Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) (Data Center): A Complete Reference Guide to the Cisco Data Center Virtualization Server Architecture

The definitive guide to UCS and the Cisco^® Data Center Server: planning, architecture, components, deployment, and benefits

With its new Unified Computing System (UCS) family of products, Cisco has introduced a fundamentally new vision for data center computing: one that reduces ownership cost, improves agility, and radically simplifies management. In this book, three Cisco insiders thoroughly explain UCS, and offer practical insights for IT professionals and decision-makers who are evaluating or implementing it.

The authors establish the context for UCS by discussing the implications of virtualization, unified I/O, large memories and other key technologies, and showing how trends like cloud computing and green IT will drive the next-generation data center. Next, they take a closer look at the evolution of server CPU, memory, and I/O subsystems, covering advances such as the Intel^® XEON^® 5500, 5600, 7500, DDR3 memory, and unified I/O over 10 Gbps Ethernet.

Building on these fundamentals, the authors then discuss UCS in detail, showing how it systematically overcomes key limitations of current data center environments. They review UCS features, components, and architecture, and demonstrate how it can improve data center performance, reliability, simplicity, flexibility, and energy efficiency. Along the way, they offer realistic planning, installation, and migration guidance: everything decision-makers and technical implementers need to gain maximum value from UCS–now, and for years to come.

Silvano Gai has spent 11 years as Cisco Fellow, architecting Catalyst^®, MDS, and Nexus switches. He has written several books on networking, written multiple Internet Drafts and RFCs, and is responsible for 80 patents and applications. He teaches a course on this book’s topics at Stanford University.

Tommi Salli, Cisco Technical Marketing Engineer, has nearly 20 years of experience with servers and applications at Cisco, Sun, VERITAS, and Nuova Systems.

Roger Andersson, Cisco Manager, Technical Marketing, spent more than 12 years in the CLARiiON^® Engineering Division at EMC, and 5 years as Technical Product Manager at VERITAS/Symantec. He is now focused on Cisco UCS system management.

• Streamline data centers with UCS to systematically reduce cost of ownership
• Eliminate unnecessary server components–and their setup, management, power, cooling, and cabling
• Use UCS to scale service delivery, simplify service movement, and improve agility
• Review the latest advances in processor, memory, I/O, and virtualization architectures for data center servers
• Understand the specific technical advantages of UCS
• Integrate UCS 6100 Fabric Interconnect, Cisco UCS 2100 Series Fabric Extenders, UCS 5100 Series Blade Server Enclosures, UCS B-Series Blade Servers, UCS C-Series Rack Servers, and UCS Adapters
• Use Cisco UCS Manager to manage all Cisco UCS components as a single, seamless entity
• Integrate third-party management tools from companies like BMC ^®, CA ^®, EMC ^®, IBM ^®, Microsoft ^®, and VMware ^®
• Practice all this with a copy of Cisco Unified Computing System™ Platform Emulator Lite (UCSPE Lite) on the DVD in the back of the book

This book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press®, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.

Silvano Gai, who grew up in a small village near Asti, Italy, has more than twenty-seven years of experience in computer engineering and computer networks. He is the author of several books and technical publications on computer networking as well as multiple Internet Drafts and RFCs. He is responsible for 30 issued patents and 50 patent applications. His background includes seven years as a full professor of Computer Engineering, tenure track, at Politecnico di Torino, Italy and seven years as a researcher at the CNR (Italian National Council for Scientific Research). For the past thirteen years, he has been in Silicon Valley where in the position of Cisco Fellow, he was an architect of the Cisco Catalyst family of network switches, of the Cisco MDS family of storage networking switches, and of the Nexus family of data center switches. Silvano teaches a course on the topics of this book at Stanford University.

Tommi Salli, who was born and raised in Finland, has close to 20 years of experience working with computers. He has extensive server and application background from companies like SUN Microsystems and VERITAS Software, which later got bought by Symantec from where he moved to Nuova Systems that got bought by Cisco. He has held different positions from Sales Engineer to Technology Scouting in the office of CTO from product management to architect and during his journey, he has been responsible for seven patent applications. He started his career in Finland, and for the past five years, he has been in Silicon Valley and is currently working for Cisco systems as a Technical Marketing Engineer.

Roger Andersson was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He has spent 20 years in the computer industry in both Sweden and the United States. Roger’s experience includes more than 12 years in the CLARiiON Engineering Division at EMC and five years at VERITAS/Symantec where Roger worked as a Technical Product Manager focusing on systems management, server, and application automated provisioning. Roger is currently working at Cisco as a Manager, Technical Marketing, where he is focused on the system management aspects of a Unified Computing System.