Cisco UCS: Provisioning and Management of Servers

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Questions and Answers

What is the concept that Cisco UCS is built on?

Stateless computing (correct)

Stateful computing

Profile-based computing

Resource-based computing

What are the 'three Ps' of Cisco UCS?

Policies, processors, and pools

Pools, policies, and profiles (correct)

Profiles, policies, and processors

Pools, policies, and processors

What is the purpose of pools in Cisco UCS?

To bundle policies and profiles together

To define configuration settings

To create groups of resources (correct)

To deploy multiple servers with similar configurations

What is the purpose of templates in Cisco UCS?

To create a 'cheat code' for rapid deployment Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of the Fabric Service Manager (FSM) tab in UCS Manager?

To show the status of the service profile creation and association process Signup and view all the answers

What happens to a server when an unassociated service profile is assigned to it in UCS Manager?

The server is rebooted Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of targets in Intersight?

To refer to UCS devices added to the platform Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of the Infrastructure Service in Intersight?

To manage UCS devices Signup and view all the answers

What can be used to create multiple server profiles at once in Intersight?

Templates Signup and view all the answers

Why is Intersight the recommended platform for managing UCS environments?

Because UCS Manager will be phased out in the next couple of years Signup and view all the answers

What is the main goal of Cisco UCS in the context of provisioning 50 servers?

To provide centralized management and automation of server provisioning and configuration Signup and view all the answers

What type of server is the S-series in Cisco UCS?

Storage server platform Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of fabric interconnects in Cisco UCS?

To manage the UCS environment Signup and view all the answers

Which type of deployment requires fabric interconnects?

B-series and X-series deployments Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of Cisco Intersight?

To manage the Cisco UCS environment Signup and view all the answers

What is the feature that monitors applications running in the UCS environment and provides suggestions for resource optimization and bottleneck resolution?

Intersight Workload Optimizer Signup and view all the answers

What is the benefit of using Cisco Intersight over UCS Manager?

It provides more features Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the centralized management of multiple UCS domains through a single pane of glass?

Multi-UCS domain management Signup and view all the answers

What is the main benefit of using Cisco UCS for provisioning 50 servers?

It allows for centralized management and automation of server provisioning and configuration Signup and view all the answers

What is the platform that provides features such as automated updates, compatibility checks, and connected TAC support?

Cisco Intersight Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Here is the summary:

• The speaker is tasked with provisioning 50 servers, some of which are assigned to a vCenter environment, database servers, Exchange servers, and more. • Cisco UCS (Unified Computing System) addresses the complexity of this task by allowing for centralized management and automation of server provisioning and configuration. • Cisco UCS consists of various product lines, including B-series (blade servers), C-series (rackmount servers), S-series (storage server platform), and X-series (modular compute system). • Fabric interconnects are built on Cisco Nexus switches and are used to manage the Cisco UCS environment, providing features such as network configuration, hardware configuration, and server management. • Fabric interconnects are optional for C-series and S-series deployments but mandatory for B-series and X-series deployments. • Initially, UCS Manager was used to manage the UCS environment, but it is being replaced by Cisco Intersight, a cloud-based management platform. • Cisco Intersight provides features such as automated updates, compatibility checks, and connected TAC support, as well as multi-UCS domain management through a single pane of glass. • Intersight Workload Optimizer is a feature that monitors applications running in the UCS environment and provides suggestions for resource optimization and bottleneck resolution. • Cisco UCS is built on the concept of "stateless computing," where servers have no identifying characteristics until they are configured through the fabric interconnects. • The "three Ps" of Cisco UCS are pools, policies, and profiles, which are used to configure and manage servers. • Pools are used to create groups of resources such as MAC addresses, UUIDs, and IP addresses. • Policies are used to define configuration settings such as BIOS configuration, boot order, and device priority. • Profiles are used to bundle pools and policies together to create a complete server configuration. • Templates are used to create a "cheat code" for UCS, allowing for rapid deployment of multiple servers with similar configurations. • In the demo, the speaker shows how to create pools, policies, and profiles, and how to use templates to deploy multiple servers with similar configurations. • The speaker also demonstrates how to use Cisco Intersight to manage the UCS environment, including creating service profiles and deploying them to multiple servers. • The demo environment is using a UCS emulator, and the speaker notes that the DevNet sandbox is available for testing and learning about UCS.

• In UCS Manager, unassociated service profiles can be assigned to servers, and the server will be rebooted after the association, which is a disruptive process.

• The Fabric Service Manager (FSM) tab in UCS Manager shows the status of the service profile creation and association process.

• Once the service profile is created and associated with a server, the server can be booted up with a virtual CD or DVD of the ESXi installer for VMware.

• In Intersight, the UCS environment is managed, and the dashboard shows the system, targets, and services, including the Cloud Orchestrator and Workload Optimizer.

• Targets in Intersight refer to the UCS devices added to the platform, and new targets can be claimed and added through a claim process.

• The Infrastructure Service in Intersight manages UCS devices, including chassis and servers, and allows for the launch of UCS Manager from within Intersight.

• In Intersight, servers can be managed through the UCS Manager interface, which is accessible from within Intersight.

• In Intersight managed mode, domain profiles are used to configure fabric interconnects, and templates are used to create server profiles.

• Profiles, pools, and policies are still used in Intersight managed mode, but with additional features and policies.

• Templates in Intersight can be used to create multiple server profiles at once, and policies can be created or selected during the template creation process.

• Derived profiles in Intersight are created from templates and can be customized before creation.

• Intersight is the recommended platform for managing UCS environments, as UCS Manager will be phased out in the next couple of years.

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Description

Learn how to provision and manage servers using Cisco UCS, a unified computing system that provides centralized management and automation. Understand the concept of 'stateless computing' and how to configure and manage servers using pools, policies, and profiles. Explore the features of Cisco Intersight, a cloud-based management platform that provides automated updates, compatibility checks, and connected TAC support.