Dcucd50 Sg Vol1

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DCUCD

Designing Cisco Data

Center Unified

Computing

Volume 1

Version 5.0

Student Guide

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Americas Headquarters Cisco Systems, Inc. San Jose, CA

Asia Pacific Headquarters Cisco Systems (USA) Pte. Ltd. Singapore

Europe Headquarters

Cisco Systems International BV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Cisco has more than 200 offices worldwide. Addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers are listed on the Cisco Website at www.cisco.com/go/offices.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)

DISCLAIMER WARRANTY: THIS CONTENT IS BEING PROVIDED “AS IS.” CISCO MAKES AND YOU RECEIVE NO WARRANTIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE CONTENT PROVIDED HEREUNDER, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR IN ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS CONTENT OR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CISCO AND YOU. CISCO SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE OR TRADE PRACTICE. This learning product may contain early release content, and while Cisco believes it to be accurate, it falls subject to the disclaimer above.

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Volume 1

Course Introduction

1

Overview 1

Learner Skills and Knowledge 2

Course Goal and Objectives 3

Course Flow 4

Additional References 5

Cisco Glossary of Terms 6

Your Training Curriculum 7

Additional Resources 10

Introductions 12

Cisco Data Center Solution Architecture and Components

1-1

Overview 1-1

Module Objectives 1-1

Identifying Data Center Solutions 1-3

Overview 1-3

Objectives 1-3

Data Center Overview 1-4

Data Center Trends: Consolidation 1-10

Data Center Trends: Virtualization 1-14

Data Center Business Challenges 1-21

Data Center Environmental Challenges 1-27

Data Center Technical Challenges 1-34

Summary 1-45

References 1-45

Identifying Data Center Applications 1-47

Overview 1-47

Objectives 1-47

Common Data Center Applications 1-48

Server Virtualization Overview 1-66

Desktop Virtualization Overview 1-81

Desktop Virtualization Components 1-81

Summary 1-93

References 1-93

Identifying Cloud Computing 1-95

Overview 1-95

Objectives 1-95

Cloud Computing Overview 1-96

Cloud Computing Models 1-100

Cloud Computing Service Categories 1-106

Cloud Computing Aspects 1-109

Summary 1-113

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Identifying Cisco Data Center Architecture and Components 1-115

Overview 1-115

Objectives 1-115

Cisco Data Center Architecture Overview 1-116

Cisco Data Center Architecture Unified Fabric 1-128

Cisco Data Center Network Equipment 1-150

Cisco Data Center Compute Architecture 1-165

Cisco Validated Designs 1-174

Summary 1-179

References 1-179

Module Summary 1-181

Module Self-Check 1-183

Module Self-Check Answer Key 1-185

Assess Data Center Computing Requirements

2-1

Overview 2-1

Defining a Cisco Unified Computing System Solution Design 2-3

Overview 2-3

Objectives 2-3

Design Process 2-4

Design Process Phases 2-13

Design Deliverables 2-23

Summary 2-28

References 2-28

Analyzing Computing Solutions Characteristics 2-29

Overview 2-29

Objectives 2-29

Performance Characteristics 2-30

Assess Server Virtualization Characteristics 2-38

Assess Desktop Virtualization Performance Characteristics 2-48

Assess Small vSphere Deployment Requirements 2-53

Assess Small Hyper-V Deployment Requirements 2-59

Assess VMware View VDI Deployment Requirements 2-64

Design Workshop Output 2-65

Summary 2-72

References 2-72

Employing Data Center Analysis Tools 2-73

Overview 2-73

Objectives 2-73

Reconnaissance and Analysis Tools 2-74

Use Reconnaissance and Analysis Tools 2-79

Employ VMware Capacity Planner 2-85

Employ VMware CapacityIQ 2-97

Employ MAP Toolkit 2-104

Employ Cisco UCS TOC/ROI Advisor 2-113

Summary 2-118

References 2-118

Module Summary 2-119

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Size Cisco Unified Computing Solutions

3-1

Overview 3-1

Sizing the Cisco UCS C-Series Server Solution 3-3

Overview 3-3

Objectives 3-3

Size the Cisco UCS C-Series Solution 3-4

Cisco UCS C-Series Integration with UCS Manager 3-12

Size the Small VMware vSphere Solution—Plan 3-15

Size the Small Hyper-V vSphere Solution—Plan 3-19

Summary 3-22

Sizing the Cisco UCS B-Series Server Solution 3-23

Overview 3-23

Objectives 3-23

Size the Cisco UCS B-Series Solution 3-24

Size the Desktop Virtualization Solution—Plan 3-34

Summary 3-40

Planning Unified Computing Deployment 3-41

Overview 3-41

Objectives 3-41

Cisco UCS Power Calculator Tool 3-42

Create a Physical Deployment Plan 3-47

Summary 3-54

Module Summary 3-55

References 3-55

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DCUCD

Course Introduction

Overview

Designing Cisco Data Center Unified Computing (DCUCD) v5.0 is a four-day course that teaches you how to design a Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) solution for the data center.

The primary focus of the course is on the next-generation data center platform: the Cisco UCS. The course also includes information about Cisco Nexus Family Switches, Cisco Multilayer Director Switches (MDSs), server and desktop virtualization, distributed applications, and more, which are all part of a Cisco UCS solution.

The course describes the design-related aspects, which include how to evaluate the hardware components and the sizing process, define the server deployment model, address the

management and environmental aspects, and design the network and storage perspectives of the Cisco UCS solution.

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Learner Skills and Knowledge

This subtopic lists the skills and knowledge that learners must possess to benefit fully from the course. The subtopic also includes recommended Cisco learning offerings that learners should first complete to benefit fully from this course.

• Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Data Center certification:

- Knowledge that is covered in the Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking (ICDCN) course

- Knowledge that is covered in the Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (ICDCT) course

• Knowledge that is covered in the Cisco Nexus product family courses • Knowledge that is covered in the Designing Cisco Data Center Unified

Fabric (DCUFD) course

• Knowledge that is covered in the Cisco MDS product family courses • Basic knowledge of server and desktop virtualization (for example,

VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware View, Citrix XenDesktop,

and so on)

• Familiarity with operating system administration (for example, Linux and Microsoft Windows)

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Course Goal and Objectives

This topic describes the course goal and objectives.

Enable engineers to design scalable, reliable, and intelligent Cisco Data Center Unified Computing System solutions based on the Cisco

Unified Computing System

product family devices and software, contemporary server and desktop virtualization products, operating systems,

and applications

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

n Evaluate the Cisco UCS solution design process in regard to the contemporary data center challenges, Cisco Data Center architectural framework, and components

n Use the reconnaissance and analysis tools to assess computing solution performance characteristics and requirements

n Identify the hardware components of Cisco UCS C-Series and B-Series and select proper hardware for a given set of requirements

n Design the Cisco UCS solution LAN and SAN connectivity

n Identify the Cisco UCS server deployment model and design a deployment model with correct naming, addressing, and management for a given set of requirements

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Course Flow

This topic presents the suggested flow of the course materials.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4

A M

Course Introduction

Module 2 (Cont.) Module 3 (Cont.)

Module 4 (Cont.) Module 1: Cisco Data Center Solution Architecture and Components Module 5: Design Cisco Unified Computing Solutions Server Deployment Lunch P M Module 1 (Cont.) Module 3: Size Cisco Unified Computing Solutions Module 4: Design Cisco Unified Computing Solutions Module 5 (Cont.) Module 6: Cisco Unified Computing Solution Applications Module 2: Assess Data Center Computing

Requirements Course Wrap-Up

The schedule reflects the recommended structure for this course. This structure allows enough time for the instructor to present the course information and for you to work through the lab activities. The exact timing of the subject materials and labs depends on the pace of your specific class.

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Additional References

This topic presents the Cisco icons and symbols that are used in this course, as well as information on where to find additional technical references.

Cisco Router Ethernet Switch _Firewall

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Router Virtual Switching System (VSS) Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switch Cisco Nexus 1000V VEM Cisco Nexus 1000V VSM Cisco Nexus 2000 Fabric Extender Cisco Nexus 5500 Series Switch

Cisco MDS 9500 Series Switch

Cisco MDS 9222i

Series Switch Director Switch

Fibre Channel RAID Storage Subsystem Fabric Switch

Basic Director-Class Fibre Channel Switch

Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD)

Fibre Channel

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Cisco UCS Express Cisco UCS C-Series

Rack Server Cisco UCS 5108

Chassis Cisco UCS 6200 Series

Fabric Interconnect

Cisco Glossary of Terms

For additional information on Cisco terminology, refer to the Cisco Internetworking Terms and Acronyms glossary of terms at

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Your Training Curriculum

This topic presents the training curriculum for this course.

Developing a world of talent through collaboration, social

learning, online assessment, and mentoring

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com

To prepare and learn more about IT certifications and technology tracks, visit the Cisco Learning Network, which is the home of Cisco Certifications.

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CCNP-level recognition in data center

http://www.cisco.com/go/certifications

Expand Your Professional Options and Advance Your Career

Cisco CCNP Data Center

Designing Cisco Data Center Unified Computing (DCUCD) Implementing Cisco Data Center Unified Computing (DCUCI) Troubleshooting Data Center Unified Computing (DCUCT) Designing Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric (DCUFD) Implementing Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric (DCUFI) Troubleshooting Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric (DCUFT)

You are encouraged to join the Cisco Certification Community, a discussion forum open to anyone holding a valid Cisco Career Certification:

n Cisco CCDE®

n Cisco CCIE®

n Cisco CCDP®

n Cisco CCNP®

n Cisco CCNP®_{Data Center}

n Cisco CCNP®_Security

n Cisco CCNP®_{Service Provider}

n Cisco CCNP®_{Service Provider Operations}

n Cisco CCNP®_Voice

n Cisco CCNP®_Wireless

n Cisco CCDA®

n Cisco CCNA®

n Cisco CCNA®_{Data Center}

n Cisco CCNA®_Security

n Cisco CCNA®_{Service Provider}

n Cisco CCNA®_{Service Provider Operations}

n Cisco CCNA®_Voice

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It provides a gathering place for Cisco certified professionals to share questions, suggestions, and information about Cisco Career Certification programs and other certification-related topics. For more information, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/certifications.

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Additional Resources

For additional information about Cisco technologies, solutions, and products, refer to the information available at the following pages.

http://www.cisco.com/go/pec

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Introductions

Please use this time to introduce yourself to your classmates.

Class-related:

• Sign-in sheet

• Length and times

• Break and lunchroom locations • Attire

• Cell phones and pagers

Facilities-related:

• Participant materials

• Site emergency procedures

• Restrooms

• Telephones and faxes

• Your name • Your company

• Prerequisite skills

• Brief history • Objective

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Module 1

Cisco Data Center Solution

Architecture and Components

Overview

Modern data centers operate in high availability and are the foundation for business processes. Additionally, the cloud computing model is emerging and data centers provide the

infrastructure that is needed to support various cloud computing deployments.

Cisco offers a comprehensive set of technologies and devices that are used to implement data centers, including switches, servers, security appliances, virtual appliances, and so on. This module describes data centers, and identifies technologies and design processes to successfully design a data center.

Module Objectives

Upon completing this module, you will be able to evaluate the data center solution design process, including data center challenges, architecture, and components. This ability includes being able to meet these objectives:

n Identify data center components and trends, and understand the relation between the business, technical, and environmental challenges and goals of data center solutions

n Identify the data center applications

n Describe cloud computing, including deployment models and service categories

n Provide a high-level overview of the Cisco Data Center architectural framework and components within the solution

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Lesson 1

Identifying Data Center

Solutions

Overview

Data centers are the core of any IT environment—they host the applications and data that users need. Data centers must be well-tuned to business and technical requirements—both dictating the trends and presenting the challenges to the IT staff.

This lesson describes the business, technical, and environmental challenges and goals of contemporary data center solutions.

Objectives

Upon completing this lesson, you will be able to identify the data center components and trends, and understand the relation between the business, technical, and environmental

challenges and goals of contemporary data center solutions. This ability includes being able to meet these objectives:

n Recognize the elements of data center computing solutions

n Identify consolidation as a relevant data center trend

n Identify virtualization as a relevant data center trend

n Evaluate the business challenges of the contemporary data center solutions

n Evaluate the environmental challenges of the contemporary data center solutions

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Data Center Overview

This topic describes the elements of data center computing solutions.

Service Availability Business Continuance Business Services Internet Digital Commerce Electronic Communication

Management Security _OptimizationApplication

LAN WAN MAN

Servers SAN _LibraryData

Data Center Definition

A data center is a centralized or geographically distributed group of departments that houses the computing systems and their related storage equipment or data libraries. A data center has controlled centralized management that enables an enterprise to operate according to business needs.

A data center infrastructure is an essential component that supports Internet services, digital commerce, electronic communications, and other business services and solutions.

Data Center Goals

A data center goal is to sustain the business functions and operations, and to provide flexibility for future data center changes. A data center network must be flexible and support

nondisruptive scalability of applications and computing resources to support the infrastructure for future business needs.

Business Continuance Definition

Business continuity is the ability to adapt and respond to risks and opportunities in order to maintain continuous business operations. There are four primary aspects of business continuity:

n High availability (disaster tolerance)

n Continuous operations

n Disaster recovery

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Utilize data center resources and services:

• Users need IT infrastructure to deliver application solution

Vertical Solution Focus

Healthcare Financial Services Manufacturing Retail

Applications

Enterprise Applications Databases Business Analytics Virtual Desktop

Management

Operating System and Hypervisor

HANA & BWA

Any organization, whether it is commercial, nonprofit, or public sector (including healthcare), has applications that are mission-critical to its operations and survival. In all cases, some form of data center operations and infrastructure supports those applications.

Applications are critical for the functioning of the organization. The applications must be run on a reliable, cost-effective, flexible solution: a data center.

The primary goal of a data center is to deliver adequate resources for the applications. Users need the data center infrastructure to access applications. The data centers must be tailored as application solutions.

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LAN

SAN (Fibre Channel, FCoE,

iSCSI, NFS) Application Services Security Operating System Management Compute Network Desktop Storage Cabling

Contemporary data center computing solutions encompass multiple aspects, technologies, and components:

n Network technologies and equipment, such as intelligent switches, multilayer and converged devices, high availability mechanisms, Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocols

n Storage solutions and equipment that include technologies ranging from Fibre Channel, Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI), Network File System (NFS), Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), storage network equipment, and storage devices such as disk arrays and tape libraries

n Computing technologies and equipment, including general purpose and specialized servers. The Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) consolidates the LAN and SAN in the management and access layers into a common infrastructure.

n Operating system and server virtualization technologies

n Application services technologies and products such as load balancers and session enhancement devices

n Management systems that are used to manage network, storage, and computing resources, operating systems, server virtualization, applications, and security aspects of the solution

n Security technologies and equipment that are employed to ensure confidentiality and security to sensitive data and systems

n Desktop virtualization solutions and access clients

n Physical cabling that connects all physical, virtual, and logical components of the data center

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• Data center connects to other IT segments:

- Campus LAN

- Internet and WAN edge • How components fit together:

- Various connectivity options

- Segments with different functionality

Multiple links Fibre Channel Ethernet

Unified Fabric (Ethernet with FCoE) PortChannel Legend: Fabric A Fabric B SAN Fabric A SAN Fabric B LAN Internet, WAN

Data center architecture is the blueprint of how components and elements of the data center are connected. The components need to correctly interact in order to deliver application services. The data center, as one of the components of the IT infrastructure, needs to connect to other segments to deliver application services and enable users to access and use them. Such segments include the Internet, WAN edge, campus LAN, and various demilitarized zone (DMZ) segments hosting public or semi-public services.

The scheme depicts the general data center blueprint with the computing component, the Cisco UCS, as the centerpiece of the architecture. Internally, the data center is connected by LAN, SAN, or unified fabric to provide communication paths between the components. Various protocols and mechanisms are used to implement the internal architecture, with Ethernet as the key technology, accompanied by various scaling mechanisms.

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Physical facility:

• Architectural and mechanical specifications

• Physical security

• Environmental conditions • Power and cooling

IT organization:

• Organizational hierarchy • Responsibilities and

demarcation

Apart from the already-mentioned aspects and components of the data center solution, there are two important components that influence how the solution is used and scaled:

n Physical facility: The physical facility includes the characteristics of the data center

facility that affect the data center infrastructure, such as available power, cooling capacity, physical space and racks, physical security, fire prevention systems, and so on.

n IT organization: The IT organization includes the IT departments and how they interact in

order to offer IT services to business users. This organization can be in the form of a single department that takes care of all IT aspects (typically, with the help of external IT partners), or, in large companies, in the form of multiple departments, with each department taking care of a subset of the data center infrastructure.

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Centralized IT Re le va nc e an d Con tro l

Application Architecture Evolution

Consolidate Mainframe Decentralized Client-Server and Distributed Computing Virtualized Service-Oriented Virtualize Automate

Data centers have changed and evolved over time. At first, data centers were monolithic and centralized, employing mainframes and terminals that users accessed to perform their work. The mainframes are still used in the finance sector because they are an advantageous solution in terms of availability, resilience, and service level agreements (SLAs).

The second era of data center computing was characterized by pure client-server and distributed computing, with applications being designed in such a way that the users used client software to access an application, and the services were distributed due to poor computing ability and high link costs. The mainframes were too expensive.

Today, with the computing infrastructure being cheaper and with increased computing

capacities, data centers are being consolidated, because the distributed approach is expensive in the long term. The new solution is equipment virtualization, making the utilization of servers more common than in the distributed approach. This solution also provides significant gains in terms of return on investment (ROI) and the total cost of ownership (TCO).

Latest data center designs and implementations have three things in common:

n Consolidation is used to unify various resources.

n Virtualization is used to ease deployment of new applications and services, and improve scalability and utilization of resources.

n The task of management is to simplify the data center design, with automation as the ultimate goal.

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Data Center Trends: Consolidation

This topic discusses consolidation as a relevant data center trend.

• Applications, services, and processes • Compute:

- Servers • Storage:

- Storage devices

- Server I/Os • Network and fabric:

- SAN, LAN, and clustering networks on a common data center network

Consolidated Storage Enterprise Storage Consolidated Servers Blade Servers

Fibre Channel SAN LAN—Ethernet

DCB—Ethernet and FCoE Legend:

Unified Fabric

(Access Layer) Consolidated Data

Center Networks

Consolidation is defined as the process of bringing together disconnected parts to make a single and complete whole. In the data center, it means replacing several small devices with a few highly capable pieces of equipment to provide simplicity.

The primary reason for consolidation is to prevent the sprawl of equipment and processes that are required to manage the equipment. It is important to understand the functions of each piece of equipment before consolidating it. There are various reasons for server, storage, server I/O, network, application, and process consolidation:

n Reduced number of servers, storage devices, networks, cables, and so on

n Increased usage of resources using resource pools (of storage and computing resources)

n Reduced centralized management

n Reduced expenses due to a smaller number of equipment pieces needed

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• DCB enables deployment of converged unified data center fabrics:

- Consolidates Ethernet and FCoE server I/O into common Ethernet

SAN

LAN LAN SAN

Fibre Channel Ethernet DCB Ethernet Legend: 10 Gb Link FCoE traffic (FC, FICON) Other networking traffic (TCP/IP, CIFS, NFS, iSCSI)

Fibre Channel Payload CRC EOF FCS FC Header

FCoE Header Ethernet

Header

Standard Fibre Channel Frame (2148 Bytes)

Byte 0 Control information (version, _{SOF, EOF ordered sets)} Byte 2179

Ethertype = FCoE

Server I/O consolidation has been attempted several times in the past with the introduction of Fibre Channel and iSCSI protocols that carry storage, data, and clustering I/Os across the same channel.

Enhanced Ethernet is a new way of consolidating a network, using a converged network protocol that is designed to transport unified data and storage I/Os. Primary enabling technologies are PCI Express (PCIe) and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

A growing demand for network storage is influencing demands for network bandwidth. Server virtualization allows the consolidation of multiple applications on a server, therefore

influencing the server bandwidth requirement of 10 Gb/s.

10-Gb/s Data Center Bridging (DCB) uses copper and twinax cables with short distances (32.8 feet [10 meters]), but with lower cost, lower latency, and lower power requirements than 10BASE-T. FCoE and classical Ethernet can be multiplexed across the common physical DCB connection.

With the growing throughput demand, the links within the data center are becoming faster. Today, the common speed is 10 Gb/s, and in the future, 40 or even 100 Gb/s will be common.

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Business Imperatives IT Imperatives Server Farm Imperatives

Cost containment Consolidation: • Data center • Server • Storage • Operating system • Application

• Improved resource utilization— server, storage, and network • Automated infrastructure • Investment protection

Business continuance High system and application availability

• Highly available and automated network infrastructure

• Highly secure application delivery infrastructure

Agility Improve service velocity • Flexible and scalable network foundation to rapidly enable new applications

Server form-factor evolution

Data center server farms have diverse requirements from the perspective of integration, performance, and services. The more complex the IT infrastructure becomes, the more issues are raised:

n High operational costs, proliferation of disparate computer platforms across multiple data centers and branches, mainframe, UNIX, Windows

n Low average CPU utilization: 5 to 15 percent in the Windows operating system, 10 to 30 percent in UNIX and Linux operating systems

n Significant investment in mainframe

n Need for lower-cost, high-performance data analysis and storage resources

n Need for faster server and application deployment, new applications and services, development environments, surges in demand

n High density servers cause problems with cooling, server I/O, network connectivity Many organizations look toward server consolidation that standardizes on blade centers or industry-standard servers (sizes from 1 rack unit [RU] to 4 RUs) that can process information much faster and lead significant traffic volumes at line rate across Gigabit Ethernet and at significant fractions of 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Organizations are also adopting, or planning to adopt, virtual server techniques, such as VMware, that further increase server densities,

although at a virtual level. Additionally, these same organizations must maintain heterogeneous environments that have different applications and server platforms (blade servers, midrange servers, mainframes, and so on) that need to be factored into the data center design.

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Standalone Server Form Factor

When a client-server model was introduced, the data center evolved from a centralized mainframe-oriented deployment to a decentralized multiple-server deployment design. The client-server design spurred deployment of many standalone servers and the data centers evolved into a “server colony” because of using a scale-out server deployment approach to increase computing capacity and throughput. Although initially such an approach is less costly if compared to a centralized mainframe deployment, through time it became clear that space was not being efficiently used because standalone or tower servers use a considerable amount of space. Furthermore, such a standalone server deployment model is not optimal for all application types and requirements.

Rack-Optimized Server Form Factor

The next trend was to use the servers in a rack-optimized form with a better computing-to-space ratio—more servers could be deployed in less computing-to-space. The rack-optimized form factor tries to address the need to optimize size, airflow, and connections, and to rationalize deployment. Although a single server unit is optimized because of power and cooling limitations, it is typically difficult, if not impossible, to deploy an entire 42-RU rack cabinet with servers. A typical data center rack cabinet has 5 to 10 kW of power and cooling capacity available for 10 to 20 servers per rack. This rack-optimized server solution still lacks cabling rationalization, serviceability simplification, and power and cooling efficiency. (Each server still has its own power supplies and fans.)

Blade Server Form Factor

The number of applications and services that data centers host has increased significantly, which has led to the popularity of the blade server form factor. The blade server form factor offers an even higher density of servers in a rack—the blade enclosure is 6 to 12 RUs high and can host from 6 to 14 blade servers.

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Data Center Trends: Virtualization

This topic describes virtualization as a relevant data center trend.

Type of Virtualization Examples

Network virtualization • VLANs, VSANs

• vPC, MEC, FabricPath/TRILL

Server virtualization • Virtual machine, host adapter virtualization • Processor virtualization

• Virtualized iSCSI initiator, Fibre Channel targets Compute virtualization • Abstracted MAC, WWN, UUID addresses

• Server persona abstracted from physical hardware

Device virtualization • Device virtualization (for example, load balancers, switches—VDC and VSS) • Operating system virtualization

Storage virtualization • Virtualized storage pools • Tape virtualization

• Block, file system virtualization

Application virtualization • Application must be available anytime and anywhere (web-based application)

• Application virtualization on enabled vMotion and efficient resource utilization Security virtualization • Virtual security devices (that is, firewalls)

• Virtual security domains

• Principles:one-to-many (1:many) versus many-to-one (many:1)

Virtualization offers flexibility in designing and building data center solutions. It enables enterprises with diverse networking needs to separate a single user group or data center resources from the rest of the network.

Common Goals

There are some common goals of virtualization techniques:

n Affect utilization and reduce overprovisioning: The main goal is to reduce operating

costs of maintaining equipment that is not really needed or is not fully utilized.

Overprovisioning has been used to provide for a safety margin, but with virtualization, a lower overprovisioning percentage can be used because systems are more flexible.

n Isolation: Security must be effective enough to prevent any undesired access across the

virtual entities that share a common physical infrastructure. Performance (quality of service [QoS] and SLA) must be provided at the desired level, independently for each virtual entity. Faults must be contained.

n Management: Flexibly managing a virtual resource generally requires no hardware

change. Administration for each virtual entity can be deployed using role-based access control (RBAC).

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Virtualization Types

Two virtualization types exist:

n One-to-many: One-to-many virtualization applies to server or network virtualization. For

device virtualization, this type is used in virtual contexts on the Cisco ASA adaptive security appliance, Cisco Firewall Services Module (FWSM), and the virtual device context (VDC) on the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches. In both cases, one physical device is divided into many logical devices.

n Many-to-one: Examples of many-to-one virtualization include storage and network system

virtualization. An example of device virtualization is the Virtual Switching System (VSS) for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches, where two or more physical switches are

combined into a single network element. Another example of the many-to-one type is the combination of two stackable switches into a stack.

Network Virtualization

Network virtualization can address the problem of separation. Network virtualization also provides other types of benefits such as increasing network availability, better security, consolidation of multiple networks, segmentation of networks, and increased network availability. Examples of network virtualization are VLANs and virtual SANs (VSANs) in Fibre Channel SANs. A VLAN virtualizes Layer 2 segments, making them independent of the physical topology. This virtualization gives the ability to connect two servers to the same physical switch, though they participate in different logical broadcast domains, or VLANs. A similar concept is presented by a VSAN in Fibre Channel SANs.

Server Virtualization

Server virtualization enables physical consolidation of servers on the common physical infrastructure. Deployment of a virtual server is easy because there is no need to buy a new adapter and a new server. For a virtual server to be enabled, software needs to be activated and configured properly. Server virtualization simplifies server deployment, reduces the cost of management, and increases server utilization. VMware and Microsoft are examples of companies that support server virtualization technologies.

Device Virtualization

Cisco Nexus 7000 and Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches support device virtualization or Cisco Nexus Operating System (Cisco NX-OS) virtualization. A VDC represents the ability of the switch to enable multiple virtual switches on the common physical switch. This feature provides various benefits to the application services, such as higher service availability, fault isolation, separation of logical networking infrastructure that is based on traffic service types, and flexible and scalable data center design.

Storage Virtualization

Storage virtualization is the ability to pool storage on diverse and independent devices into a single view. Features such as copy services, data migration, and multiprotocol and multivendor integration can benefit from storage virtualization.

Application Virtualization

The web-based application must be available anytime and anywhere and it should be able to use unused remote server CPU resources, which implies an extended Layer 2 domain. Application virtualization enables VMware VMotion and efficient resource utilization.

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Virtualized data center POD:

• Logical instantiation of entire data center network

infrastructure using VDC, VLANs, VSAN, and virtual services

• Fault isolation, high reliability • Efficient resource pool

utilization

• Centralized management • Scalability

Logical and Physical Data Center View

Storage Pool Network Pool VDC VDC Server Pool VMs VLANs Virtual LUNs Virtual Network Services Physical Points of Delivery (PODs)

Virtualizing data center network services has changed the logical and physical data center network topology view.

Services virtualization enables higher service density by eliminating the need to deploy separate appliances for each application. There are a number of benefits of higher service density:

n Less power consumption

n Less rack space

n Reduced ports and cabling

n Simplified operational management

n Lower maintenance costs

The figure shows how virtual services can be created from the physical infrastructure, using features such as VDC, VLANs, and VSANs. Virtual network services include virtual firewalls with the Cisco adaptive security appliances (ASA or ASA-SM) or Cisco FWSM, and virtual server load-balancing contexts with the Cisco Application Control Engine (ACE) and virtual intrusion detection system (IDS).

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Context App1 Context App2 Context App3

Firewall Firewall Firewall

SLB SLB SSL

Physical Device

The figure shows one physical service module that is logically partitioned into several virtual service modules, and a physical switch that is logically partitioned into several virtual device contexts. This partitioning reduces the number of physical devices that must be deployed and managed, but still provides the same functionality that each device could provide.

Every device supports some kind of virtualization. Firewalls and server load-balancers support context-based virtualization, switches support VDCs, and servers use host virtualization techniques such as VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix Xen, and so on.

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• Storage device abstracts hosts from physical disks

• SANs allow storage sharing and consolidation across multiple servers:

- Leads to SAN proliferation (SAN islands) and poor utilization

- Virtual SANs (VSANs) allow further consolidation of SAN islands:

• Increased utilization

• Easier to manage

• Storage device virtualization coupled with VSANs enable dynamic storage allocation.

VSAN B VSAN A VLAN B VLAN A Virtual Storage Pool FC FC FC FC FC FC

Data center storage virtualization starts with Cisco VSAN technology. Traditionally, SAN islands have been used within the data center to separate traffic on different physical infrastructures, providing security and separation from both a management and traffic perspective. To provide virtualization facilities, VSANs are used within the data center SAN environment to consolidate SAN islands onto one physical infrastructure, while, from the perspective of management and traffic, maintaining the separation.

Storage virtualization also involves virtualizing the storage devices themselves. Coupled with VSANs, storage device virtualization enables dynamic allocation of storage. Taking a similar approach to the integration of network services directly into data center switching platforms, the Cisco MDS 9000 platform supports third-party storage virtualization applications on an MDS 9000 services module, reducing operational costs by consolidating management processes.

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VDC VDC _VMs VLANs Virtual LUNs Virtual Network Services UCS Pool of Virtual Servers Pool of Virtual Adapters and CPUs Pool of Virtual Networks Pool of Virtual Disks

Management Tools and Applications

There are several advantages from pooling and virtualizing computing, storage, and networking resources:

n Simplified management and troubleshooting

n Increased resource utilization that results in reduced cost

n Data center service automation, which makes deployment simpler and quicker

Data center management tasks and operations can be automated based on consolidated pools of virtualized storage, computing, and networking resources. Virtualization and consolidation enable the creation of virtual server pools, virtual pools of adapters, pools of virtual processing units, virtual network pools, and pools of virtual disks.

An appliance that is attached to an existing data center that monitors application processing, computing, storage, and networking resource utilization can therefore detect the missing processing power or the lack of application storage resources, and can automatically react to it. An appliance can configure a virtual server, activate a virtual adapter, configure a server I/O channel, connect the channel across a virtual network to the dynamically allocated virtual disk, and then start the application on the newly allocated infrastructure.

In addition to policy-based resource provisioning, or the ability to automatically increase the capacity of an existing application, data center service automation also provides the ability to roll out new applications that are critical to the success of many enterprises:

n E-commerce

n Customer relationship management (CRM)

n Supply chain management (SCM)

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Policy-based provisioning is about providing an end-to-end IT service that is dynamically linked to business policies, allowing the ability to adapt to changing business conditions. For example, if a customer order entry application suddenly experiences a surge in load, just allocating more CPU might not be enough. The application might also need additional storage, more network capacity, and even additional servers and new users to process the increased activity. All of these changes must be orchestrated so that the dynamic allocation of multiple resource elements occurs seamlessly.

For servers, there are virtual server solutions such as Microsoft, Citrix, VMware, and physical server solutions (that is, modular blade server systems). For storage, there are various

virtualization solutions. Almost every enterprise-class storage product supports some form of virtualization. Fabric virtualization is based on VLANs, VSANs, and VDCs.

By reducing complexity, consolidation reduces management overhead and operational

expenses (OpEx). At the same time, the ability to use resources is increased because resources are no longer locked up in silos, resulting in lower capital expenditures (CapEx).

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Data Center Business Challenges

This topic describes the business challenges of the contemporary data center solutions.

• Growing business demands:

- Greater collaboration

- Quicker application and information access

- Global availability

- Regulatory compliance

- Organizational changes

- Fast application deployment • Operational limitations:

- Power, cooling, and physical space

- Resource utilization, provisioning, and repurposing

- Security threats

- Business continuance

- Scalability limitations

The modern enterprise is being changed by shifting business pressures and operational

limitations. While enterprises prepare to meet demands for greater collaboration, quicker access to applications and information, and ever-stricter regulatory compliance, they are also being pressured by issues relating to power and cooling, efficient asset utilization, escalating security and provisioning needs, and business continuance. All of these concerns are central to data centers.

Modern data center technologies, such as multicore CPU servers and blade servers, require more power and generate more heat than older technologies, and moving to new technologies can significantly affect data center power and cooling budgets.

The importance of security is rising as well, because more services are concentrated in a single data center. If an attack were to occur in such a condensed environment, many people could be put out of work, resulting in lost time and revenue. As a result, thorough traffic inspection is required for inbound data center traffic.

Security concerns and business continuance must be considered in any data center solution. A data center should be able to provide services if an outage occurs because of a cyber-attack or because of physical conditions such as floods, fires, earthquakes, and hurricanes.

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Organization Challenges

Chief Officer “I need to take a long-term view... and have short-term wins. I want to see more business value out of IT.” Applications

Department

“Our applications are the face of our business.” “It is all about keeping the application available.” Server

Department

“As long as my servers are up, I am OK.” “We have too many underutilized servers.” Security

Department

“Our information is our business. We need to protect our data everywhere—in transit and at rest.” Storage

Department

“I cannot keep up with the amount of data that needs to be backed up, replicated, and archived.”

Network Department

“I need to provide lots of bandwidth and meet SLAs for application uptime and responsiveness.”

C om plex ity a nd c oo rd ina tion

The data center is viewed from different perspectives, depending on the organization or the viewer.

Depending on which IT team you are speaking with, you will find different requirements. You have the opportunity to talk on all levels because of your strategic position and the fact that you interact with all of the different components in the data center.

Selling into the data center involves multiple stakeholders with different agendas and priorities. The traditional network contacts might get you in, but they might not be the people who make the decisions that ultimately determine how the network evolves.

The organization might be run in silos, where each silo has its own budget and power base. Conversely, many next-generation solutions involve multiple groups.

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General:

• Account for resource utilization

• Transparency between IT and the business

Business—understand the costs of the following:

• Rolling out new virtual machines

• Running and maintaining the services on the virtual machines

IT—chargeback/showback resource usage:

• Determine costs depending on required tier of service • Automatically track and report on resource usage across the

organization

IT and IT infrastructure enables business users and application owners to perform the following activities:

n Request services in a simple manner

n Specify the desired service levels

n Consume (and pay) for those services

These activities are provided with a high degree of reliability and the users do not need to understand the underlying infrastructure.

The goal is to hide the complexity of the infrastructure from the users—end users request services and IT delivers service levels with a dynamic, flexible, and reliable IT infrastructure. Such an approach transforms IT into a “service provider” with the ability to interact with end users. It also requires the IT to clearly understand and manage user expectations and ensure that the infrastructure meets user needs. Being in a role of a service provider, the IT must

understand and transparently meter, report, and sometimes charge for services that are delivered.

The responsibility of IT varies from ensuring that a particular server or other piece of

infrastructure is operating correctly to delivering what the business needs (for example, reliable email service, a responsive customer relationship management (CRM) system, or an

e-commerce site that supports peak shopping periods).

Chargeback and Showback Rationale

IT administrators need to meter resource usage in their infrastructure, whether physical or virtual (for example, server resources, network traffic, public IP addresses, and services such as DHCP, Network Address Translation [NAT], firewalling, and so on).

To account for the operational costs that are involved in providing and maintaining an IT infrastructure, including the costs for IT services and applications (for example, licenses for the Microsoft Windows operating system or the VMware vSphere infrastructure, and so on), a chargeback or showback model needs to be defined.

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To address this challenge, the IT administrators can deploy and utilize the chargeback and showback tools, such as VMware Chargeback, used in VMware vSphere environments, or VKernel vOps, which can be used in other environments such as Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, and Active Directory.

Chargeback and Showback Aspects

The metering tool and policy need to address the following:

n Provide accurate visibility into the true costs and usage of workloads, to aid in improving resource utilization

n Provide business owners with complete transparency and accountability for self-service resource requests

n Enable setting up an infrastructure cost model in a flexible way, including organizational processes and policies

The metering tool should have the following functions:

n Precise cost and usage reporting: The tool should take into account many different

factors, ranging from hardware costs (CPU, memory, storage, and so on) to any additional elements such as power and cooling. It should be able to incorporate these variables to provide comprehensive information for cost and usage, enabling chargeback or showback to individual business units and the business as a whole, including the following:

— Knowledge of the workload cost and usage

— Proper allocation of resource costs and usage across organization units — Comprehensive reporting

n Ability to customize resource cost and usage models and metrics: The tool should

enable IT administrators to enter resource cost and usage information and tune calculations, based on specific requirements, including the following:

— Ability to add reservation- and utilization-based cost and usage policy

— Ability to enter granular resource cost and usage policy structures (that is, base cost and usage model, fixed cost and usage, and multiple rates) to calculate proper resource cost and usage

— Ability to export the information, create reports, and import any existing cost and usage policies

n Simplify billing and usage reporting: The tool should automatically create detailed

billings and usage reports that can be submitted to business units within an organization to provide them with a clear view of the resources that are consumed, and their associated costs, if necessary.

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• Scope of outage impact and recovery mechanisms • Data center recovery types: hot, warm, and cold standby • Data center interconnect requirements and challenges:

- Layer 2 versus Layer 3 connectivity

- Separation of data and control plane (logic versus traffic)

Transport Technology Implementation Options

OTV • Encapsulation and intelligent forwarding across an IP core Dark fiber or DWDM Ethernet

pseudowires

• Classic Ethernet bridging:

- Disable spanning tree across WAN core - Multichassis link aggregation for redundancy • Cisco Fabric Path, TRILL, 802.1aq

SONET and SDH • Emulated Ethernet

• Bridging over PPP • VPLS over MPLS over PPP

VPLS • MSTP with regions (assuming STP is available with VPLS service) • Customer-side VPLS-over-MPLS across service provider VPLS • TRILL

• Any IP-based implementation

Business Continuance

Business continuance is one of the main reasons to implement data center interconnections, and may dictate the use of a disaster recovery site. You should always try to lower the probability of a disaster scenario by migrating the workload before an anticipated disaster.

Business needs may also dictate that you use an active/active data center, where multiple data centers are active at the same time. The same application runs concurrently in multiple data centers, which provides the optimal use of resources.

The table shows Layer 2 Cisco Data Center Interconnect (DCI) transport technologies and their implementation options.

Note The Unified Fabric and related technologies such as DCI are discussed in detail in the DCUFD course.

Technology Challenges

Technology requirements when interconnecting data centers may require that you replicate storage to the disaster recovery site. For this to be possible, you may need WAN connectivity at the disaster recovery site. You should always try to lower the probability of disaster by

adjusting the application load, WAN connectivity, and load balancing. From the technology perspective, several challenges exist:

n Control and data plane separation (that is, logic versus traffic node active role)—for example, in active/standby solutions, questions arise about the location of the active/standby firewall and how data should flow.

n Which technology to use to connect two or more data center locations? There are several options, as indicated in the table.

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n How to address active/active solutions—you need to use global load balancing to handle requests and traffic flows between data centers.

Note The Cisco global server load balancing (GSLB) solution is the Cisco ACE Global Site Selector.

Outage Impact and Recovery Types

There are different types of outages that might affect the data center functions and operation. An outage in data center operations can occur and can damage the data center at any level. Typically, the types of outages are classified based on the scope of the outage impact:

n Outage with an impact at the data center level: An outage of this type is an outage of a

system or a component such as hardware or software. These types of outages can be

recovered using reliable, resilient, and redundant data center components, using fast routing and switching reconvergence, and stateful module and process failovers.

n Outage with an impact at the campus level: This type of outage affects a building or an

entire campus. Fire or loss of electricity can cause damage at the campus level and can be recovered using redundant components such as power supplies and fans, or by using the secondary data center site or Power over Ethernet (PoE).

n Outage with an impact at the regional level: This type of outage affects a region, such as

earthquakes, flooding, or tornados. Such outages can be recovered using geographically dispersed, standby data centers that use global site selection and redirection protocols to seamlessly redirect user requests to the secondary site.

n Data center recovery types: Different types of data center recovery provide different

levels of service and data protection, such as cold standby, warm standby, hot standby, immediate recovery, continuous availability, continuous operation, gradual recovery, and back-out plan.

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Data Center Environmental Challenges

This topic evaluates the environmental challenges for contemporary data center solutions.

• Architectural and mechanical specifications:

- Space available

- Load capacity

- Power (electrical) capacity

- Cooling capacity

- Cabling infrastructure • Limited capacities

• Compliance and regulations • New versus existing solution or

facility

• Physical security:

- Access to the premises

- Fire suppression

• Environmental conditions:

- Operating temperature

- Humidity level

The data center facility has multiple aspects that need to be addressed when the facility is being planned, designed, and built, because the facility capacities are limited and need to be correctly designed.

The companies must also address regulatory issues, enable business resilience, and comply with environmental requirements. Data centers need infrastructures that can protect and recover applications, communications, and information, and that can provide uninterrupted access. In building a reliable data center and maximizing an investment, the design must be considered early in the building development process and should include coordinated efforts that cut across several areas of expertise, including telecommunications, power, architectural components, and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Each of the components of the data center and its supporting systems must be planned, designed, and implemented to work together to ensure reliable access while supporting future requirements. Neglecting any aspect of the design can render the data center vulnerable to cost failures, early obsolescence, and intolerable levels of availability. There is no substitute for careful planning and following the guidelines for data center physical design.

Architectural and Mechanical Specifications

The architectural and mechanical facility specifications must consider the following:

n The amount of available space

n The load that a floor can bear

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n Available cooling capacity

n The cabling infrastructure type and management

In addition, the facility must meet certain environmental conditions: the types of data center devices define the operating temperatures and humidity levels that must be maintained.

Physical Security

Physical security is vital because the data center typically houses data that should not be available to third parties, so access to the premises must be well controlled. Protection from third parties is important, as well as protection of the equipment and data from certain disasters. Fire suppression equipment and alarm systems to protect against fires should be in place.

Space

The space aspect involves the physical footprint of the data center—how to size the data center, where to locate servers within a multipurpose building, how to make it adaptable for future needs and growth, and how to construct the data center to effectively protect the valuable equipment inside.

The data center space defines the number of racks that can be used and thus the equipment that can be installed. That is not the only parameter—equally important is the floor-loading

capability, which determines which and how much equipment can be installed into a certain rack and thus what the rack weight should be. The placement of current and future equipment must be very carefully considered so that the data center physical infrastructure and support is optimally deployed.

Although sometimes neglected, the size of the data center has a great influence on cost, lifespan, and flexibility. Determining the proper size of the data center is a challenging and essential task that should be done correctly and must take into account several variables:

n The number of people supporting the data center

n The number and type of servers and the storage and networking equipment that is used

n The sizes of the server, storage, or network areas, which depend on how the passive infrastructure is deployed

A data center that is too small will not adequately meet server, storage, and network

requirements and will thus inhibit the productivity and will incur additional costs for upgrades or expansions.

Alternatively, a data center that is too spacious is a waste of money, not only from the initial construction cost but also from the perspective of ongoing operational expenses.

Correctly sized data center facilities also take into account the placement of equipment. The data center facility should be able to grow, when needed. Otherwise, costly upgrades or relocations must be performed.

Cabinets and racks are part of the space requirements and other aspects must be considered:

n Loading, which determines what and how many devices can be installed

n The weight of the rack and equipment that is installed

n Heat that is produced by the equipment that is installed

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• Power used for the following:

- Servers, storage, and network

- Lighting

- Cooling

- Conversion loss • Redundancy

• Space-saving servers produce more heat:

- Better computing-to-heat ratio

- More servers deployed • Increased computing

and memory power results in more heat

Power

The power in the data center facility is used to power servers, storage, network equipment, lighting, and cooling devices (which take up most of the energy). Some power is also lost upon conversion.

The variability of usage is difficult to predict when determining power requirements for the equipment in the data center. For the server environment, the power usage depends on the computing load. If the server must work harder, more power has to be drawn from the power supply and there is greater heat output that needs to be dissipated.

Power requirements are based on the desired reliability and may include two or more power feeds from the utility, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), multiple circuits to systems and equipment, and on-site generators. Determining power requirements requires careful planning. Estimating power needs involves determining the power that is required for all existing devices and for devices that are anticipated in the future. Power requirements must also be estimated for all support equipment such as the UPS, generators, conditioning electronics, HVAC system, lighting, and so on. The power estimation must include required redundancy and future growth. The facility electrical system must not only power data center equipment (servers, storage, network equipment, and so on) but must also insulate the equipment against surges, utility power failures, and other potential electrical problems (thus addressing the redundancy requirements).

The power system must physically accommodate electrical infrastructure elements such as power distribution units (PDUs), circuit breaker panels, electrical conduits, wiring, and so on.

Dcucd50 Sg Vol1

DCUCD

Designing Cisco Data

Center Unified

Computing

Volume 1

Student Guide

Table of Contents

Volume 1

Course Introduction

1

Cisco Data Center Solution Architecture and Components

1-1

Assess Data Center Computing Requirements

2-1

Size Cisco Unified Computing Solutions

3-1

DCUCD

Course Introduction

Overview

Learner Skills and Knowledge

Course Goal and Objectives

Course Flow

Additional References

Cisco Glossary of Terms

Your Training Curriculum

Developing a world of talent through collaboration, social

learning, online assessment, and mentoring

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com

CCNP-level recognition in data center

http://www.cisco.com/go/certifications

Expand Your Professional Options and Advance Your Career

Additional Resources

http://www.cisco.com/go/pec

Introductions

Class-related:

Facilities-related:

Module 1

Cisco Data Center Solution

Architecture and Components

Overview

Module Objectives

Lesson 1

Identifying Data Center

Solutions

Overview

Objectives

Data Center Overview

Data Center Definition

Data Center Goals

Business Continuance Definition

Data Center Trends: Consolidation

Standalone Server Form Factor

Rack-Optimized Server Form Factor

Blade Server Form Factor

Data Center Trends: Virtualization

Common Goals

Virtualization Types

Network Virtualization

Server Virtualization

Device Virtualization

Storage Virtualization

Application Virtualization

Virtualized data center POD:

Logical and Physical Data Center View

Data Center Business Challenges

Chargeback and Showback Rationale

Chargeback and Showback Aspects

Business Continuance

Technology Challenges

Outage Impact and Recovery Types

Data Center Environmental Challenges

Architectural and Mechanical Specifications

Physical Security

Space

Power