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Course Length:
5 Days
Course Description:
Implementing Cisco Data Center Network Infrastructure 1 (DCNI-1) v2.0 is a five-day, data center-oriented course. The course starts with an overview of current data center trends, the evolution of data centers, and how to position available Cisco platforms for access, aggregation, and core layers of the data center. The course content is primarily focused on the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches, Cisco Catalyst 4900 Series top-of-rack switches, and, to a lesser degree, Cisco Blade Switches. The course describes the hardware and software options for the Cisco Catalyst 4900 Series Switches, and considers platforms in the context of a data center network. Next, a detailed discussion on Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch hardware and software architecture follows, focusing on the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch chassis, power supply, supervisor engine, line cards, and service module options. A new Virtual Switching System (VSS) functionality and configuration steps on how to deploy it are described. Then different features are discussed, with focus on the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch—the Cisco IOS modularity, quality of service (QoS) policy options and deployment, NetFlow, Cisco IOS Embedded Event Manager (EEM), Automated Diagnostic Tools, Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN), Remote SPAN (RSPAN), and Encapsulated RSPAN (ERSPAN). Since security is a vital part of the Data Center network, the course continues with the description of the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Firewall Services Module (FWSM), hardware and software architecture, available features such as address translation, transparent versus routed mode, management and traffic control options, device virtualization with contexts, routing deployment, failover, and deep packet inspection functionality. Network monitoring is also seen as an important part of data center network policy. Thus, the course gives an overview of network monitoring—the benefits of and reasons to deploy network monitoring. The course describes Network Analysis Module (NAM) hardware and software architecture, the steps to provide initial configuration, and the data center-oriented NAM usage cases and configuration. The course concludes with a discussion on high availability, focusing on Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), and Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP) first-hop failure solutions, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch supervisor redundancy options—namely, Route Processor Redundancy (RPR), Route Processor Redundancy Plus (RPR+), Stateful Switchover (SSO), and SSO with Nonstop Forwarding (NSF). The goal of the DCNI-1 curriculum is to enable customers to build scalable, reliable, and intelligent data center networks using Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches equipped with FWSM and NAM service modules, Cisco Catalyst 4900 Series Switches, and Cisco Blade Switches.
Who Should Attend:
The primary audience for this course are Channel partner resellers and the secondary audience for this course are Field Engineers.
Benefits of Attendance:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
  • Describe the Cisco Catalyst 6500 and 4900 Series Switches, as well as Cisco Blade Switch family hardware options, data center architecture, and Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch advanced configuration, management, and maintenance features.
  • Identify and implement traffic flows, including FWSM routed and transparent modes, supervisor-based packet acceleration, and FWSM-PISA integration.
  • Describe NAM hardware, implement initial configuration, and use Cisco NAM to monitor network traffic.
  • Describe and deploy high-availability features in the data center.
Prerequisites:
The knowledge and skills that a student must have before attending this course include Cisco CCNP® or Cisco CCIE® Routing & Switching, or CCIE Service Provider, or equivalent experience and Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (BSCI) v3.0. Other knowledge needed includes Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks (BCMSN) v3.0, Optimizing Converged Cisco Networks (ONT) v1.0, and Implementing Secure Converged Wide Area Networks (ISCW) v1.0.
Course Outline:
  • Course Introduction
    1. Overview
    2. Course Goal and Objectives
    3. Course Flow
    4. Additional References
    5. Your Training Curriculum
  • Module 1: Implementing the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series, Cisco Catalyst 4900 Series, and Blade Switches
    1. Describing Data Center Architecture for Cisco Catalyst 6500 and 4900 Series Switches
    2. Describing and Positioning the Cisco Catalyst 6500 and 4900 Series Switches
    3. Describing the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch Supervisors
    4. Describing the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch Module and Power Supply Options
    5. Implementing VSS 1440
    6. Upgrading Cisco IOS Software Using Software Modularity
    7. Implementing NetFlow
    8. Implementing QoS
    9. Implementing EEM
    10. Utilizing Automated Diagnostics
    11. Implementing SPAN, RSPAN, and ERSPAN
    12. Describing the Cisco Blade Switch Family
    13. Lab 1-1: Deploying and Examining the VSS 1440 Operation
    14. Lab 1-3: Deploying QoS
    15. Lab 1-4: Deploying and Examining EEM
    16. Lab 1-5: Deploying Automated Diagnostics
    17. Lab 1-6: Deploying SPAN
  • Module 2: Implementing FWSM for a Data Center Network Infrastructure
    1. Implementing Traffic Flows
    2. Implementing Management Access
    3. Implementing ACLs
    4. Implementing Contexts
    5. Implementing Routing
    6. Implementing Failover
    7. Implementing Deep Packet Inspection
    8. Lab 2-1: Deploying the FWSM in Transparent Mode
    9. Lab 2-2: Deploying Multiple Contexts on FWSM
    10. Lab 2-3: Deploying the FWSM in Routing Mode
    11. Lab 2-4: Deploying the FWSM Failover
  • Module 3: Implementing Network Analysis with Cisco NAM
    1. Introducing Cisco NAM
    2. Implementing Initial Configuration
    3. Monitoring, Viewing, and Saving Data
    4. NAM Maintenance
    5. Lab 3-1: Deploying the Initial Cisco NAM Configuration
    6. Lab 3-2: Deploying Collection Mechanisms
  • Module 4: Implementing High-Availability Data Center Features
    1. Implementing High-Availability Features in the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch
    2. Implementing Stateful Switchover
    3. Implementing Nonstop Forwarding
    4. Lab 4-1: Deploying High Availability on Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch