Detailed Outlines
Course Outlines
Module 1: Implement Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers
- Unpack the Cisco R42610 rack enclosure
- Remove the Cisco R-Series rack from the pallet
- Secure the Cisco R-Series rack to the floor
- Join Cisco R42610 racks into a suite
- Install a Cisco RP208-30-U-1 PDU
- Remove and install side panels
- Remove and install Cisco R-Series rack doors
- Use cabling portholes
- Review ESD precautions
- Review how to open Cisco UCS C-Series cases
- Compare PCIe riser cards across Cisco UCS C-Series models
- Describe CPU population rules for dual- and quad-socket servers
- Describe the importance of color coding internal Cisco UCS C-Series components
- Describe DRAM installation and population rules
- Describe fan replacement
- Describe power supply replacement
- Install the slide-rail assembly into the Cisco R42610 rack enclosure
- Attach the mounting brackets to the server
- Insert the server into the slide rail
- Attach the cable management arm
- Connect the Cisco UCS C-Series server to the PDU
- Connect management and data cables
- Download the Cisco UCS Host Upgrade Utility from Cisco.com
- Enable KVM and virtual media in Cisco Integrated Management Controller
- Describe the session options that are available in the KVM
- Launch virtual media and map the Cisco UCS Host Upgrade Utility ISO image
- Perform an upgrade of all components
- Provision SNMP
- Provision syslog destinations for server logging data
- Access data from the system event log
- Export technical support information
- Provision the Cisco UCS P81E VIC to allow FCoE
- Provision a locally administered MAC address for the A- and B-side 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
- Enable RSS on Ethernet adapters
- Provision locally administered addresses for the Fibre Channel interface WWPN and WWNN
- Provision the Fibre Channel boot target for the A- and B-side Fibre Channel interfaces
- Describe the characteristics of RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10
- Boot the server in the KVM and access the LSI MegaRAID web user interface
- Add all local hard drives to a RAID 5 array and save the configuration
- Open a KVM session to the Cisco UCS C-Series server
- Map virtual media to the ESXi installer ISO image
- Install ESXi on the local RAID array
- Boot ESXi from the local RAID array
- Configure a management IP address for the ESXi server
- Connect to the ESXi server with the VMware vSphere Client utility and connect to the VMware File System shared storage LUN on the Fibre Channel storage system
Module 2: Manage the Cisco UCS B-Series
- Describe the overall framework of RBAC in the Cisco UCS B-Series
- Implement local users, roles, and privileges
- Implement organizations and locales
- Describe the effective rights of a user as an intersection of roles and locales mapped to a user
- Implement LDAP providers and provider groups
- Implement LDAP (Microsoft Active Directory) as an external authentication and authorization service
- Implement Cisco UCS roles mapping to LDAP (Active Directory) attributes with LDAP provider maps
- Describe where to find Cisco UCS firmware packages on Cisco.com
- Update Cisco UCS firmware
- Direct upgrade of mezzanine adapter, Cisco Integrated Management Controller, and IOM firmware
- Describe software updates on the fabric interconnect
- Describe the requirement for firmware updates via host firmware packages in the service profile
- Describe the differences between the firmware processes of Cisco UCS fabric interconnect and IOM, Cisco Integrated Management Controller, and adapter
- Describe how to update and activate the hardware capability catalog
- Differentiate between the supported backup types and the database objects to which they map in the Cisco UCS Manager database
- Differentiate between an import operation and a disaster recovery restore operation
- Implement a backup job
- Implement backup jobs to preserve abstracted identities
- Verify that the backup is created and executed
- Implement an import job to restore the AAA user database
- Verify that the AAA user database is restored
- Configure the Cisco UCS 6100/6200 Series Fabric Interconnect for disaster recovery restore
- Describe Cisco UCS Manager management interfaces
- Describe the fault management system and evaluate fault severity levels
- Use the audit log to track administrative changes to the Cisco UCS Manager database
- Describe Cisco UCS Manager operations subject to FSM validation and how to interpret FSM output
- Implement logging options including local buffer, console, and external syslog servers
- Use system event log and system event log policies
- Implement the Smart Call Home feature
- Validate the Smart Call Home feature
- Configure settings for logs, events, and faults
- Configure SPAN to allow protocol analysis
- Describe high-availability cluster connection requirements for Cisco UCS B-Series
- Describe intercluster communications and Cisco UCS Manager database synchronization
- Differentiate between cluster partition-in-time and partition-in-space split-brain conditions
- Describe how the Cisco UCS 5108 Blade Server Chassis SEEPROM resolves a split-brain issue in the high-availability cluster
- Modify cluster IP addressing from the Cisco UCS Manager GUI and CLI
Module 3: Implement Cisco UCS B-Series Connectivity
- Describe the relationship between I/O uplinks and bandwidth oversubscription with generation 2 hardware
- Describe the Cisco UCS 2204/2208XP IOM architecture including CMC, I/O MUX, and chassis management switch
- Describe the relationship between I/O uplinks and bandwidth oversubscription with generation 1 hardware
- Describe the Cisco UCS 2104XP IO module architecture including CMC, I/O MUX, and chassis management switch
- Describe the features of the Cisco UCS VIC 1280 and VIC 1240
- Compare the number of virtual interfaces available on the Cisco UCS M81KR VIC and the VIC 1280
- Describe new mezzanine cards including M51, M61, and M72
- Describe the Cisco Integrated Management Controller management component of the BSeries blades
- Describe the creation of port channels from the Cisco UCS 6200 Series Fabric Interconnect to the 2204/2208XP IOM
- Describe the difference between server and uplink port personalities in the fabric interconnect
- Describe the chassis discovery process and monitor using the FSM
- Configure the chassis discovery policy
- Describe the ESD precautions that are necessary when installing Cisco UCS B-Series components
- List the steps for opening the case of half- and full-slot blade servers
- List the steps for physical installation of rack-mount slides in the enclosure and on the Cisco UCS 5108 chassis
- List the steps for installation and removal of CPU, RAM, and mezzanine cards in Cisco UCS B-Series blade servers
- List the steps for physical installation and removal of local hard drives
- List the steps for physical installation of half- and full-slot blade servers
- List the steps for physical installation of IOMs and power supplies in the Cisco UCS 5108 chassis
- List the steps for physical installation and removal of fan units
- List the steps for physical installation and removal of SFP+ copper twinax and optical modules
- Differentiate between uplink, server, appliance, FCoE storage, and monitoring Ethernet port personalities of 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces on the Cisco UCS fabric interconnect
- Describe the requirements and configuration of port channels from the Cisco UCS fabric interconnect to a northbound switch
- Describe end-host mode and its importance in forwarding over multiple Layer 2 links and maintaining a loop-free topology
- Differentiate end-host mode with switched mode
- Describe the requirements to configure VLANs in Cisco UCS Manager
- Describe the role of vNICs to abstract MAC addresses into a service profile
- Describe the automatic pinning process and recovery from failure
- Describe the configuration of manual pinning and recovery from failure
- Describe the configuration of disjoint Layer 2 domains
- Describe Fibre Channel switching
- Describe NPV
- Differentiate between Fibre Channel uplink, Fibre Channel storage, and Fibre Channel monitoring port personalities of 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces on the Cisco UCS fabric interconnect
- Differentiate between benefits and drawbacks of Fibre Channel switching and NPV
- Describe how NPIV allows a single N Port to be associated with multiple FCIDs
- Describe the requirements and configuration of VSANs in Cisco UCS Manager
- Describe the role of the vHBA to abstract WWNNs and WWPNs into a service profile
- Describe the automatic pinning process and recovery from failure
- Describe the configuration of manual pinning and recovery from failure
- Differentiate Ethernet failover from Fibre Channel multipath I/O recovery
Module 4: Provision Cisco UCS Compute Resources
- Configure the primary cluster peer from the fabric interconnect console
- Configure the secondary cluster peer from the fabric interconnect console and join to the cluster
- Log into the Cisco UCS Manager GUI and assign a pool of management IP addresses for server management
- Provision VLANs for single fabric, both fabrics, and both fabrics configured differently
- Provision VLAN ranges
- Provision private VLANs
- Provision Ethernet uplinks
- Provision Ethernet uplink port channels
- Provision fabric port channels from the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect to a Cisco 2204/2208 IOM
- Provision FCoE storage ports
- Provision appliance ports and prune VLANs
- Provision VSANs for single fabric, both fabrics, and both fabrics configured differently
- Provision Fibre Channel uplinks and VSAN trunking
- Provision Fibre Channel port channels
- Provision direct-attach Fibre Channel storage ports and default zoning
- Provision server pools
- Provision server pool autoplacement
- Provision UUID pools
- Provision MAC pools
- Provision WWNN pools
- Provision WWPN pools
- Provision iSCSI initiator pools
- Provision a service profile using the expert service profile wizard
- Implement pools and policies in the service profile
- Associate a service profile to a server
- Describe the Cisco UCS Utility Operating System
- Observe the association process using the FSM
- Describe the requirements of service profile templates
- Describe the difference between initial templates and updating templates, including operational caveats
- Provision a vNIC template using the template wizard
- Provision a vHBA template using the template wizard
- Provision a service profile template using the template wizard
- Provision multiple servers from a service profile template
- Clone a service profile
- Describe the benefits of C-Series integration
- Describe the physical connectivity requirements for C-Series integration
- Install version 1.2 C-Series server firmware to allow integration with Cisco UCS prior to version 2.0(2xx)
- Describe the C-Series discovery process
Module 5: Implement Cisco UCS Server Virtualization Features
- Describe VMware vSwitch and vDS
- Describe Cisco Nexus 1000V switching
- Describe Cisco VM-FEX
- Describe Cisco VM-FEX universal pass-through
- Provision VMware ESXi servers with a Cisco VEM
- Provision the secure connection from Cisco UCS Manager to VMware vCenter Server
- Provision port profiles and push to vCenter as port groups
- Provision a dynamic vNIC connection policy and BIOS policy for Cisco VM-FEX
- Join ESXi hosts to the DVS
- Provision VMs to consume port groups on the DVS
- Describe VMware requirements for universal pass-through mode
- Provision a dynamic vNIC connection policy for Cisco VM-FEX universal pass-through
- Provision a BIOS policy for Cisco VM-FEX universal pass-through
- Associate universal pass-through policies to a service profile
- Provision a port profile for universal pass-through mode
- Provision VMs to connect to DirectPath I/O interfaces
- Verify universal pass-through mode
Labs
Lab 1-1: Perform Initial C-Series Implementation
Lab 1-2: Update Cisco UCS C-Series Firmware from the Cisco UCS Host Upgrade Utility
Lab 1-3: Implement LAN and SAN Connectivity
Lab 1-4: Install VMware ESXi on the Local RAID and Verify SAN Connectivity
Lab 2-1: Provision Cisco UCS Ethernet Connectivity and Management IP Pools
Lab 2-2: Configure RBAC
Lab 2-3: Back Up and Restore Cisco UCS Manager Database Objects
Lab 2-4: Configure Logging in Cisco UCS
Lab 4-1: Provision Identity and Resource Pools
Lab 4-2: Provision Mobile Service Profiles from Updating Templates
Lab 4-3: Test High Availability
Lab 5-1: Provision VMware Integration
Lab 5-2: Provision M81-KR Cisco VM-FEX
Lab 5-3: Provision M81-KR Cisco VM-FEX Universal Pass-Through
Objectives and Pre-requisites
Course Objectives
Upon completing this course, the learner will be able to meet these overall objectives:
- Implement Cisco UCS C-Series rack servers in standalone mode. Boot from the local hard drive and mount the Fibre Channel SAN LUN for shared storage
- Install Cisco R-Series rack enclosures in the data center
- Install components in the Cisco UCS C-Series rack server prior to rack mounting
- Install Cisco UCS C-Series rack servers in a Cisco R-Series rack
- Use the Cisco UCS Host Upgrade Utility to upgrade or downgrade C-Series firmware to the correct version
- Provision SNMP and syslog, and use C-Series monitoring tools
- Use the Cisco Integrated Management Controller to provision LAN and SAN connectivity for the C-Series server
- Use the LSI MegaRAID web user interface to provision local hard drives into a RAID 5 array
- Install VMware ESXi in the C-Series server local hard drives
- Implement system management, maintenance, and high-availability services for Cisco UCS B-Series
- Implement local and remote authentication services to restrict privileges and delegate management authority in Cisco UCS Manager
- List the processes for managing the firmware repository and upgrade or downgrade Cisco UCS firmware components using Cisco UCS Manager
- Implement backup and restore capabilities in Cisco UCS Manager
- Implement syslog, Smart Call Home, and SPAN
- Maintain Cisco UCS in a high-availability configuration
- Implement generation 1 and generation 2 connectivity
- Differentiate between physical connections on the IOM and the redundant connections for management and data plane over the I/O MUX and midplane
- Install and power up Cisco UCS B-Series hardware
- Implement LAN connectivity for Cisco UCS B-Series hardware
- Implement SAN connectivity for Cisco UCS B-Series hardware
- Provision servers by leveraging reusable pools, policies, and templates that allow for rapid provisioning and consistency of policy
- Perform initial Cisco UCS cluster setup and provide management IP addresses for blade servers
- Provision VLANs and fabric interconnect uplinks for server connectivity to the Layer 3 data center cloud
- Provision VSANs and fabric interconnect Fibre Channel uplinks for server connectivity to the data center storage cloud
- Provision resource pools for servers, UUIDs, MAC addresses, WWNN, WWPN, and iSCSI
- Configure reusable server policies in Cisco UCS Manager
- Provision service profiles with initial and updating templates
- Implement virtualization features unique to Cisco UCS that improve performance and manageability
- Describe Cisco VM-FEX and Cisco VM-FEX universal passthrough technologies
- Provision Cisco VM-FEX in Cisco UCS Manager and the VMware vCenter Server
- Provision Cisco VM-FEX universal passthrough in Cisco UCS Manager and the VMware vCenter Server
Prerequisites
The knowledge and skills you must have before attending this course are as follows:
- Cisco Certified Network Associate Data Center (CCNA Data Center) or equivalent knowledge and experience
- Server operating systems, hypervisor and virtualization familiarity
Attendance of the following Cisco learning offerings is recommended to fully benefit from this course:
- Implementing Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric (DCUFI)