers, Channel Partners and any engineering staff tasked with implementing and deploying the Cisco UCS Mini Solution. This hands on intensive training will help any data center engineering staff, understanding the UCS Mini’s key features, their configuration steps in the UCS management interfaces, and the physical specifications of the hardware.

Audience Profile

IT staff tasked with deploying or implementing the Cisco UCS Mini solution
Channel Partners desiring to learn how to deploy or implement the Cisco UCS Mini solution

At Course Completion

After you complete this course you will be able to:

Describe the updated 5108 Chassis and Backplane
Explain the UCS Mini’s configuration requirements
Describe the UCS Mini’s expansion capabilities
Explain the UCS Mini’s connectivity options and supported topologies
Understand the UCS Mini’s common usage scenarios
Perform the UCS Mini’s initial configuration and deployment

Prerequisites

Familiarity with Cisco UCS Blade Servers, Cisco UCS ManagerCourse Objectives

Course Outline

Lesson 1. UCS Mini Hardware Overview

Cisco UCS 5108 Chassis

Physically the same 5108 Chassis with Updated Product ID, Backplane
Backwards Compatibility

Support for existing and new F/I, IOM’s, PSU’s, Servers
6RU rack-mount storage, Up to 8 blade servers

Updated Backplane, Fabric Interconnect, IOMs, PSU's

Backplane and Fabric Interconnect 6324 Updates
Embedded F/I capability in the IOM slot

Fabric Interconnect 6324 Integrated Networking

Basic Supported Topologies and Connectivity
1x 40G QSFP+, FCoE Storage Port
4x 10G SFP+, Supports 1G or 10G
Cabling Options, support for SFP, SFP+, SFP FC, QSFP
Cisco UCS 2204XP IOM
Support for next-gen VIC

UCS Mini Power Enhancements

Enhanced UCS Power Capping
Updated 220v PSU available for higher density loads
Reserved Power, Server Boot Staggering, Power Budget Reclaim
Determine power needs
Configure Power Policy

Cisco UCS vs Cisco UCS Mini Comparison

Lesson 2. Common UCS Mini Supported Topologies

Supported Topologies with Blade and Rack Servers
Network Attached Storage (IP Based Connectivity)
Direct Attached Storage (DAS)
SAN Attached Storage (FC/FCoE)
Storage Features and Support
Supported Scale Numbers

Switch Fabric Throughput
LAN and Fibre Channel Ports
MAC Addresses, VLAN’s, IGMP Groups, VI Support, Frame Sizes

Lesson 3. UCS Ethernet Networking

Port type configuration
Virtual Port Channel Configuration (VPC)
End Host mode vs Switching Mode

Lesson 4. UCS Mini Network Interface Virtualization Support

Both Static and Dynamic vNIC’s
VMFEX Support for VMware ESX and Microsoft Hyper-V
vNIC Failover in HA mode
MAC Filtering Support in VIC
Supported NIV Adaptors

Lesson 5. UCS Mini Initial Deployment

Pre-deployment tasks
Customer Configuration Data
Connect Network Cables
Prepare UCS F/I’s and Configure UCS Manager

Initial Configuration of UCS F/I’s
Chassis and Server Discovery on UCS Manager

Lesson 7: UCS Mini Configure identifier pools

Server UUID pool
MAC address pool
WWN pool
Management IP address pool

Lesson 8: UCS Mini Server Pools

Creation of server pool
Creation of server pool policy qualification
Creation of server pool policy

Lesson 9: Installing Server OS

Configuring B-Series and C-Series Servers for OS Installation
Using UCSM for Server Installations
Installing Windows Server 2012

Lesson 10: UCS Mini Server Deployment

Configure service profile template
Instantiate service profiles from the service profile template
Install ESXi servers and vCenter Infrastructure

Lesson 11: UCS Mini Management

Full-featured Cisco UCS Manager
Cisco UCS Manager 3.0 “Fletcher Cove” for UCS Mini

UCSM 3.0 vs 2.2 differences, UCS Mini limitations
New features in Mini UCSM 3.0(2c)
Cisco UCS Manager and Service Profiles Support

Cisco UCS Manager 3.0 for UCS Mini Unsupported Features
Cisco UCS Director API
Cisco UCS Mini Support in Cisco UCS Central Software
Command Line Interface (CLI)
Fabric Interconnect IOM Management Model
Online Insertion and Removal (OIR) of Fabric Interconnect IOM
Cisco UCS Mini Firmware Management

Lesson 12: ROBO Compared to Data Center Deployment Model

Cisco UCS Mini can be deployed in a ROBO location
Centrally managed using Cisco UCS Central Software in data center
WAN Characteristics, Network Bandwidth, Latency, Jitter
Firewall-Friendly Enhancements
Cisco UCS Central Software Release 1.2
Firmware Management with Cisco UCS Central Software

Lesson 13: Cisco UCS Mini Branch Office Management with UCS Central

Install and Configure UCS Central

Install UCS Central
Configure UCS Central
Adding Cisco UCS Managers to Cisco UCS Central

Configure UCS Central for Branch Office Deployment

Configure UCS Central Domain Group
Configure Pools and Policies
Configure Global Service Profile Template
Configure Global Service Profile Instance

Lesson 14. UCS Mini Solutions

Virtual Server Infrastructure (VSI)
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Business Applications
Software Defined Storage
Remote Office / Branch Office (ROBO)

Lesson 15. UCS Mini vs “Classic” UCS Server Support

Maximum Servers Supported per Domain
Support for specific B-Series vs C-Series Servers
SingleConnect Support
Switching and EHM/NPV mode

Hands-On Labs

Lab 1: Connect to UCS Manager 3.0

Lab 2: Basic Setup of Fabric Interconnect

Lab 3: Create VLANs

Lab 4: Setup Ports

Lab 5: Create Simple Service Profile

Lab 6: Define Power Policy

Lab 7: Deploy Service Profile

Lab 8: Configure B-Series Blade Server with UCSM 3.0

Lab 9: Install Windows Server 2012