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Deploy a Private Cloud in Hours, Not Days

FlexPod is now validated for Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track 2.0.

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Deploy a Private Cloud in Hours, Not Days
Deploy a Private Cloud in Hours, Not Days

FlexPod is a pre-designed and pre-validated base data center configuration. It is built on Cisco Unified Computing System, Cisco Nexus data center switches, NetApp FAS storage components, and a range of software infrastructure options from our partner ecosystem.

Entry-Level FlexPod Solution

Explore the efficient configuration options for smaller-business data centers.

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A Transformational Partnership

Cisco and NetApp leaders explain what their partnership means for customers. (3:10 min)

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FlexPod with Microsoft Private Cloud

Read this overview and reference architecture to learn how to reap the full benefits. (PDF - 1.9 MB)

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The FlexPod platform is the result of Cisco and NetApp collaborating with operating system, hypervisor, and application technology providers.

Use Cases

You can scale FlexPod up for greater performance and capacity, or scale it out for environments that need consistent, multiple deployments. You can also size and optimize FlexPod to accommodate different use cases, including application workloads such as:

  • Microsoft SQL Server
  • Microsoft Exchange 2010
  • Microsoft SharePoint
  • Virtual desktop infrastructure (Citrix XENDesktop, VMware View)
  • Secure multitenancy (SMT) environments

Key Benefits

FlexPod is built on leading computing, networking, storage, and infrastructure software components. It provides an ideal virtualized data center solution with:

  • Validated technologies from industry leaders in computing, storage, networking, and server virtualization
  • One platform built from unified compute, fabric, and storage technologies, with popular and trusted software virtualization
  • Integrated components that help enable you to centrally manage all your infrastructure pools
  • An open design management framework that integrates with your existing third-party infrastructure management solutions

The Cisco UCS Manager performs the critical role of abstracting hardware components into service templates that simplify FlexPod configuration and greatly facilitate operations management.

Get Details

The FlexPod overview describes the major components of the FlexPod program in more detail. Additional perspectives are included in the solutions brief.

For a concise description of the FlexPod elements, see:

FlexPod and Cisco Validated Designs

Cisco Validated Designs can help you deploy FlexPod platforms in a wide range of operating environments. Use these proven designs and best practices to help ensure rapid deployment and superior performance for mission-critical workloads.

FlexPod Platform

These guides document the requirements for supporting industry-leading hypervisors and system management tools on FlexPod.

FlexPod for Virtual Experience Infrastructure (VXI)

FlexPod provides platform support for virtual desktop deployments across the globe. The following design guides can help you configure industry-leading VXI solutions on a variety of FlexPod configurations.

Applications on FlexPod

Workloads ranging from Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Private Cloud, VMWare vSphere, SAP and Oracle applications are validated over FlexPod and documented in these Cisco Validated Designs.

Other Reference Guides

Management partners provide infrastructure management and orchestration capabilities to FlexPod, helping enterprises to create FlexPod-based private clouds.

Technology partners deliver key hypervisor, operating system, and application workloads to FlexPod. Taken together, these validated technologies support a growing list of requirements for private cloud implementations.

Management Partners

  • Cloupia

    Cloupia provides single-click infrastructure provisioning of FlexPod, so you can begin FlexPod resource deployments, monitoring and analytics, and management within a few hours.

  • CA Technologies

    CA Technologies validated management solutions provide customers peace of mind when using CA Technologies solutions to help provision, orchestrate, automate and manage their FlexPod environment.

  • Gale Technologies

    The GaleForce Turnkey Cloud Solution for FlexPod is a complete, end-to-end automation system that manages and provisions the entire FlexPod infrastructure stack for both physical and virtual resources, spanning across the compute, network, and storage domains.

Technology Partners

  • Microsoft

    FlexPod with Microsoft Private Cloud helps organizations expedite private cloud deployments.

  • VMware

    VMw are provides virtualization and cloud management technologies for FlexPod.

  • Citrix

    Citrix delivers high-performance VDI solutions on FlexPod.

  • Red Hat

    RedHat offers validated Enterprise Linux on FlexPod.

Additional Resources

For Partners

Log in to access tools and resources specifically designed for Partners.

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