Java Requirements

The Cisco DCNM Server is distributed with JRE 11.0.6 into the following directory:

DCNM_root_directory/java/jdk11

Server Requirements

Cisco DCNM, Release 11.4(1), supports the Cisco DCNM Server on these 64-bit operating systems:

• SAN Deployments:

  • Microsoft Windows 2016

  • Microsoft Windows 2012 R2

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release 7.3, 7.4, 7.6, and 7.7

  • Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) with an integrated CentOS Linux release 7.8

  • ISO Virtual Appliance (ISO) with an integrated CentOS Linux release 7.8

• IP for Media, and LAN Fabric Deployments:

  • Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) with an integrated CentOS Linux release 7.8

  • ISO Virtual Appliance (ISO) with an integrated CentOS Linux release 7.8

Database Requirements

Cisco DCNM Release 11.4(1) supports the following databases:

• Oracle11g Express (XE), Standard, and Enterprise Editions, and Oracle 11g Real Application Clusters (RAC)

• Oracle 12c Enterprise Edition (Conventional)—(Nonpluggable installation)

  Note	From Cisco DCNM Release 11.3(1), Oracle 12c pluggable database version installation is not supported.

• Oracle 12c RAC (nonpluggable installation)

• PostgreSQL 9.6.16 - For OVA/ISO deployments

• PostgreSQL 9.6.16 - For Linux/OVA/ISO deployments

• PostgreSQL 9.6.18 - For Windows deployments

Note

The database size increases according to the number of nodes and ports that the DCNM manages, with Performance Manager Collections enabled. You cannot restrict the database size. If you choose an Oracle database, we recommend that you use Oracle SE or Enterprise edition, instead of Oracle XE due to table space limitations.

Note	You are responsible for all the support that is associated with the Oracle databases, including maintenance, troubleshooting, and recovery. We recommend that you take regular backup of the database; either daily or weekly, to ensure that all the data is preserved.

Note	The ISO/OVA installation only supports the embedded PostgreSQL database.

Hypervisors

Cisco DCNM supports the ISO installation on a bare-metal server (no hypervisor) on the following server platforms:

Note	Cisco DCNM can work on an alternative computing hardware with appropriate specifications, despite Cisco is only testing on Cisco UCS.

Supported Hypervisors

From Release 11.4(1), Cisco DCNM supports the running of the Cisco DCNM Server on the following hypervisors:

VMware Snapshot Support for Cisco DCNM

Snapshots capture the entire state of the virtual machine at the time you take the snapshot. You can take a snapshot when a virtual machine is powered on, powered off. The following table shows snapshot support for your deployment.

Note	vCenter server is mandatory to deploy the Cisco DCNM OVA Installer.

To take a snapshot on the VM, perform the following steps:

1. Right-click the virtual machine the inventory and select Snapshots > Take Snapshot.

2. In the Take Snapshot dialog box, enter a Name and description for the snapshot.

3. Click OK to save the snapshot.

The following snapshots are available for VMs.

• When VM is powered off.

• When VM is powered on, and active.

Note	Cisco DCNM supports snapshots when VM is either powered on or powered off. DCNM doesn’t support snapshots when the Virtual Machine memory option is selected.

Note that the Snapshot the Virtual Machine's memory check box must not be selected, as shown in the following figure. However, it is grayed out when the VM is powered off.

You can restore VM to the state in a Snapshot.

Right-click on the Virtual Machine and select Manage Snapshot. Select the snapshot to restore, and click Done.

Server Resource (CPU/Memory) Requirements

Note	If you install Cisco DCNM on a virtual machine, you must reserve resources equal to the server resource requirements to ensure a baseline with the physical machines.

Note	For Huge and Compute deployments, you can add extra disk. The size of the disk can range from a minimum of 32GB to a maximum of 1.5TB.

Ensure that there is enough disk space to the root partition or mount another disk where the /tmp directory can be mounted during the installation or upgrade.

Allocate sufficient disk space to the root partition to complete DCNM installation and for stable continuous operation of the DCNM applications. Refer to the applications’ User guides for disk space requirements. You can mount another disk where the /tmp directory can be mounted during the installation or upgrade. You can also add additional disk space and the disk file system using appmgr system scan-disks-and-extend-fs command.

Note

From Release 11.3(1), Cisco DCNM Windows deployments does not support the SAN Insights feature. Cisco SAN Insights feature is only supported with the Huge deployment. You can use the SAN Insights feature on a medium-sized deployment with 2 TB disk space. Every federation deployment consists of three large configuration nodes. From Cisco DCNM Release 11.2(1), synchronize the Federation nodes from the Primary node only.

Cisco DCNM LAN Fabric Deployment Without Network Insights (NI)

Note

For information about various system requirements for proper functioning of Cisco DCNM LAN Fabric deployment, see System Requirements. Refer to Network Insights User guide for sizing information for Cisco DCNM LAN Deployment with Network Insights (NI). To see the verified scale limits for Cisco DCNM 11.4(1) for managing LAN Fabric deployments, see Verified Scale Limits for Cisco DCNM LAN Fabric Deployment.

Client Hardware Requirements

Cisco DCNM SAN desktop client and Cisco Device Manager support Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Windows 2012, Microsoft Windows 2016, and Red Hat Linux. The following table lists the minimum hardware requirements for these client systems.

Some Cisco DCNM features require a license. Before using the licensed features, you must install a Cisco DCNM license for each Nexus-managed or MDS-managed platform. For information about Licensing in DCNM, see https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/sw/11_x/licensing/cisco_dcnm_licensing_guide_11_x.html.

Supported Web Browsers

Cisco DCNM supports the following web browsers:

• Google Chrome Version 83.0.4103.97

• Mozilla Firefox Version 77.0.1 (64-bit)

• Microsoft Edge Version 83.0.478.45

Other Supported Software

The following table lists the other software that is supported by Cisco DCNM, Release 11.4(1).

Also, Cisco DCNM supports call-home events, fabric change events, and events that are forwarded by traps and email.