cisco aci multi site Deployment Guide

Short overview about Cisco Aci Multi Site Deployment Guide and what's good to know about.

Cisco ACI Multi-Site Deployment Guide

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The Cisco ACI Multi-Site feature allows you to connect and manage multiple ACI fabrics as one. This deployment guide covers the basics of setting up and configuring Multi-Site, and provides best practices and tips for a successful deployment.

Multi-Site Overview

The Multi-Site feature in Cisco ACI provides a single point of management andpolicy definition for multiple ACI fabrics. It allows you to connect multiple ACI fabrics together and treat them as a single entity. This can simplify the management of a large, distributed ACI deployment.

Multi-Site Connectivity

Multi-Site connectivity is achieved using a dedicated overlay network that connects the ACI fabrics together. This overlay network is implemented using VXLAN, and is sometimes referred to as the Multi-Site VXLAN (MS-VXLAN) network.

The MS-VXLAN network consists of a series of VXLAN tunnels that connect the ACI fabrics together. These tunnels are implemented using UDP, and each tunnel terminates on a Multi-Site Border Leaf (MSBL) in each ACI fabric. The MSBLs are responsible for forwarding traffic between the ACI fabrics and the MS-VXLAN network.

Multi-Site Deployment Scenarios

There are two common deployment scenarios for Multi-Site:

  1. Hub-and-Spoke: In this scenario, one ACI fabric (the “hub”) is connected to multiple other ACI fabrics (the “spokes”). The hub fabric is typically the central point of policy definition and management for the entire Multi-Site deployment.

  2. Full Mesh: In this scenario, all ACI fabrics are connected to each other. This provides the most redundancy and flexibility, but can also be the most complex to manage.

Multi-Site Deployment Steps

There are four basic steps to setting up a Multi-Site deployment:

  1. Configure the MS-VXLAN network. This involves configuring the MSBLs in each ACI fabric, and creating the VXLAN tunnels that will connect the fabrics together.

  2. Configure fabric isolation. This ensures that traffic from one ACI fabric cannot reach another ACI fabric, unless it is explicitly allowed by policy.

  3. Configure fabric connectivity. This allows traffic to flow between the ACI fabrics.

  4. Configure application-specific policies. This allows you to control which applications and services are allowed to run on which ACI fabrics.

Multi-Site Best Practices

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when deploying Multi-Site:

  1. Deployment order: It is generally best to deploy the hub fabric first, followed by the spoke fabrics. This allows you to centrally manage the entire Multi-Site deployment from the hub fabric.

  2. Overlay network: The MS-VXLAN network should be designed and deployed as a dedicated overlay network. It should not be used for any other purpose.

  3. Layer 3: The MS-VXLAN network should be implemented at Layer 3. This allows it to be easily routed and scale to a large number of fabrics.

  4. Border Leaf: The Border Leaf is a critical component of the Multi-Site deployment. It should be deployed in a highly available manner, using multiple devices for redundancy.

  5. Application policies: Application policies should be carefully designed and tested before being deployed to production. They should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis to ensure that they are still valid.

Conclusion

The Cisco ACI Multi-Site feature provides a single point of management and policy definition for multiple ACI fabrics. It allows you to connect multiple ACI fabrics together and treat them as a single entity. This can simplify the management of a large, distributed ACI deployment.

Multi-Site connectivity is achieved using a dedicated overlay network that connects the ACI fabrics together. This overlay network is implemented using VXLAN, and is sometimes referred to as the Multi-Site VXLAN (MS-VXLAN) network.

There are two common deployment scenarios for Multi-Site: Hub-and-Spoke and Full Mesh. The deployment scenario that you choose will depend on your specific needs and requirements.

There are four basic steps to setting up a Multi-Site deployment: Configure the MS-VXLAN network, Configure fabric isolation, Configure fabric connectivity, and Configure application-specific policies.

There are some best practices to keep in mind when deploying Multi-Site: Deployment order, Overlay network, Layer 3, Border Leaf, and Application policies.

The Cisco ACI Multi-Site feature provides a powerful way to manage and deploy multiple ACI

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