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This chapter contains the following sections.
Cisco Virtual Application Cloud Segmentation (VACS) Services is a software solution that automates the coordinated licensing, installation, and deployment of multiple virtual services in your datacenter to enable an easy and efficient setup of virtualized applications.
Cisco UCS Director provides the management interface to deploy, provision, and monitor the Cisco VACS solution.
Cisco VACS provides a fully customizable extended application container abstraction to simplify the deployment and provisioning of the virtual services. An application container is a set of virtual services such as virtual switches, routers, firewalls, and other network devices configured in a consistent manner to deploy different workloads. When you create and instantiate an application container template, Cisco VACS deploys the VMs, and configures networks, the firewall, and the virtual switches, and enables quick provisioning of network and security at the virtual layer.
Cisco VACS allows you to define extended application container templates and instantiate them through automated setup and to provision the underlying virtual components. You can use ready-to-use application container template that define the rules for deploying a collection of virtual machines within a private network secured by a firewall.
The following figure shows how these components fit into the architecture of Cisco VACS.
A simplified and central provisioning solution for virtual network services.
Ready-to-use regulatory compliant secure containers that can be created and instantiated with a few mouse clicks.
Hypervisor-independent architecture that enables you to build and manage a secure, multi-tenant cloud.
Consistent deployment of virtual and physical resources with no additional costs.
For more information about how to configure the application container templates on Cisco VACS, see the Cisco Virtual Application Cloud Segmentation Services Configuration Guide.
Cisco VACS includes a set of wizards that guide you through the installation of Cisco PNSC and Cisco Nexus 1000V, and adding hosts and templates. Following are the available wizards:
Wizard Name |
Description |
---|---|
Add Template |
Allows you to create a container template. |
Options |
Enables you to either hide or display the application container configurations that can be edited by the end users. |
Add ASAv License |
Allows you to install the Cisco ASAv license. |
Install PNSC |
Allows you to install Cisco PNSC. |
Install Nexus 1000V |
Allows you to install the Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch. |
Import Nexus 1000V |
Allows you to import VSMs. |
Add Single Host |
Allows you to add a single host to the Cisco Nexus 1000V DVS. |
Add Multiple Hosts |
Allows you to add multiple hosts to the Cisco Nexus 1000V DVS. |
After you install the Cisco UCS Director – Cisco VACS license and apply the Cisco VACS patch to the Cisco UCS Director, you can view the Cisco VACS solution under the tab.
Add Template
Options
Add ASAv License
For information on adding Cisco ASAv license, see Installing the Cisco ASAv License.
Install PNSC
For information on installing Cisco PNSC, see Installing Cisco Prime Network Services Controller.
Install Nexus 1000V
For information on installing Cisco Nexus 1000V, see Installing Cisco Nexus 1000V.
Import Nexus 1000V
For information on importing Cisco Nexus 1000V, see Importing Cisco Nexus 1000V.
Add Single Host
For information on adding a single host, see Adding a Single Host.
Add Multiple Hosts
For information on adding multiple hosts, see Adding Multiple Hosts.
About VACS
You can view the Cisco VACS version number, build details, and the online help using this tab.
Manage Service VM password
View details
View Reports
Power on/off containers
Add VMs
Manage Zones
Manage VM Networks
Delete VMs
Delete Container
ERSPAN
Firewall Policy
Static NAT
Open Console
For more information on the preceding management actions, see the Cisco Virtual Application Cloud Segmentation Services Configuration Guide.
![]() Note | For information on applying the Cisco VACS patch to the Cisco UCS Director, see the Applying the Cisco VACS Patch to the Cisco UCS Director. |
Number | Description |
1 |
|
2 |
The Menu bar displays tabs that allow you to view the Cisco VACS solution interface, along with the Cisco UCS Director tabs. |
3 |
The VACS Container tab displays the submenu corresponding to the Cisco VACS software solution. |
4 |
The VACS submenu displays tabs that allow you to add a template and host, options to display or hide the application container configurations that are editable by the end user, install the Cisco ASAv license, manage the install PNSC and Nexus 1000V, import VSMs that are not installed, and view the Cisco VACS version details and the online help. |
5 |
|
6 |
The VACS area displays the available template details, such as the container template, template description, and the container type. |
To view the Cisco VACS build and version details, choose . The About VACS dialog box displays the Cisco VACS version and build details.
To view the product documentation, click Help.
Service End User—Enables you to instantiate a Cisco VACS container from the catalog and services that are related to the container.
System Administrator—Enables you to have full privileges to manage Cisco VACS in Cisco UCS Director including adding accounts, defining policies, creating application templates, instantiating application containers from the templates, and troubleshoot problems.
The MSP administrator role is not supported for Cisco VACS.
The MSP feature available in Cisco UCS Director is not supported by Cisco VACS. Some of the Cisco VACS functionalities or icons for the MSP users could be visible and we recommend that you do not perform any of the MSP related operations.
Depending on your user role, your view of Cisco VACS solution, and the permissions to access and perform tasks in Cisco UCS Director might differ. For detailed information about user roles and privileges, see the Cisco UCS Director Administration Guide and the Cisco UCS Director Self-Service Portal Guide.
Cisco UCS Director is a 64-bit appliance that uses the Open Virtualization Format (OVF) for VMware vSphere standard template:
Cisco UCS Director delivers unified, highly secure management for converged infrastructure solutions, that are based on the Cisco UCS and Cisco Nexus platforms.
Cisco UCS Director extends the unification of computing and network layers through Cisco UCS to provide you with a comprehensive visibility and management capability. It supports NetApp FlexPod and ExpressPod, EMC Isilon, EMC VSPEX, EMC VPLEX, and VCE Vblock systems, which are based on the Cisco UCS and Cisco Nexus platforms.
Cisco UCS Director automates the provisioning of resource pools across physical, virtual, and baremetal environments. It delivers native, automated monitoring for health, status, and resource utilization. You can do the following using Cisco UCS Director:
Create, clone, and deploy service profiles and templates for all servers and applications
Monitor organizational usage, trends, and capacity across a converged infrastructure on a continuous basis, such as by viewing heat maps that show virtual machine (VM) utilization across all your data centers
Deploy and add capacity to ExpressPod and FlexPod infrastructures in a consistent, repeatable manner
Manage, monitor, and report on Cisco UCS domains and their components
Extend virtual service catalogs to include physical infrastructures services
Manage secure multitenant environments to accommodate virtualized workloads that run with nonvirtualized workloads
The VSM uses an external network fabric to communicate with the VEMs. The VSM runs the control plane protocols and configures the state of each VEM, but it never forwards packets. The physical NICs on the VEM server are the uplinks to the external fabric. VEMs switch traffic between the local virtual Ethernet ports that are connected to the VM vNICs but do not switch traffic to other VEMs. Instead, a source VEM switches packets to the uplinks that the external fabric delivers to the target VEM.
A single Cisco Nexus 1000V instance, including dual-redundant VSMs and managed VEMs, forms a switch domain. Each Cisco Nexus 1000V domain within a VMware vCenter Server must be distinguished by a unique integer called the domain identifier.
A single VSM can control up to 250 VEMs.
See the Cisco Nexus 1000V Resource Availability Reference for information about scale limits.
The Cisco Nexus 1000V architecture is shown in the following figure.
This section lists the documents used with the Cisco VACS components and are available on Cisco.com at the following URL:
Cisco Virtual Application Cloud Segmentation Services Documentation
Cisco Virtual Application Cloud Segmentation Services Release Notes
Cisco Virtual Application Cloud Segmentation Installation and Upgrade Guide
Cisco Virtual Application Cloud Segmentation Configuration Guide
Cisco Virtual Application Cloud Segmentation Services End User Portal Guide
For the Cisco Nexus 1000V for VMware vSphere Documentation: