Understanding Cisco Data Center Foundations

Describing the Data Center Network Architectures

• Cisco Data Center Architecture Overview
• Three-Tier Network: Core, Aggregation, and Access

Describing the Cisco Nexus Family and Cisco NX-OS Software

• Cisco Nexus Data Center Product Overview
• Cisco NX-OS Software Architecture

Describing Layer 3 First-Hop Redundancy

• Default Gateway Redundancy
• Hot Standby Router Protocol

Describing Port Channels and vPCs

• Ethernet Port Channels
• Virtual Port Channels

Describing Switch Virtualization

• Cisco Nexus Switch Basic Components
• Virtual Routing and Forwarding

Describing Machine Virtualization

• Virtual Machines
• Hypervisor

Describing Network Virtualization

• Overlay Network Protocols
• VXLAN Overlay

Introducing Basic Data Center Storage Concepts

• Storage Connectivity Options in the Data Center
• Fibre Channel Storage Networking

Describing Fibre Channel Communication Between the Initiator Server and the Target Storage

• Fibre Channel Layered Model
• FLOGI Process

Describing Fibre Channel Zone Types and Their Uses

• Fibre Channel Zoning
• Zoning Configuration

Describing Cisco NPV Mode and NPIV

• Cisco NPV Mode
• NPIV Mode

Describing Data Center Ethernet Enhancements

• IEEE Data Center Bridging
• Priority Flow Control

Describing FCoE

• Cisco Unified Fabric
• FCoE Architecture

Describing Cisco UCS Components

• Physical Cisco UCS Components
• Cisco Fabric Interconnect Product Overview

Describing Cisco UCS Manager

• Cisco UCS Manager Overview
• Identity and Resource Pools for Hardware Abstraction

Using APIs

• Common Programmability Protocols and Methods
• How to Choose Models and Processes

Automating the Data Center

Describing Cisco ACI

• Cisco ACI Overview
• Multitier Applications in Cisco ACI

Describing Cloud Computing

• Cloud Computing Overview
• Cloud Deployment Models

To fully benefit from this course, you should have the following knowledge and skills:

• Good understanding of networking protocols
• Good understanding of the VMware environment
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft Windows operating systems

These are the recommended Cisco courses that may help you meet these prerequisites:

• Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions (CCNA®)

After taking this course, you should be able to:

• Describe the foundations of data center networking
• Describe Cisco Nexus products and explain the basic Cisco NX-OS functionalities and tools
• Describe Layer 3 first-hop redundancy
• Describe Cisco Fabric Extender (FEX) connectivity
• Describe Ethernet port channels and virtual port channel (VPCs)
• Introduce switch virtualization, machine virtualization, and network virtualization
• Compare storage connectivity options in the data center
• Describe Fibre Channel communication between the initiator server and the target storage
• Describe Fibre Channel zone types and their uses
• Describe N-Port Virtualization (NPV) and N-Port Identifier Virtualization (NPIV)
• Describe data center Ethernet enhancements that provide a lossless fabric
• Describe Fibre Channel over Ethernet FCoE
• Describe data center server connectivity
• Describe Cisco UCS Manager
• Describe the purpose and advantages of APIs
• Describe Cisco ACI
• Describe the basic concepts of cloud computing

The description for this course is currently being updated.

To fully benefit from this course, you should have the following knowledge and skills:

• Good understanding of networking protocols
• Good understanding of the VMware environment
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft Windows operating systems

These are the recommended Cisco courses that may help you meet these prerequisites:

• Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions (CCNA®)