Introduces Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure Multi-Pod architecture and guides through provisioning, configuration, and management of distributed pod deployments across multiple data center locations.
Multi-Pod is a fault-tolerant fabric architecture that
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enables provisioning multiple pods with isolated control plane protocols
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provides flexibility with regard to the full mesh cabling between leaf and spine switches, and
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uses a single APIC cluster for all pods, making all pods act as a single fabric.
Multi-Pod architecture details
Multi-Pod enables provisioning a more fault-tolerant fabric comprised of multiple pods with isolated control plane protocols. For example, if leaf switches are spread across different floors or different buildings, Multi-Pod enables provisioning multiple pods per floor or building and providing connectivity between pods through spine switches.
Multi-Pod uses MP-BGP EVPN as the control-plane communication protocol between the ACI spines in different pods.
In releases before Cisco APIC Release 5.2(3), OSPF is used in the underlay to peer between the physical spines and the IPN. Beginning with Cisco APIC Release 5.2(3), the underlay protocol can be OSPF or BGP (eBGP only) or a mixture, with some pods using OSPF and some using BGP.
WAN routers can be provisioned in the Inter-Pod Network (IPN), directly connected to spine switches, or connected to border leaf switches. Spine switches connected to the IPN are connected to at least one leaf switch in the pod.
Individual APIC controllers are placed across the pods but they are all part of a single APIC cluster.
The image shows the Multi-Pod architecture overview.
Beginning with Cisco APIC Release 5.2(3), a fabric consisting of only two pods can be connected directly, without an IPN. For information about this Multi-Pod Spines Back-to-Back topology, see Multi-Pod Spines Back-to-Back.
Configure multi-pod provisioning
Configure the IPN (Inter-Pod Network) with the required settings to enable multi-pod provisioning in ACI environments.
Guidelines for Setting Up a Cisco ACI Multi-Pod Fabric
Outlines guidelines and best practices for configuring a Cisco ACI Multi-Pod fabric setup.
Multi-Pod fabric setup
Describes the process of configuring Multi-Pod between two physical pods to create a Multi-Pod fabric using the GUI wizard.
Sample IPN configurations for multi-Pod for Cisco nexus 9000 series switches
Provides sample Inter-Pod Network (IPN) configurations for multi-Pod deployments using Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches with both OSPF and BGP underlay protocols.
Move an APIC from one pod to another pod
Configure the movement of an APIC from one pod to another pod in a Multi-Pod setup by decommissioning, physically moving, and recommissioning the controller.
Migrate from an OSPF IPN underlay to a BGP IPN underlay
Configure migration from an OSPF IPN underlay to a BGP IPN underlay by adding a BGP interface to the Logical Interface Profile and removing the OSPF interface.
Multi-Pod Spines Back-to-Back
Explains an enhanced ACI Multi-Pod architecture solution that connects spine switches of two Pods directly with back-to-back links, removing the IPN requirement for small deployments.
Troubleshoot Multi-Site and Multi-Pod Error:400
Configure fabric external connectivity for spines to resolve Error:400 invalid configuration following intersite spines not configured as Mpod spines.