What Is Cisco Unified Computing System?
Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) unites physical and virtual computational and network resources into a single system. UCS is a set of pre-integrated data center components that comprises blade servers, adapters, fabric interconnects, and extenders that are integrated under a common embedded management system. This approach results in far fewer system components than comparable data center platforms.
What Is The Maximum Number Of User Sessions Supported On Ucs?
The maximum number of users that can be created on UCS is 48, this includes any kind of user. The maximum number of GUI sessions (accessing UCS manager via http) supported is 256. The maximum number of CLI sessions (telnet and SSH combined) supported is 32. Remember that CLI and GUI sessions are treated as separate; hence you can have at the max 256 GUI sessions and 32 CLI sessions at the same time.
Why Is It Not Recommended To Mix Different Memory Module Sizes?
Mixing different sizes of RAM bars makes the CPU cycle asymmetric, which can cause delay in the CPU’s data fetching that could become a bottleneck. However, this would not cause a problem of compatibility.
How Do I Extend Local Storage?
You can extend external storage using the Network File System (NFS) or Small Computer System Interface over IP (iSCSI). You can use internal or external Ethernet ports or 10 Gigabit Ethernet FCoE SFP+ (PCIe card).
What Is Ucs Express?
UCS express is compact, all-in-one computing and networking system targeted at branch offices. UCS express is build on the concept of lean branch office which reduces the branch-office infrastructure footprint, equipment and operating costs, and management complexity. Main components of UCS express are ISR Generation2 series router and Services Ready Engine (SRE) multipurpose x86 blade servers. Cisco ISR G2 functions as a blade-server enclosure for SRE blade servers, which in themselves run branch office applications like DNS, DHCP, etc. The system comes with VMware vSphere Hypervisor for virtualization and CIMC Express for blade server management.
What Are Ucs E-series Servers?
UCS E-Series Server modules are next-generation, power-optimized, x86, Intel® Xeon® 64-bit blade servers designed to be deployed in Cisco Integrated Services Routers Generation 2 (ISR G2). The Cisco UCS E-Series Servers extend the Cisco UCS product portfolio to meet the needs of customers who want to deploy a virtualization-ready computing infrastructure in the branch-office environment while maintaining a lean branch-office architecture. E-series servers are a good replacement for UCS express SRE.
How Are The Ports Mapped From Server To Fabric Interconnect In Ucs?
Port mapping from server to fabric interconnect is automatic in UCS. If the number of links from fabric extender to fabric interconnect is only one then all of the 8 ports are pinned to it. If the number of links from fabric extender to fabric interconnect is two then ports 1,3,5,7 are pinned to first link and ports 2,4,6,8 are pinned to second link. If the number of links from fabric extender to fabric interconnect is four then ports 1,5 are pinned to first link; port 2,6 are pinned to second link; port 3,7 are pinned to third link; and port 4,8 are pinned to fourth link. Remember that three link topology is not supported in UCS.
What Is The Maximum Number Of Vlans Supported In Ucs?
As of version 1.3(1), UCS supports up to 512 VLANs. Remember that VLANs 3968 to 4048 are reserved and can not be used.
If I Have Forgotten Ucs Password, How To Recover It?
If you have forgotten the password, you can set a new password. Connect to the console of UCS 6100 series fabric interconnect. Reload the fabric interconnect and when it boots up hit ctrl+L or ctrl+shift+R to go to loader prompt then boot the kickstart image; if you have two fabric interconnects connected in HA then first reload the subordinate fabric interconnect and bring it in loader prompt and then reload the primary and bring it in loader prompt, after this load kickstart image on primary. Configure the admin password using “admin-password” command by going to config terminal mode. Now load the system image on the fabric interconnect or if you have HA load system image on the primary fabric interconnect. The password is now set to the new password you have just configured; if you have HA then now you can load the kickstart and system images on the subordinate fabric interconnect.
Which Operating Systems (os) Are Supported On Ucs?
UCS blade servers are certified for following OS:
Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.8
Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
VMware vSphere 4
VMware Infrastructure 3.5 Update 4
Which Hypervisors Are Supported On Ucs?
Cisco UCS supports several hypervisors including VMware ESX, ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer and others. Guest operating systems are limited to 255 GB of vRAM and 8 virtual processors in vSphere 4.x, upgraded to 1 TB of vRAM and 32 vCPUs in vSphere 5.0. Additionally, the Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Cards incorporate VM-FEX technology that gives virtual machines direct access to the hardware for improved performance and network visibility.
From Where To Download Os Patches And Drivers?
You should download OS patches from the respective vendors. Drivers that are not part of OS and supplied by Cisco can be downloaded from cisco.com.
Does Ucs Support Netflow?
No, UCS does not support netflow.
Can I Use A Nexus 5000 As A Ucs 6100 Fabric Interconnect?
No, Nexus 5000 is a general purpose L2 switch and UCS 6100 series is an integral part of the unified computing system. The software that runs on the UCS 6100 is different from the Nexus 5000, as the UCS 6100 has both control and management planes.
What Are Ucs Blade Servers And Rack Servers?
UCS Blade Servers sit inside the UCS chassis and are managed using UCS manager. UCS Rack Servers work independently and do not require the full UCS infrastructure; however they can also be integrated in your existing UCS infrastructure.
If The Fabric Extender Is Connected To Fabric Interconnect Using 4 Links And One Of The Links Fail, What Will Happen?
The server interfaces that are affected will either lose connectivity or fail over to another fabric extender, depending if interface is created as a HA interface. UCS M71KR-E/ UCS M71KR-Q Converged network adapter has the capability to fail over Ethernet interfaces if so configured. UCS 82598KR-CI 10 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter does not have this capability. Fibre Channel interfaces that are pinned to failing fabric extender link will just fail and their HA capability depends purely on host side multipathing driver.
If HA/mutipathing is not configured for Ethernet/Fibre Channel then servers connected to the failed link will loose connectivity but the other three links will be working as usual. Remember that no automatic re-pinning will happen. You can manually re-pin the servers using two link topology, since three link topology is not supported.
What Boot Devices Are Supported?
The supported boot devices include hard disk drives (HDDs); SAN devices; USB devices (DVD/CD drives, flash drives, and HDDs); and virtual devices through the keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) device (such as DVD drives, USB devices, and ISO files).It is also possible to boot off the SD cards (M1 and M2) or eMMC flash (M3). However, due to the limited read/write operations of these drives, it is not recommended to use this media as a boot drive.
Can I Plug In External Cd/dvd And Hard Drives?
Yes. You can plug in these drives using the USB connector or a dongle.
Can I Remove Sd Cards In Both Single-wide And Double-wide M1and M2 Blades?
Yes. The single-wide blades require removal of the blade to access the SD card, whereas the double-wide blades have the SD cards accessible in the front.
What Are The Default Username And Password?
The default username is “admin.” The default password is “password.”
What Is The Difference Between Vdvd And Vhdd?
The vDVD can mount a standard .ISO file, whereas the vHDD can mount a file system dump. The vDVD is most commonly used for OS installation, and the vHDD is used for diagnostics.
What Clock Rate Is The Memory Running At?
All M1 and M2 servers use DDR3-1333 memory, which runs at 667MHz. The M3 modules use DDR4-2133 or DDR-2400, which run at 1066 and 1200 MHz, respectively. Only if both modules on the 160S-M3 module are populated with DDR4-2400 modules can the memory run at 1200 MHz.
Why Do M1 And M2 Single-wide Servers Have A Different Memory Type From The M1 And M2 Double-wide Servers?
Due to the physical size restrictions of the single-wide servers, only Very Low Profile (VLP) DIMMs can fit. The double-wide servers have more space available and can therefore use bigger memory modules.
Is Fibre Channel Over Ethernet (fcoe) Supported?
Yes. FCoE is supported on a double-wide blade with a 10 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe card.
I Am Generally Concerned About The Iops Of The System. What Does Cisco Recommend?
Space is easy to estimate, RAID mode is determined by redundancy requirements, and in the end performance guidance is:
For simple RAID 0 deployments with no chatty OS, go with SATA (lowest price).
For RAID 1 or RAID 5 deployments with a somewhat chatty OS, go with SAS (price/performance balance).
For RAID1 or RAID 5 deployments with a chatty OS and apps requiring low latency, go with SSD (best performance).
Memory
Why Are There Two Sd Cards On The M1 And M2 Servers?
One SD card is used by Cisco IMC as a boot device and is also used for host image mapping. The second SD card can be mapped into the operating system.
What Is The Difference Between The E100s And E100d Hard Disks?
The E100S drives are used in the single-wide modules, whereas the E100D drives are used in the double-wide servers. The drives are identical, but they come with different carrier cards that fit only in the respective module type.
Can I Manually Change A Carrier Card And Therefore Transform An E100s To An E100d Drive?
Yes.
Are Pcie Cards Hot-swappable?
No. PCIe cards are not hot-swappable.
What Raid Modes Are Supported?
Hardware RAID 0 and 1 are supported on the single-wide blades and double-wide blades with PCIe cards, and RAID 0, 1, and 5 are supported on the double-wide blades without PCIe cards. A minimum of three drives are required for RAID 5 support.
Can I Use The Server Without Any Raid Option?
Yes, the drives can also operate in “Just a Bunch of Disks” (JBOD) mode.
How Do I Access The Internal Network Interfaces?
Both internal interfaces can be accessed through the router.
What Are The Methods For Interfacing With The Host?
You can interface with the host in several ways. You can access the host using the front-panel support for the monitor and keyboard, serial console redirection through the router console, or the virtual KVM.
Why Do I Get A “permission Denied” Error After Downloading The .jnlp Java Launcher For The Vkvm?
The downloaded file contains a temporary username and password. The easiest way to solve this issue is to edit the .jnlp file in a text editor and replace the “Username:” and “Password:” values with the actual credentials.
I Can’t Use Network Address Translation (nat) For The Vkvm Connection. Which Ports Do I Need To Use For Nat?
The KVM connection uses ports 443 and 2068. Once both are set up for NAT, the KVM should work.
Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) unites physical and virtual computational and network resources into a single system. UCS is a set of pre-integrated data center components that comprises blade servers, adapters, fabric interconnects, and extenders that are integrated under a common embedded management system. This approach results in far fewer system components than comparable data center platforms.
What Is The Maximum Number Of User Sessions Supported On Ucs?
The maximum number of users that can be created on UCS is 48, this includes any kind of user. The maximum number of GUI sessions (accessing UCS manager via http) supported is 256. The maximum number of CLI sessions (telnet and SSH combined) supported is 32. Remember that CLI and GUI sessions are treated as separate; hence you can have at the max 256 GUI sessions and 32 CLI sessions at the same time.
Why Is It Not Recommended To Mix Different Memory Module Sizes?
Mixing different sizes of RAM bars makes the CPU cycle asymmetric, which can cause delay in the CPU’s data fetching that could become a bottleneck. However, this would not cause a problem of compatibility.
How Do I Extend Local Storage?
You can extend external storage using the Network File System (NFS) or Small Computer System Interface over IP (iSCSI). You can use internal or external Ethernet ports or 10 Gigabit Ethernet FCoE SFP+ (PCIe card).
What Is Ucs Express?
UCS express is compact, all-in-one computing and networking system targeted at branch offices. UCS express is build on the concept of lean branch office which reduces the branch-office infrastructure footprint, equipment and operating costs, and management complexity. Main components of UCS express are ISR Generation2 series router and Services Ready Engine (SRE) multipurpose x86 blade servers. Cisco ISR G2 functions as a blade-server enclosure for SRE blade servers, which in themselves run branch office applications like DNS, DHCP, etc. The system comes with VMware vSphere Hypervisor for virtualization and CIMC Express for blade server management.
What Are Ucs E-series Servers?
UCS E-Series Server modules are next-generation, power-optimized, x86, Intel® Xeon® 64-bit blade servers designed to be deployed in Cisco Integrated Services Routers Generation 2 (ISR G2). The Cisco UCS E-Series Servers extend the Cisco UCS product portfolio to meet the needs of customers who want to deploy a virtualization-ready computing infrastructure in the branch-office environment while maintaining a lean branch-office architecture. E-series servers are a good replacement for UCS express SRE.
How Are The Ports Mapped From Server To Fabric Interconnect In Ucs?
Port mapping from server to fabric interconnect is automatic in UCS. If the number of links from fabric extender to fabric interconnect is only one then all of the 8 ports are pinned to it. If the number of links from fabric extender to fabric interconnect is two then ports 1,3,5,7 are pinned to first link and ports 2,4,6,8 are pinned to second link. If the number of links from fabric extender to fabric interconnect is four then ports 1,5 are pinned to first link; port 2,6 are pinned to second link; port 3,7 are pinned to third link; and port 4,8 are pinned to fourth link. Remember that three link topology is not supported in UCS.
What Is The Maximum Number Of Vlans Supported In Ucs?
As of version 1.3(1), UCS supports up to 512 VLANs. Remember that VLANs 3968 to 4048 are reserved and can not be used.
If I Have Forgotten Ucs Password, How To Recover It?
If you have forgotten the password, you can set a new password. Connect to the console of UCS 6100 series fabric interconnect. Reload the fabric interconnect and when it boots up hit ctrl+L or ctrl+shift+R to go to loader prompt then boot the kickstart image; if you have two fabric interconnects connected in HA then first reload the subordinate fabric interconnect and bring it in loader prompt and then reload the primary and bring it in loader prompt, after this load kickstart image on primary. Configure the admin password using “admin-password” command by going to config terminal mode. Now load the system image on the fabric interconnect or if you have HA load system image on the primary fabric interconnect. The password is now set to the new password you have just configured; if you have HA then now you can load the kickstart and system images on the subordinate fabric interconnect.
Which Operating Systems (os) Are Supported On Ucs?
UCS blade servers are certified for following OS:
Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.8
Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
VMware vSphere 4
VMware Infrastructure 3.5 Update 4
Which Hypervisors Are Supported On Ucs?
Cisco UCS supports several hypervisors including VMware ESX, ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer and others. Guest operating systems are limited to 255 GB of vRAM and 8 virtual processors in vSphere 4.x, upgraded to 1 TB of vRAM and 32 vCPUs in vSphere 5.0. Additionally, the Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Cards incorporate VM-FEX technology that gives virtual machines direct access to the hardware for improved performance and network visibility.
From Where To Download Os Patches And Drivers?
You should download OS patches from the respective vendors. Drivers that are not part of OS and supplied by Cisco can be downloaded from cisco.com.
Does Ucs Support Netflow?
No, UCS does not support netflow.
Can I Use A Nexus 5000 As A Ucs 6100 Fabric Interconnect?
No, Nexus 5000 is a general purpose L2 switch and UCS 6100 series is an integral part of the unified computing system. The software that runs on the UCS 6100 is different from the Nexus 5000, as the UCS 6100 has both control and management planes.
What Are Ucs Blade Servers And Rack Servers?
UCS Blade Servers sit inside the UCS chassis and are managed using UCS manager. UCS Rack Servers work independently and do not require the full UCS infrastructure; however they can also be integrated in your existing UCS infrastructure.
If The Fabric Extender Is Connected To Fabric Interconnect Using 4 Links And One Of The Links Fail, What Will Happen?
The server interfaces that are affected will either lose connectivity or fail over to another fabric extender, depending if interface is created as a HA interface. UCS M71KR-E/ UCS M71KR-Q Converged network adapter has the capability to fail over Ethernet interfaces if so configured. UCS 82598KR-CI 10 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter does not have this capability. Fibre Channel interfaces that are pinned to failing fabric extender link will just fail and their HA capability depends purely on host side multipathing driver.
If HA/mutipathing is not configured for Ethernet/Fibre Channel then servers connected to the failed link will loose connectivity but the other three links will be working as usual. Remember that no automatic re-pinning will happen. You can manually re-pin the servers using two link topology, since three link topology is not supported.
What Boot Devices Are Supported?
The supported boot devices include hard disk drives (HDDs); SAN devices; USB devices (DVD/CD drives, flash drives, and HDDs); and virtual devices through the keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) device (such as DVD drives, USB devices, and ISO files).It is also possible to boot off the SD cards (M1 and M2) or eMMC flash (M3). However, due to the limited read/write operations of these drives, it is not recommended to use this media as a boot drive.
Can I Plug In External Cd/dvd And Hard Drives?
Yes. You can plug in these drives using the USB connector or a dongle.
Can I Remove Sd Cards In Both Single-wide And Double-wide M1and M2 Blades?
Yes. The single-wide blades require removal of the blade to access the SD card, whereas the double-wide blades have the SD cards accessible in the front.
What Are The Default Username And Password?
The default username is “admin.” The default password is “password.”
What Is The Difference Between Vdvd And Vhdd?
The vDVD can mount a standard .ISO file, whereas the vHDD can mount a file system dump. The vDVD is most commonly used for OS installation, and the vHDD is used for diagnostics.
What Clock Rate Is The Memory Running At?
All M1 and M2 servers use DDR3-1333 memory, which runs at 667MHz. The M3 modules use DDR4-2133 or DDR-2400, which run at 1066 and 1200 MHz, respectively. Only if both modules on the 160S-M3 module are populated with DDR4-2400 modules can the memory run at 1200 MHz.
Why Do M1 And M2 Single-wide Servers Have A Different Memory Type From The M1 And M2 Double-wide Servers?
Due to the physical size restrictions of the single-wide servers, only Very Low Profile (VLP) DIMMs can fit. The double-wide servers have more space available and can therefore use bigger memory modules.
Is Fibre Channel Over Ethernet (fcoe) Supported?
Yes. FCoE is supported on a double-wide blade with a 10 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe card.
I Am Generally Concerned About The Iops Of The System. What Does Cisco Recommend?
Space is easy to estimate, RAID mode is determined by redundancy requirements, and in the end performance guidance is:
For simple RAID 0 deployments with no chatty OS, go with SATA (lowest price).
For RAID 1 or RAID 5 deployments with a somewhat chatty OS, go with SAS (price/performance balance).
For RAID1 or RAID 5 deployments with a chatty OS and apps requiring low latency, go with SSD (best performance).
Memory
Why Are There Two Sd Cards On The M1 And M2 Servers?
One SD card is used by Cisco IMC as a boot device and is also used for host image mapping. The second SD card can be mapped into the operating system.
What Is The Difference Between The E100s And E100d Hard Disks?
The E100S drives are used in the single-wide modules, whereas the E100D drives are used in the double-wide servers. The drives are identical, but they come with different carrier cards that fit only in the respective module type.
Can I Manually Change A Carrier Card And Therefore Transform An E100s To An E100d Drive?
Yes.
Are Pcie Cards Hot-swappable?
No. PCIe cards are not hot-swappable.
What Raid Modes Are Supported?
Hardware RAID 0 and 1 are supported on the single-wide blades and double-wide blades with PCIe cards, and RAID 0, 1, and 5 are supported on the double-wide blades without PCIe cards. A minimum of three drives are required for RAID 5 support.
Can I Use The Server Without Any Raid Option?
Yes, the drives can also operate in “Just a Bunch of Disks” (JBOD) mode.
How Do I Access The Internal Network Interfaces?
Both internal interfaces can be accessed through the router.
What Are The Methods For Interfacing With The Host?
You can interface with the host in several ways. You can access the host using the front-panel support for the monitor and keyboard, serial console redirection through the router console, or the virtual KVM.
Why Do I Get A “permission Denied” Error After Downloading The .jnlp Java Launcher For The Vkvm?
The downloaded file contains a temporary username and password. The easiest way to solve this issue is to edit the .jnlp file in a text editor and replace the “Username:” and “Password:” values with the actual credentials.
I Can’t Use Network Address Translation (nat) For The Vkvm Connection. Which Ports Do I Need To Use For Nat?
The KVM connection uses ports 443 and 2068. Once both are set up for NAT, the KVM should work.
https://mytecbooks.blogspot.com/2018/02/cisco-unified-computing-system-freshers.html