Cisco ACI Preferred Group
One of the key benefits of ACI is its ability to simplify the network by consolidating multiple networking devices into a single, logical entity called an “Application Network Profile” (ANP). This profile contains all of the necessary networking elements – such as VLANs, security policies, and Quality of Service (QoS) settings – required to support a specific application or service.
To further simplify the network, Cisco ACI also offers the concept of a “Preferred Group”. A Preferred Group is a logical grouping of one or more ANPs that share common networking requirements. For example, a group of web servers that all need to communicate with the same database server would be a good candidate for a Preferred Group.
Preferred Groups have a number of benefits:
• They simplify network administration by allowing you to manage a group of ANPs as a single entity.
• They improve network security by allowing you to apply security policies to a group of ANPs.
• They improve network performance by allowing you to apply QoS policies to a group of ANPs.
If you’re looking to simplify your Cisco ACI deployment, then Preferred Groups are a great way to do it.
