Designing Cisco Data Center Infrastructure («DCID7»)

• Making design decisions for optimal performance, virtualisation, security, and automation of the data centre infrastructure
• Gaining the practical and theoretical knowledge to design a scalable, reliable, and intelligent data centre based on Cisco technologies

This course helps you prepare for the «Designing Cisco Data Center Infrastructure v1.0 (DCID 300-610)» exam, which leads to the new «CCNP® Data Center and Cisco Certified Specialist – Data Center Design» certifications. 

1 Describing High Availability on Layer 2

• Overview of Layer 2 High-Availability Mechanisms
• Virtual Port Channels
• Cisco FabricPath
• Virtual Port Channel+

2 Designing Layer 3 Connectivity

• First Hop Redundancy Protocols
• Improve Routing Protocol Performance and Security
• Enhance Layer 3 Scalability and Robustness

3 Designing Data Center Topologies

• Data Center Traffic Flows
• Cabling Challenges
• Access Layer
• Aggregation Layer
• Core Layer
• Spine-and-Leaf Topology
• Redundancy Options

4 Designing Data Center Interconnects with Cisco OTV

• Cisco OTV Overview
• Cisco OTV Control and Data Planes
• Failure Isolation
• Cisco OTV Features
• Optimize Cisco OTV
• Evaluate Cisco OTV

5 Describing Locator/ID Separation Protocol

• Locator/ID Separation Protocol
• Location Identifier Separation Protocol (LISP) Virtual Machine (VM) Mobility
• LISP Extended Subnet Mode (ESM) Multihop Mobility
• LISP VPN Virtualization

6 Describing VXLAN Overlay Networks

• Describe VXLAN Benefits over VLAN
• Layer 2 and Layer 3 VXLAN Overlay
• Multiprotocol Border Gateway Protocol (MP-BGP) Ethernet VPN (EVPN) Control Plane Overview
• VXLAN Data Plane

7 Describing Hardware and Device Virtualization

• Hardware-Based High Availability
• Device Virtualization
• Cisco UCS Hardware Virtualization
• Server Virtualization
• SAN Virtualization
• N-Port ID Virtualization

8 Describing Cisco FEX Options

• Cisco Adapter FEX
• Access Layer with Cisco FEX
• Cisco FEX Topologies
• Virtualization-Aware Networking
• Single Root I/O Virtualization
• Cisco FEX Evaluation

9 Describing Basic Data Center Security

• Threat Mitigation
• Attack and Countermeasure Examples
• Secure the Management Plane
• Protect the Control Plane
• RBAC and Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA)

10 Describing Advanced Data Center Security

• Cisco TrustSec in Cisco Secure Enclaves Architecture
• Cisco TrustSec Operation
• Firewalling
• Positioning the Firewall Within Data Center Networks
• Cisco Firepower® Portfolio
• Firewall Virtualization
• Design for Threat Mitigation

11 Describing Management and Orchestration

• Network and License Management
• Cisco UCS Manager
• Cisco UCS Director
• Cisco Intersight
• Cisco DCNM Overview

12 Describing Storage and RAID Options

• Position DAS in Storage Technologies
• Network-Attached Storage
• Fibre Channel, FCoE, and Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI)
• Evaluate Storage Technologies

13 Describing Fibre Channel Concepts

• Fibre Channel Connections, Layers, and Addresses
• Fibre Channel Communication
• Virtualization in Fibre Channel SAN

14 Describing Fibre Channel Topologies

• SAN Parameterization
• SAN Design Options
• Choosing a Fibre Channel Design Solution

15 Describing FCoE

• FCoE Protocol Characteristics
• FCoE Communication
• Data Center Bridging
• FCoE Initialization Protocol
• FCoE Design Options

16 Describing Storage Security

• Common SAN Security Features
• Zones
• SAN Security Enhancements
• Cryptography in SAN

17 Describing SAN Management and Orchestration

• Cisco DCNM for SAN
• Cisco DCNM Analytics and Streaming Telemetry
• Cisco UCS Director in the SAN
• Cisco UCS Director Workflows

18 Describing Cisco UCS Servers and Use Cases

• Cisco UCS C-Series Servers
• Fabric Interconnects and Blade Chassis
• Cisco UCS B-Series Server Adapter Cards
• Stateless Computing
• Cisco UCS Mini

19 Describing Fabric Interconnect Connectivity

• Use of Fabric Interconnect Interfaces
• VLANs and VSANs in a Cisco UCS Domain
• Southbound Connections
• Northbound Connections
• Disjoint Layer 2 Networks
• Fabric Interconnect High Availability and Redundancy

20 Describing Hyperconverged and Integrated Systems

• Hyperconverged and Integrated Systems Overview
• Cisco HyperFlex™ Solution
• Cisco HyperFlex Scalability and Robustness
• Cisco HyperFlex Clusters
• Cluster Capacity and Multiple Clusters on One Cisco UCS Domain
• External Storage and Graphical Processing Units on Cisco HyperFlex
• Cisco HyperFlex Positioning

21 Describing Cisco UCS Manager Systemwide Parameters

• Cisco UCS Setup and Management
• Cisco UCS Traffic Management

22 Describing Cisco UCS RBAC

• Roles and Privileges
• Organizations in Cisco UCS Manager
• Locales and Effective Rights
• Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting
• Two-Factor Authentication

23 Describing Pools for Service Profiles

• Global and Local Pools
• Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) Suffix and Media Access Control (MAC) Address Pools
• World Wide Name (WWN) Pools
• Server and iSCSI Initiator IP Pools

24 Describing Policies for Service Profiles

• Global vs. Local Policies
• Storage and Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) Policies
• Boot and Scrub Policies
• Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) and Maintenance Policies

25 Describing Network-Specific Adapters and Policies

• LAN Connectivity Controls
• SAN Connectivity Controls
• Virtual Access Layer
• Connectivity Enhancements

26 Describing Templates in Cisco UCS Manager

• Cisco UCS Templates
• Service Profile Templates
• Network Templates
• Designing Data Center Automation

27 Model-Driven Programmability

• Cisco NX-API Overview
• Programmability Using Python
• Cisco Ansible Module
• Use the Puppet Agent

This course is designed for IT professionals with five to eight years of experience in these roles or areas of responsibility: Data Center Engineers, Network Designers, Network Administrators, Network Engineers, System Engineers, Consulting System Engineers, Technical Solution Architects, Server Administrators, Network Managers, Cisco Integrators or Partners.

We recommend that you have experience in the following areas before attending this course:

• Implementation of data center networking (LAN) and storage area network (SAN) solutions
• Describing Data Center Storage
• Implementation of Data Center Virtualization
• Implementation of the Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS)
• Implementation of data center automation and orchestration with focus on Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) and Cisco UCS Director
• Describe the products in Cisco Data Center Nexus and Multilayer Director Switch (MDS) families

Certification
Designing Cisco Data Center Infrastructure v1.0 (DCID 300-610) is a 90-minute exam associated with the CCNP Data Center and Cisco Certified Specialist  – Data Center Design certifications. This course will prepare you optimally for the exam. 

Recertification
After three years, you can recertify by earning CEP (Continuous Learning Program) points or by taking the corresponding exam.