Cisco’s Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) is a data center network architecture that allows for intelligent, automated application provisioning and policy enforcement. ACI consists of a unified, programmable policy model that abstracts and automates the application layer from the underlying physical infrastructure. This allows for greater flexibility and agility in the application lifecycle, and simplifies network operations.
ACI’s underlay network is based on Cisco’s industry-leading Nexus 9000 Series data center switches. The Nexus 9000 Series offers a comprehensive feature set, high performance, and low power consumption. ACI’s overlay network is based on the Cisco Application Virtual Networking (AVN) platform, which uses the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to dynamically route traffic across the ACI fabric.
The Cisco AVN platform is a key component of ACI’s application-centric approach to networking. AVN provides a virtual network overlay that allows for the creation of virtual networks that are isolated from the underlying physical infrastructure. This isolation allows for the creation of multiple, independent application environments within a single ACI fabric.
ACI’s application-centric approach to networking enables a high degree of automation and simplifies network operations. ACI’s unified policy model allows for the creation of application-specific networking policies that are enforced across the entire ACI fabric. This simplifies the provisioning and management of application networking resources, and reduces the need for manual configuration.
ACI’s intelligent, application-aware network infrastructure enables the dynamic adjustment of network resources to meet the changing needs of applications. This provides the flexibility and agility needed to support the ever-changing demands of today’s business applications.
