Cisco Unified Computing System Overview
The Cisco Unified Computing System™ (Cisco UCS™) is a next-generation data center platform that unites compute, network, storage access, and virtualization resources into a cohesive system designed to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase business agility. The system integrates a low-latency, lossless 10 Gigabit Ethernet unified network fabric with enterprise-class, x86-architecture servers. The system is an integrated, scalable, multichassis platform in which all resources participate in a unified management domain.
Product Overview
A Cisco® innovation, the Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card (VIC) 1280 (Figure 1) is an eight-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)-capable mezzanine card designed exclusively for Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers. The card enables a policy-based, stateless, agile server infrastructure that can present up to 256 PCIe standards-compliant interfaces to the host that can be dynamically configured as either network interface cards (NICs) or host bus adapters (HBAs). In addition, the Cisco UCS VIC 1280 supports Cisco Virtual Machine Fabric Extender (VM-FEX) technology, which extends the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect ports to virtual machines, simplifying server virtualization deployment.
Figure 1. Cisco UCS VIC 1280
Features and Benefits
Stateless and Agile: The personality of the card is determined dynamically at boot time using the service profile associated with the server. The number, type (NIC or HBA), identity (MAC address and World Wide Name [WWN]), failover policy, bandwidth, and quality-of-service (QoS) policies of the PCIe interfaces are all determined using the service profile. The capability to define, create, and use interfaces on demand provides a stateless and agile server infrastructure (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Cisco UCS VIC 1280 Architecture
Network Interface Virtualization: Each PCIe interface created on the VIC is associated with an interface on the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect, providing complete network separation for each virtual cable between a PCIe device on the VIC and the interface on the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect.
Cisco VM-FEX Technology
Cisco VM-FEX technology extends Fabric Interconnect ports directly to virtual machines, eliminating software-based switching in the hypervisor. Cisco VM-FEX technology collapses virtual and physical networking infrastructure into a single infrastructure that is fully aware of the virtual machines' locations and networking policies (Figure 3). Cisco FEX-VM technology is implemented by Cisco VICs with a pre-standard implementation of IEEE 802.1Qbh Port Extender.
Figure 3. VM-FEX with Cisco UCS VIC 1280
Table 1 summarizes the features and benefits of the Cisco UCS VIC 1280.
Table 1. Features and Benefits
Table 2 summarizes the specifications for the Cisco UCS VIC 1280.
Table 2. Product Specifications
System Requirements
The Cisco UCS VIC 1280 is designed to be used only on Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers. A single VIC 1280 will be supported on Cisco UCS B200 M2 and B230M2. Up to two VIC 1280s will be supported on Cisco UCS B440 M2. The VIC 1280 can also be used in a redundant configuration with the VIC 1240 in the Cisco UCS B200 M3.
Warranty Information
Find warranty information at Cisco.com on the Product Warranties page.
Cisco Unified Computing Services
Using a unified view of data center resources, Cisco and our industry-leading partners deliver services that accelerate your transition to a unified computing architecture. Cisco Unified Computing Services help you quickly deploy your data center resources, simplify ongoing operations, and optimize your infrastructure to better meet your business needs. For more information about these and other Cisco Data Center Services, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/unifiedcomputingservices.
Why Cisco?
Cisco UCS continues Cisco's long history of innovation in delivering integrated systems for improved business results based on industry standards and using the network as the platform. Recent examples include IP telephony, LAN switching, unified communications, and unified I/O. Cisco began the unified computing phase of our Data Center 3.0 strategy several years ago by assembling an experienced team from the computing and virtualization industries to augment our own networking and storage access expertise. As a result, Cisco delivered foundational technologies, including the Cisco Nexus® Family, supporting unified fabric and server virtualization. Cisco UCS completes this phase, delivering innovation in architecture, technology, partnerships, and services. Cisco is well-positioned to deliver this innovation by taking a systems approach to computing that unifies network intelligence and scalability with innovative ASICs, integrated management, and standard computing components.
For More Information
For more information about the Cisco VIC, visit http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10265/index.html.