Describes networking domains in the Cisco ACI fabric, including their types, configuration, and association with endpoint groups for network segmentation and integration.
Networking domains are logical groupings in the Cisco ACI fabric that define the ports, protocols, VLAN pools, and encapsulation available for tenant use or sharing across tenants.
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Domain policies can be used exclusively by one tenant or shared among multiple tenants.
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Tenant administrators can associate endpoint groups (EPGs) with domains after the domains are configured.
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Domains are associated with VLAN pools so that EPGs can use the VLANs assigned to the domain.
Networking domain profile types
You can configure the following networking domain profiles in the Cisco ACI fabric:
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VMM domain profiles (
vmmDomP): Required for virtual machine hypervisor integration. -
Physical domain profiles (
physDomP): Typically used for bare-metal server attachment and management access. -
Bridged outside network domain profiles (
l2extDomP): Used to connect a bridged external network trunk switch to a leaf switch in the Cisco ACI fabric. -
Routed outside network domain profiles (
l3extDomP): Used to connect a router to a leaf switch in the Cisco ACI fabric. -
Fibre Channel domain profiles (
fcDomP): Used to connect Fibre Channel VLANs and VSANs.
EPG port and VLAN configurations must match the domain infrastructure configuration with which the EPG is associated. Otherwise, Cisco APIC reports a fault. If a fault occurs, verify that the domain infrastructure configuration matches the EPG port and VLAN configurations.
Networking domain association
For example, a fabric administrator can configure a physical domain profile and associate it with a VLAN pool. Tenant administrators can then assign EPGs to the domain so that bare-metal servers can communicate through the specified VLANs.