Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC)

Automate multicloud data centre network provisioning

The Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (Cisco APIC) is the main architectural component of the Cisco ACI solution. It is the unified point of automation and management for the Cisco ACI fabric, policy enforcement, and health monitoring. The controller optimises performance and manages and operates a scalable multitenant Cisco ACI fabric.

Features and Capabilities

Centralised application-level policy engine for physical, virtual, and cloud infrastructures.

Detailed visibility, telemetry, and health scores by application and by tenant
Designed around open standards and open APIs
Robust implementation of multi-tenant security, quality of service (QoS), and high availability
Integration with management systems such as VMware, Microsoft, and OpenStack
Cloud APIC appliance for Cisco Cloud ACI deployments public cloud environments

Designed for automation, programmability, and centralised management, the Cisco APIC itself exposes northbound APIs through XML and JSON. It provides both a command-line interface (CLI) and GUI which utilise the APIs to manage the fabric holistically.