Cisco ucs management best practices and tools

Local Edition

UCS Management Best Practices and Tools

Ray ColeData Center CSE – SLED [email protected]

© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.Presentation_ID Cisco PublicLocal Edition

Objectives

UCS Management Best Practices and Tools

In the best practices topic we will focuses on UCS usage and management strategies and methodologies. The management tools topic will cover many of the available optional UCS tools and resources that most UCS customers have never heard of or used.

The tools discussion will include UCS Central, 3rd party management integrations, the UCS Emulator, goUCS, PowerShell, and other management related topics and tools. We will provide descriptions of the tools, their use cases, and some examples.

2


Agenda

• Management Best Practices: Pre-installation

• Management Best Practices: Installation

• Management Best Practices: Maintenance

• Management Best Practices: Support

• Tools and Management Integrations

• Conclusion

3


Pre-installation

• UCS Overview – Get exposed to the architecture concepts

• UCS Technical Orientation – Get exposed to the GUI and concepts (UCSPE)

• Supported Environments – Make sure what you want to do is supported

• Site and Power Planning – Insure you have the right power in the right place

• LAN Planning – Right cables, connectors, and ports available

• SAN Planning – Right cables, connectors, and ports available

• Boot Devices – Understand how you will boot your servers short and long term

• Test Environments – Consider an environment for lab and test use


5

UCS Deployment Education

1. UCS Overview (~2 hours)Initial exposure to UCS architecture and components.

2. UCS Technical Orientation (Optional ~2-8 hours)Technical exposure to the system including review of the architecture, installation, maintenance, and control of the environment.

3. Mentored install (~6-16 hours)

4. Installation refresher (~2-4 hours)

5. Health check (2-4 hours)

6. Education and training (Varies): Ongoing


6

Supported Environments

• Most current OS and hardware is supported but check versions and caveats.

• B-Series Interoperability – Includes most B-Series and C-Series UCS Manager integrated UCS hardware, adapters, and OS support.

• C-Series Interoperability – Includes standalone rack server hardware, adapters, and OS support.

• Storage Interoperability – Includes the support for attachment to storage including storage devices and SAN switches.

• Some hardware not on the Cisco Interoperability Matrix’s may be supported by those vendors with UCS. Check with your hardware vendor.


7

Site and Power Planning

• Review the site planning guide for physical requirements– Most equipment comes with rails designed for 4 post racks. 3rd party for 2 post racks.– Insure you have the power whips in place or get them installed. Identify and label them.– Insure you have racks or order Cisco racks.– Insure you have PDUs or order Cisco PDUs. Order the right power cords!– Management arms are ordered as options for the servers– Rack mounting screws are only included with the racks. Cisco sells them separately.

• RACK-FASTEN-001= Mounting screws (qty 100), M6• RACK-FASTEN-002= Cage nuts (qty 50), M6

• Insure the site infrastructure team is available during the install– Physically connects the new hardware and PDUs to the infrastructure– Run any physical wires (ideally this is done in advance)


8

LAN Planning

• LAN connectivity planning– Identify the ports and port speeds for connecting the UCS– Identify the specific media you will use for the connections (SFP’s Etc)– Identify the specific cables required based on the media and distance– Make sure all of the above is available and/or ordered in advance of installation.

• LAN addressing planning– 3 addresses for Fabric Interconnects and cluster– 1 address for each server – consider growth if convenient– 1 address for each service profile if booting remotely

• Insure the LAN infrastructure team is available during the install– Connect UCS to the infrastructure– Configuring northbound switches, port channels, and appropriate vLANs– Enabling jumbo frames if required


9

SAN Planning

• SAN connectivity planning– Identify the ports and port speeds for connecting the UCS– Identify the specific media you will use for the connections (SFP’s Etc)– Identify the specific cables required based on the media and distance– Make sure all of the above is available and/or ordered in advance of installation.

• Insure the SAN infrastructure team is available during the install– Enabling NPIV if not already enabled– Connect UCS to the infrastructure– Allocating storage for boot and/or storage luns– Zoning service profiles/vHBA’s to storage


10

Boot Devices

Small OS footprint (ESX, Linux, etc)

1. Boot from SAN (Stateless)

2. Boot from LAN (Stateless)

3. Secure Digital (SD)*

4. USB*

5. Hard Drives (HDD)

6. Solid State Drives (SSD)

7. Boot from iSCSI (Stateless)

Large OS footprint (Windows)

1. Boot from SAN (Stateless)

2. Hard Drives (HDD)

3. Solid State Drives (SSD)

4. Boot from LAN (Stateless)*

5. Boot from iSCSI (Stateless)

6. Secure Digital (SD)*

7. USB*

An often forgotten component on orders is a boot device. Be sure to order them!


11

Test Environments

• Test environments are a great idea but not required– Most small customers do not choose to implement a test environment.– Most medium to large customers do choose to implement a test environment.

• Advantages to a test environment– Impact of changes – Better enables you to determine and plan for change impacts.– Test new solutions – Testing is best done in non-production environments.– Flexibility – Test systems can be borrowed to grow production while orders in process.– Training – Staff has real hardware available for education and training.

• Disadvantages to a test environment– Hardware costs – A small UCS test environment generally would cost around $20k.– Infrastructure costs – Power and connectivity costs can add to those costs.


12

Pre-installation resources

• UCS Interoperability Matrix– B-Series and C-Series: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10477/prod_technical_reference_list.html – Storage: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/datacenter/mds9000/interoperability/matrix/Matrix8.html

• UCS Site Preparation Guide– http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/hw/site-prep-guide/ucs_site_prep.html

• UCS Power Calculator– http://express.salire.com/Go/Cisco/Cisco-UCS-Power-Calculator.aspx

• UCS Health Check– Description: http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-health-check – Review items: http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-setup-checklist

• UCS Setup Prerequisites– http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-setup-prerequisites

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10477/prod_technical_reference_list.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10477/prod_technical_reference_list.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/datacenter/mds9000/interoperability/matrix/Matrix8.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/datacenter/mds9000/interoperability/matrix/Matrix8.html

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/hw/site-prep-guide/ucs_site_prep.html

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/hw/site-prep-guide/ucs_site_prep.html

http://express.salire.com/Go/Cisco/Cisco-UCS-Power-Calculator.aspx

http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-health-check

http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-health-check

http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-setup-checklist


http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-setup-prerequisites

http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-setup-prerequisites


Agenda






• Conclusion

13


14

Installation

• Mentored installation – Flatten the learning curve with a mentored installation.

• OS images and plans – Make sure they are available. Use Cisco versions!

• Naming conventions – Each object’s name should describe it’s use.

• Pools and Addresses – Plan for expansion. Don’t complicate without value.

• Templates– Almost always use templates. Updating preferred if used carefully.

• Policies – ALWAYS change default maintenance policy to user-ack.

• Fabric Failover – Use fabric failover only when you need to.

• Redundancy check – Test the “system” for high availability.

• Boot from SAN or LAN – Check it out during the install.


15

OS images and plans

• Plan for the OS’s that will initially be installed on UCS. Consider installing other OS’s you might later decide to use while your mentor is there to help build the policies and templates.

• VMware optimized installation media for Cisco. We highly recommend that you use those versions.– From the VMware web site

1. Go to the download page for your version of VMware2. Click the Custom ISOs tab3. Expand OEM Customized Installer CDs4. Find the version you wish to use and select “Go to Downloads” from the right column.

– Quick links to most VMware downloads for Cisco at: http://ciscoquicklinks.com/#Datacenter-Partner • 4.0: VMware / Cisco ESXi 4.0 GA OEM VMware / Cisco ESXi 4.1 GA OEM VMware / Cisco ESXi 4.1 U2 OEM • 5.0: VMware / Cisco ESXi 5.0 GA OEM VMware / Cisco ESXi 5.0 U1 OEM VMware / Cisco ESXi 5.0 U2 OEM • 5.1: VMware / Cisco ESXi 5.1 GA OEM VMware / Cisco ESXi 5.1 U1 OEM VMware / Cisco ESXi 5.1 U2 OEM• 5.5: VMware / Cisco ESXi 5.5 GA OEM VMware / Cisco ESXi 5.5 U1 OEM

• Other OS vendors may provide Cisco optimized media in the future.

http://ciscoquicklinks.com/

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=ESX4U2-CISCO-OEM-ISO&productId=136



https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=OEM-ESXI41U2-CISCO&productId=230






https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=CISCO-ESXI-5.0.0U2-GA-MAY2012&productId=229



https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=CISCO-ESXI-5.0.0-U1-28AUG2012&productId=229






https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=CISCO-ESXI-5.1.0-GA-25SEP2012&productId=285



https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=CISCO-ESXI-5.1.0U1-MAY2013&productId=285



https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=CISCO-ESXI-5.1.0U2&productId=285




https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=OEM-ESXI55GA-CISCO&productId=353








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Naming conventions

• Most objects can’t be renamed in UCS.– Single exception is Service Profiles when recent firmware is installed.– Create a standard and stick with it.– Cisco can provide some good examples.

• Names in UCS should make sense to anyone using UCS.– Name should describe what an object is used for.– Policy names should usually include some versioning detail.

• Example names– Host firmware package: ESX-Host-Fw01 or 20140420_esx_fw– Service profile template: ESX-Host-Tu01


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Pools and Addresses

• Use pools for all addressing– Local addressing is possible but not recommended– Sequential pools are non-default option but often desired.

• Each UCS domain should have a set of unique pools defined especially if they may end up on the same network as one another.– For most environments use a minimal set of pools like the default pools.– For larger and more complex environments customers might find value using multiple

pools to help identify workload types and interfaces via assigned addresses.

• Be cautious with Server Pools– It’s best to avoid using pools to minimize problems..– Currently all maintenance policies don’t apply with all Server Pool changes.– Some changes could lead to Service Profile disassociation without user-ack.


18

Templates

• Templates are a KEY and important to the value of UCS.– They insure consistency by reducing human error and steps to provision– They ease operations by reducing the number of management touch points

• Templates available– vNIC Templates: Used to consistently create LAN interfaces on servers– vHBA Templates: Used to consistently create FC interfaces on servers– Service Profile Templates: Used to consistently create service profiles

• Types of templates– Initial: Template values are copied into the vNIC(s), vHBA(s), or Service Profile(s).

Subsequent changes to the template DO NOT effect the previously deployed objects.– Updating : Template values and linked into the vNIC(s), vHBA(s), or Service Profile(s).

Subsequent changes to the template ARE deployed to previously deployed objects.


19

Policies

• Policies are rules which define settings in service profiles.– Policies exist in Servers, LAN, and SAN areas of the GUI.– Should avoid changing if used in production. Create new policy that incorporates old

settings and new settings. Change the policy used in the Service Profile Templates. This allows fast and reliable rollback of previously good settings.

• Server Policies– Maintenance policy default: SHOULD BE CHANGED TO USER-ACK.– Host Firmware Package: Should be set on all service profiles and service profile

templates.– Bios policy: Do not set settings you are not sure about.– Local disk policy: Be sure to select protect configuration so disassociation does not

zero hard disks.


20

Fabric Failover

• Generally used when OS has no networking redundancy features enabled.

• Use when– Using a bare-metal OS– If the hypervisor networking does not have redundancy enabled.

• Requires adapter with built-in capabilities.– All VIC models– Older M71 adapters (no longer sold)


21

Redundancy Checks

• Insure you are redundant as a “system” not just as a platform– Test redundancy before going into production by creating physical and logical failures

and insuring a test workload stays online– Periodically retest the system when major changes are made if opportunity allows.

• Basic tests– Survive Fabric Interconnect failure.– Survive power failure of fabric, chassis, and servers.– Survive multiple uplink failures of LAN and SAN.– Survive downlink failures between fabric and chassis and servers.


23

Installation resources

• VMware optimized installation media for Cisco– From the VMware web site

1. Go to the download page for your version of VMware2. Click the Custom ISOs tab3. Expand OEM Customized Installer CDs4. Find the version you wish to use and select “Go to Downloads” from the right column.

– Quick links to most VMware downloads for Cisco at: http://ciscoquicklinks.com/#Datacenter-Partner

• Redundancy check– Basic: http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-setup-checklist#Section-09 – Advanced: http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-test-redundancy






http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-test-redundancy

http://ciscoquicklinks.com/Tip-datacenter-ucs-test-redundancy


Agenda






• Conclusion

24


25

Ongoing

• Installation Refresher – Make sure you know what you are supposed to.

• Health Check – Get a periodic review of your system from an expert.

• Education and Certifications – Consider a class from a training partner.

• User Accounts and Access – Everyone shouldn’t be using “admin”

• Backups – Before major changes and periodically. Automate with UCS Central.

• Call Home – Please turn it on! It’s there to help.

• Fault Monitoring – Your global fault values should all be 0’s.

• Firmware Management – Yearly or when needed. Bug fixes, New features?

• Modifying production templates & policies – Don’t do it! Clone or duplicate.


26

User Accounts and Access

• Authentication methods– UCS Directory integration is excellent. Try it out!– Local authentication is great as well.– Latest firmware allows two-factor Authentication for UCS Manager Logins

• User accounts– Users should be logging in as themselves. UCS allows multiple admins users.– Admin local account should be reserved only for emergencies

• User rights– Give a user only the level of access required to accomplish their job role.


27

Backups

• When to backup– Backup your system before ANY and ALL major changes (and some minor ones).– Backup your system periodically regardless of change being made– Automated backup available through Admin table of UCS Manager GUI.– Automated backup through UCS Central.

• Types of backups– Do BOTH full configuration and all configuration backups– Full configuration creates a full binary backup of the UCS environment. Full restore only.– All configuration creates an XML data backup of all UCS objects. Partial restore option.


28

Call Home

• It can (you choose what it does):– Automatically contact Cisco and proactively open a case in the event of a failure.– Send emails to any email addresses alerting to failures or thresholds.– Notify Cisco of your inventory so Cisco has better data for parts stocking purposes.

• Additional details from the offering description– Cisco® Smart Call Home is an automated support capability that provides continuous

monitoring, proactive diagnostics, alerts, and remediation recommendations on select Cisco devices

– Smart Call Home can help identify and resolve issues more quickly to achieve higher network availability and increased operational efficiency. This capability is available with an active support contract for the Cisco Unified Computing System™ (UCS)


29

Fault Monitoring

• Your system should be free (or relatively free) of faults.– Understand the faults you have– Resolve the ones you can resolve– Develop a plan to resolve the rest– Call Home and SNMP can let you know when you have faults.

• Fix faults before making any major changes to your system– Faults often indicate important problems where changes could cause an outage.– Don’t forget your backups


30

Firmware Management

• When to consider updating firmware– There’s a new feature you want to use– There’s a bug fixed in the new firmware you want to address– There’s a new server model you want to install that is newer than the current firmware– Your firmware is 6 months old and you have an upcoming maintenance window.

• How to upgrade firmware– Review and understand defects in release notes before upgrading.– Maintenance window is desired but not required.– Use auto install for infrastructure firmware. Wait for faults to resolve before

acknowledging the pending activity.– Use policies to install server firmware. – Update a small number of servers and let them run for days before doing the rest.


31

Education and Certifications

• Education: Cisco has great training partners to provide UCS Education – Cisco Learning Locator: http://tools.cisco.com/GlobalLearningLocator/LLocatorHome.do – Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (DCICT)– Installing Cisco UC on UCS in a Virtualized Environment– Configuring Cisco Data Center Unified Computing(DCUCS)– Cisco Data Center Unified Computing System C-Series Troubleshooting (DCUCSCTS)– Designing Cisco Data Center Unified Computing (DCUCD)– Implementing Cisco Data Center Unified Computing (DCUCI)– Troubleshooting Cisco Data Center Unified Computing (DCUCT)

• Certifications: Cisco offers Data Center certifications• Cisco Data Center Application Services Design Specialist• Cisco Data Center Application Services Support Specialist• Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Design Specialist• Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Support Specialist• Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric Design Specialist• Cisco Data Center Unified Fabric Support Specialist

http://tools.cisco.com/GlobalLearningLocator/LLocatorHome.do



http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/specialist/dc/appSvc_design.html

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/specialist/dc/appSvc_design.html

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/specialist/dc/appSvc_support.html

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/specialist/dc/uc_design.html

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/specialist/dc/uc_support.html

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/specialist/dc/uf_design.html

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/specialist/dc/uf_support.html

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/specialist/dc/uf_support.html


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Ongoing resources

• Backing up your UCS– UCS Central Best Practices Guide: https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-32030 – Unofficial manual documentation: http://terenceluk.blogspot.com/2011/03/cisco-ucs-b-series-infrastructure.html – Unofficial automated documentation: http://www.laneroush.com/automated-cisco-ucs-backup/

• UCS Call Home Configuration: – Smart Call Home Quick Start Configuration Guide:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/smart_call_home/QuickStart_UCS.pdf – Official documentation: http://

www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/gui/config/guide/2-2/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_2/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_1_chapter_0101110.html

• Change management in UCS Blog Article by Loy Evans– http://jeffsaidso.com/2013/10/change-management-with-change-tracking-version-control-and-rollbacks/#more-927

• Education resources– Cisco Learning Locator: http://tools.cisco.com/GlobalLearningLocator/LLocatorHome.do – Ciscoquicklinks: http://ciscoquicklinks.com/#Datacenter-Training

https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-32030

https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-32030

http://terenceluk.blogspot.com/2011/03/cisco-ucs-b-series-infrastructure.html

http://www.laneroush.com/automated-cisco-ucs-backup/

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/smart_call_home/QuickStart_UCS.pdf

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/gui/config/guide/2-2/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_2/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_1_chapter_0101110.html



http://jeffsaidso.com/2013/10/change-management-with-change-tracking-version-control-and-rollbacks/

http://jeffsaidso.com/2013/10/change-management-with-change-tracking-version-control-and-rollbacks/






Agenda






• Conclusion

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Support

• CCO – Be sure the people that will open cases are tied to the hardware.

• Entitlement – Be sure the hardware is properly registered with Cisco.

• Proactive entitlement – Open online case with SN’s and ask to validate

• Online case – Cases can be opened online as sev-3 then escalated via phone.

• Follow-the-sun – UCS support moves around the world through the day.

• Escalation – If unhappy with support ask to be reassigned or a duty manager.

• Cisco User Community – Lots of resources provided by Cisco and others

• Other external resources – Details on additional external resources


Cisco User Community• Web Based End User Community

– http://communities.cisco.com/ucs

• Tools, Downloads, Examples• UCS Platform Emulator (UCSPE)• goUCS Automation Tool • XML API, PowerShell code Examples• Cisco UCS PowerTool (PowerShell Module)• Microsoft SCOM Management Pack for Cisco UCS• Microsoft SCVMM UI Extension for Cisco UCS• Microsoft SCO Integration Pack for Cisco UCS

• Documentation• Programming & Developer Guides• Whitepapers• Reference Guides (XML Model, Faults)

• Collaboration• Blogs, Peer to peer forums, Videos, Access to Cisco,

Subject Matter Experts 35

Free!!

http://communities.cisco.com/ucs


Direct URL to UCS Platform Emulator

• New Communities alias/URL:– http://communities.cisco.com/ucspe

• Key Features– Import your hardware configuration– Most UCSM features functional– Firmware upgrades now work

36

Free!!

http://communities.cisco.com/ucspe

http://communities.cisco.com/ucspe


Download Management Packs from Cisco.comhttp://software.cisco.com/download/type.html?mdfid=283850978&catid=282558030


Downloads: All integrations UCS Platform

Emulator Scripting samples

Perl PowerShell Python

Documentation: Reference guides Training guides

Collaboration: Blogs Peer to peer forums Access Cisco experts

Free!!communities.cisco.com/ucsintegrations


39


Agenda






• Conclusion

40


Do It Yourself

SDK & EmulatorGoUCSPowerShell & .NET

Most flexibleMost powerful

Open Source

UCS Dashboard

FlexibleLeverage power of community

Multi-UCS Management Strategy

UCS XML API UCS XML API UCS XML API UCS XML API

Cisco Products

UCS CentralUCS Director Tidal/Newscale (CIAC)

Cisco support and roadmapReduce vendors

ISV Partners

System Center plug-inBMC IntegrationCA integration Etc…..

Multi-vendor supportIncumbencyBroadest use cases

Multi-UCS Management Solutions


UCS Management Ecosystem OverviewManage UCS with Industry Standard Tools

Service OrchestrationProvisioning and Configuration

Monitoring and Analysis

Third Party Management

Unified Control APIService Profiles

Cisco UCS Pools

Cisco UCS Manager

Application Stack

UCS Visibility and Control

OS and Software

Management

http://www.hsvsummit.com/images/sponsor_logos/CA_Technologies.JPG

http://www.intui.biz/Images/DynamicOps.gif

http://www.intui.biz/Images/DynamicOps.gif

http://www.detroitschoolofrockandpop.com/wp-content/uploads/compuware-logo.jpg

http://www.infohedge.net/images/EMC_logo.jpg

http://www.enterprise.mtu.edu/highschool/partners/logos/ibm-logo.jpg

http://www.9to5mac.com/files/u312/microsoft-logo1.jpg

http://media9.connectedsocialmedia.com/vmware/03/4212/vmware_view_pilot.jpg

http://www.infotechgroup.com.ar/site/images/stories/zenoss_logo.gif

http://www.siia.net/codies/2009/finalists/logos/2-SolarWinds_Logo.JPG

http://www.gottabemobile.com/wp-content/uploads/hp-logo.jpg



http://www.compufacil.com.ve/imagenes/logos/symantec-logo.jpg


UCS Management

• One UCS System / Domain / Pod• Comprehensive XML API, standards-based interface• Bi-directional access to physical and logical components• UCS Central leverages UCS XML API • Delivered as a VM

44

XML API System Status

Physical InventoryLogical Inventory

Direct

UCS PowerTool(PowerShell Toolkit)

goUCS

UCS Central

UCS CLI UCSM GUI 3rd Party Custom Scripts


Manage UCS with Industry-Standard ToolsExtensive integration and support for enterprise management tools

• Discovery• Hardware monitoring• Performance management

BMC ProactiveNet Performance Management

CA Spectrum Infrastructure Manager, eHealth

EMC DCI HP Operations Manager/OpenView IBM Tivoli Monitoring IBM Netcool Microsoft System Center Operations

Manager ScienceLogic EM7 Zenoss Enterprise Solarwinds Orion InfoVista 5View, VistaInsight

• Service catalog • Orchestration/RBA• Self-service IT portal

Cisco Intelligent Automation BMC Cloud Lifecycle Manager DynamicOps Cloud Automation Center EMC Unified Infrastructure Manager HP Operations Orchestration IBM Service Delivery Manager VMware vCenter Orchestrator VMware vCloud Director Microsoft System Center Orchestrator

• OS provisioning• Configuration compliance• Patch/software deployment

BMC BladeLogic CA Spectrum Automation Manager HP Server Automation IBM Tivoli Provisioning Manager Symantec Altiris DS

Service OrchestrationDeploy and ConfigureMonitor and Analyze


API API

Basic ManagementFunctionality

API

API

UCS Director API

Stand-Alone UCS C-Series Unified Computing

System

UCS CentralPolicy Driven Multi DC, Multi-

Domain Management

UCS Director Policy Driven, Application Centric Infrastructure Management and

Orchestration

CIMC

Integrated & Converged

Infrastructure

UCS Manager Domain 1

UCS Manager Domain x

FlexPod vBlockStorage

Virtual Machines

Network Devices

Servers

Non-Cisco Infrastructure

Advanced Infrastructure Abstraction and Automation

UCS Management Portfolio


Tools

• UCSPE – UCS Platform Emulator –

• goUCS – Automation and scripting tool for UCS.

• UCS PowerTool – Powershell tools for UCS

• UCS Central – Manage and control multiple UCS domains together.

• Microsoft Integration - System Center 2012 and SCCVM integration –

• VMware Integration – vCenter plugin gives visibility into UCS from VMware

• Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Plug-in for UCS – Manage UCS from Oracle

• Openstack integration – UCS Automation with Openstack

• Other integrations – There are many integrations are available


UCS Platform Emulator (UCSPE)

48

• No UCS Hardware Needed for API integration Development

• Full featured emulator for the UCS Manager

• Installs as a Virtual Machine• Provides complete support for all XML

API calls• Object Browser to peruse the UCSM

model• Import & replicate existing live UCS

Manager physical inventory• Share saved physical inventories

among UCS Platform Emulators• Drag-n-drop hardware builder to

create custom physical inventory


UCS Manager: Know XML, no problem

With goUCS: No XML, no problem

Convert UCS Manager actions into automation scripts

1

2

3

Perform single action on UCS Manager and capture it

Create script in goUCS framework with variable substitutions

Re-run script over and over against single or multiple UCSMs

goUCS Automation Toolkit


Cisco UCS PowerToolProgrammatic control over UCS hardware

• Architected for Flexibility and coverage• PowerShell Wrapper

– Cmdlet definition and structure– Get-help support

• .NET UCS Namespace Library– XML API call construction– Class Definition– Validation

• PowerShell Design• In-line get-help support• Full Pipelining support• Fully classed object definition• All ‘legal’ verbs

• .NET Namespace provides common base for all Microsoft integration

• Targeted to support full manageability of UCS across multiple releases

Cisco UCSPowerTool Module

UCS .NET Namespace

UCS XML API

cmdlets


UCS CentralCentralized multi-domain management across local and remote datacenters, including:

• Global Service Profiles and Templates, Policies, and pool management for cross-domain consistency

• Centralized Fault Management for quicker troubleshooting

• Global Inventory, Statistics and Reporting to simplify asset management and sizing

Global Fault Management

Domain Group Hierarchy

Equipment Inventory and

Status

Tree Group Similar to UCS

Manager


UCS Management with Operations Manager

• Holistic View of Converged

Infrastructure Health• Monitor alerts and faults on Chassis,

Blades, Fabric Interconnects, I/O Power

Supply, Fan Modules, etc.• Manage multiple UCS domains with

single management pack

• Simple and Powerful Visualizations• Graphical Views of UCS topology• Graphical views of physical and logical

entities and relationships

• Reliable Information • UCS XML API provides a powerful,

supported interface for Operations

Manager


Cisco UCS UI extension for SCVMM

• Manage your cloud from one console– Physical Compute and Virtual Infrastructure in one place

• Show UCS inventory in SCVMM– Launch UCSM GUI from SCVMM

– Summary status of servers

• Basic functions on servers– SP association

– Launch KVM

– Change Power/Server status

• Show Service Profiles, Templates– Instantiate SPs from templates

• Correlate Service Profiles to physical servers to hypervisors relationships

53


Automating UCS with System Center Orchestrator

• Automate UCS management

– Improve predictability and reduce manual

errors with UCS integration pack– Reduce time to delivery and reduce TCO– Packaged UCS activities for consistent

delivery of UCS operations

• Deliver Scalable and Reliable UCS

management through Orchestrated Workflows

– Deliver consistent service across multiple

systems and departments– Packaged workflows to automate UCS

operations– UCS XML API provides a powerful, supported

interface for Orchestrator workflow operations

• Optimize and extend UCS capabilities

• Integrate with 3rd party tools using Cisco UCS

integration pack


UCS Management with System Center 2012Ease IT management through a single interface

“Single Pane

of Glass”Operations

ManagerOrchestrator

Management Pack

Integration Pack

Unified Computing System

UC

S P

ow

erTo

ol f

or

Po

wer

Sh

ell

Software

Integration

Infrastructure

UCS Manager XML API

Physical Virtual&

Virtual Machine Manager

UI Extension Integration

Pack

.NET Library

Orchestrator


Provide a single point of administration for both physical and virtual infrastructure

Streamline infrastructure management by tracking virtual & physical relationships

Extend vCenter visibility into Cisco’s advanced virtual networking technologies (VMFex, Virtual Interface Card, etc)

Cisco UCS vCenter PluginUnify VMware & UCS Administration


Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Plug-in for UCSWhat is monitored? Why Use This Plug-in?

Technical Details

• Continue to use OEM 12c to now manage Cisco UCS

• Incoming data formatted for 12c

• Utilize the capabilities of UCS manager such as service profiles

• Manage all Oracle and Cisco UCS environment from one screen

Product Details• Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c R2• UCS Manger 2.1+• Operating System Supported:

• Oracle Linux/RHEL Priority 1• Windows Priority 2• Solaris 10/11 Priority 3

• All UCS blades/chassis supported• All Rack Optimized (C-Series) supported

• Product FCS – Summer 2014 (July)• Price $0• Support – Cisco TAC• Downloadable from Cisco.com• Available world wide• Free upgrade to version 2 in CY Q4’14

• All system components• Blade details, CPU, memory, etc• Performance metrics• Health status/Environmental• Current, voltage, thermal, fan• Network – data transfer, pause, loss, error• Config details, firmware, identifier pools• Exposing native Cisco events - incidents


Manage UCS with HP Software

• Monitor UCS with Operations Manager 9.1 (a.k.a Openview)– Qualified event (XML) receiver for UCS– 2 versions for UCS Manager and Cisco IMC– Windows and Linux versions

• Automate UCS workflows with HP Operations Orchestration 9.0

• Out of the box UCS flows and actions

• Single click provisioning of UCS servers

• Capability to include Python scripts in workflows


Cisco UCS servers

Python SDKProgrammatic control over UCS

UCS Manager or Cisco IMC

3rd party tools

Python SDK (UCS/IMC XML wrapper)

UCS XML API

• Extend python based automation to

UCS servers seamlessly

• Architected for Flexibility and coverage

• Comprehensive coverage of all

supported operations

• Fully classed object definition

• Targeted to support full manageability of

UCS across multiple releases

• Sample scripts for shorter ramp up

Custom scripts


Agenda






• Conclusion

60


Take the Risk Out of Getting Started

• Engage with your partner and/or CiscoAsk to see a demoAsk for comparative configuration

• SmartPlay BundlesIncludes all the server parts to get started

• Cisco® Validated Design Reference ArchitecturePredefined system and network configurationsJoint testing at scale

• Proof of ConceptTechnical support

• Financial AnalysisROI and TCO calculators

• Professional ServicesStrategy > Plan/Design > Implement > Optimize


62

Data Center ScheduleTime Session Name

8:00 to 8:30 Arrival and registration8:30 to 9:45 Unified Computing System9:45 to 10:00 Break and visit with sponsors10:00 to 11:00 Desktop Virtualization11:00 to 12:00 Invicta Accelerated Storage12:00 to 1:00 Lunch1:00 to 2:15 Datacenter Fabric Futures2:15 to 2:30 Break, visit with sponsors, and drawings2:30 to 3:30 UCS Management Best Practices and Tools3:30 to 4:30 UCS Director4:30 Conclusion of Cisco Live Local Edition event

Local Edition

Technology

Cisco ucs management best practices and tools