Cisco Unified Computing System overview

The Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS) is a next-generation data center platform that unites computing, networking, 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 10/25/40/100 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

The Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects are a core part of the Cisco Unified Computing System, providing both network connectivity and management capabilities for the system The Cisco UCS 6400 Series offer line-rate, low-latency, lossless 10/25/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and Fibre Channel functions. The Cisco UCS 6400 Series provide the management and communication backbone for the Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers, UCS 5108 B-Series Server Chassis, UCS Managed C-Series Rack Servers, and UCS S-Series Storage Servers. All servers attached to a Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect become part of a single, highly available management domain. In addition, by supporting a unified fabric, Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnect provides both the LAN and SAN connectivity for all servers within its domain. From a networking perspective, the Cisco UCS 6400 Series use a cut-through architecture, supporting deterministic, low-latency, line-rate 10/25/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet ports, switching capacity of 3.82 Tbps for the 6454, 7.42 Tbps for the 64108, and 200 Gbps bandwidth between the Fabric Interconnect 6400 series and the IOM 2408 per 5108 blade chassis, independent of packet size and enabled services. The product family supports Cisco low-latency, lossless 10/25/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet unified network fabric capabilities, which increase the reliability, efficiency, and scalability of Ethernet networks. The fabric interconnect supports multiple traffic classes over a lossless Ethernet fabric from the server through the fabric interconnect. Significant TCO savings come from an FCoE-optimized server design in which Network Interface Cards (NICs), Host Bus Adapters (HBAs), cables, and switches can be consolidated.

Unified fabric with FCoE: I/O consolidation

The Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects are built to consolidate LAN and SAN traffic onto a single unified fabric, saving the Capital Expenditures (CapEx) and Operating Expenses (OpEx) associated with multiple parallel networks, different types of adapter cards, switching infrastructure, and cabling within racks. The unified ports allow ports in the fabric interconnect to support direct connections from Cisco UCS to existing native Fibre Channel SANs. The capability to connect FCoE to a native Fibre Channel protects existing storage-system investments while dramatically simplifying in-rack cabling.

Cisco UCS Manager

The Cisco UCS 6400 Series host and run Cisco UCS Manager in a highly available configuration, enabling the fabric interconnects to fully manage all Cisco UCS elements. Connectivity to the Cisco UCS 5108 Blade Server Chassis is maintained through the Cisco UCS 2200 and 2408 Series Fabric Extenders in each blade chassis. The Cisco UCS 6400 Series Fabric Interconnects support out-of-band management, through a dedicated 10/100/1000-Mbps Ethernet management port, as well as in-band management. Cisco UCS Manager typically is deployed in a clustered active/passive configuration on redundant fabric interconnects connected through dual 10/100/1000 Ethernet clustering p