Cisco Unified Computing System Certification

The Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS) is a next-generation data center platform that unites compute, network, storage access, and virtualization into a cohesive system designed to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase business agility.

Cisco UCS server integrates a low-latency, lossless 10 Gigabit Ethernet unified network fabric with enterprise-class, x86-architecture servers. The system is an integrated, scalable, multi-chassis platform in which all resources participate in a unified management domain.

The Cisco UCS components are:

• Cisco UCS Chassis — The Cisco UCS Chassis is a crucial building block of the Cisco Unified Computing System, delivering a scalable and flexible architecture for current and future data center needs, while helping reduce total cost of ownership.

• Fabric Extenders — Cisco UCS Fabric Extenders connect the Cisco UCS Blade Server Chassis to the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects and help simplify cabling, management, and diagnostics.

• Blade Server — A blade server is a server chassis housing multiple thin, modular electronic circuit boards. Blade servers allow more processing power in less rack space, simplifying cabling and reducing power consumption.

  Note:

  Blade servers are not discovered by IP 9.0.

• Fabric Interconnect — Fabric Interconnect is a core part of the Cisco UCS that provides both network connectivity and management capabilities to all attached blades and chassis.

  The Cisco UCS server portfolio consists of:

• Blade Server platform

• B-Series and the C-Series Rack Mount platform

  Note:

  IP 9.0 supports UCS Manager version 1.4 only.

  The object ID is used to certify the device as Switch or ComputeFabric based on the Cisco Nexus Operating System version.

  If the IOS version is 1.4, all Cisco USC related components are discovered.

  If the IOS version is 1.3 or below, then only Switch discovery happens.

  The components to support Cisco UCS certification are:

• ComputeFabric — Represents the Cisco UCS equipment. It is a platform which converges Compute, Network, Storage Access and Virutalization into an enclosed system to provide a highly flexible infrastructure in order to optimize application environments. It is composed of:

  • Cisco UCS Chassis (represented as BladeEnclosureManager)

  • Fabric Interconnect (represented as Switch)

• BladeEnclosureManager — Represents all the Cisco UCS chassis components. It is a UnitaryComputerSystem that packages the following physical components:

  • Cards (Fabric Extenders)

  • PowerSupply

  • Fan

  • TemperatureSensor

  • VoltageSensor

• Fabric Extenders — Fabric Extenders are elements that can be plugged into the Cisco UCS Chassis. The Fabric Extender is represented as Card in the IP topology. The card has a PartOf/ComposedOf relationship with BladeEnclosureManager.

• Fabric Interconnect — The Fabric Interconnect is represented as Switch in the IP topology. When two Fabric Interconnect switches of an UCS are discovered, trunk cable connections are created between the Fabric Interconnect port and BladeEnclosureManager port.

  • For Fabric Interconnect port connected to the BladeEnclosureManager, IP Availability Manager sets the PortType as ACCESS.

    Note:

    IP Availability Manager sets this port as an ACCESS port because the peer port does not belong to the switch, but belongs to the BladeEnclosureManager.

• For BladeEnclosureManager port connected to the Fabric Interconnect, IP Availability Manager sets the PortType as TRUNK.