We have already started working with a system called Cisco Unified Computing, many times commonly known as Cisco UCS it is because of the very soon after its initial release. Cisco UCS is a powerful and awesome server platform which in turn a great fit for the virtualization and very much any of the workload that the customer can even imagine. What we also realized is that with all of the UCS experience, and all of the blogging we have done, never sit down and write an overview of the architecture of Cisco UCS. Why is this a very essential ask for the customer? After all having those advantages, it is just meant to be a server platform. It is also essential because the Cisco UCS has the minimum fundamental difference between most of the other server platforms that are customized to working with.
In this article we will look into about the below topics:
- Overview of Cisco UCS Components
- Cisco UCS Architectural differences
- Overview of Cisco UCS Architecture
Buckle up, because the customer is about to learn more about Cisco UCS! Be sure to take a look at the detailed list of the Cisco UCS Deep Dives that we have written at the article end.
The Basic Difference With the Architecture of Cisco UCS:
Let’s move right into the architecture of Cisco UCS. What is the major difference when the customers are designing the system of Cisco UCS? Cisco UCS is used to leverage something which is known as the Fabric Interconnect. While the customer is used to connect the servers directly to a single switch, this will not be the same as what has been done in the world of Cisco UCS. With Cisco UCS, the servers are often connected to the Interconnect of the Fabric, then it is connected to the switches of the network.
The interconnection of the Cisco Fabric has ALWAYS deployed in many pairs, and each blade chassis is connected to the Interconnects of the fabric in order to protect against the failure of the Fabric Interconnect. It can also make the maintenance very easy, since the customer can be updated to the software on the interconnects of the Fabric one at a time and can be non disruptive.
This type of special software is also known as the Cisco UCS Manager, that we are going to talk about, hence stay tuned!
As you can see, one of the main differences is the Cisco UCS Fabric introduction of the Interconnect.
All About Cisco UCS
We also probably just can be busted the very first myth about Cisco UCS. Most of the people do deploy the blade servers in their systems of the Cisco UCS, the rack servers can also be a part of Cisco UCS. The Rack or Blade, the customer has to decide what fits to his / her needs and requirements and in ease of use cases. For some of the reason, we always run into mortals that think Cisco UCS is mostly about the servers of the blade.
Cisco UCS Components and Overview:
At present, we are going to break many of the components into the Cisco UCS system before we show you how they come combinely.
Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects
The Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect can be used to connect to the Cisco UCS Servers to the network of yours. Beyond the above, the Fabric Interconnects that we are using where Cisco UCS Manager can run from, which is also known as software secret sauce in the Cisco UCS. When you are logging into your system of Cisco UCS, the customer is actually logging into the manager of the Cisco UCS through the Interconnects of the Fabric.
Each and every Fabric Interconnect of the course has a very unique IP address, but for the VIP (virtual IP address) is created for the system as a whole process. Often, the customer may just hear these are referred to as the fabrics. Usually, we can call one Fabric Interconnect A, and the other as B.
One of the greatest features of a Fabric Interconnect is that the customer can configure the port’s personality. In general, there are different types of ports that are available on the Fabric Interconnect:
Ethernet Ports – For Ethernet or FCoE connectivity
Universal Ports – Operate as Ethernet or Fibre Channel ports
Uplink Ports – for uplink to the Cisco Nexus Infrastructure
The Universal Ports are considered as the first ports of the Interconnect in the Fabric. In this case of the Cisco UCS 6454 the Interconnect of the Fabric, they will be the first eight ports.
Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers:
Let us talk about the blade servers that we are using. If you see a B in front of the Server UCS name, for example it is a UCS, then the customer will automatically get to know that model belongs to the blade server. It can consist of all the things that a server must have, and it is given the connectivity and power by the Cisco UCS Blade Chassis (5108).
The Cisco Blade Chassis can also have a VIC card which is used for the connectivity. There may be a Blade Chassis double width, Blade Chassis, and double width double along with the height blades that are available. Blades can be placed into the Cisco UCS blade chassis in a horizontal direction, so with the eight available slots the customer can have eight different single width blades, four double width blades, or the two double width double height blades.
The M5 generation of Servers of the B-Series Blade brought all sorts of great features of UCS, are mostly notably upgraded to the processors and have developed the memory capacities. The UCS is the workhorse of the Cisco platform at this time.
Conclusion:
Hope this article gives you the complete details about the Cisco UCS architecture. Still, you have any queries, comment in the section shown below or you can directly contact Gologica training. Happy Learning!
