Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals: Understanding Techniques and Designs for Highly Efficient Data Centers with Cisco Nexus, UCS, MDS, and Beyond

Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals For many IT organizations, today’s greatest challenge is to drive more value, efficiency, and utilization from data centers. Virtualization is the best way to meet this challenge. Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals brings together the comprehensive knowledge Cisco professionals need to apply virtualization throughout their data center environments. Leading data center expert Gustavo A. A. Santana thoroughly explores all components  of an end-to-end data center virtualization solution, including networking, storage, servers, operating systems, application optimization, and security. Rather than focusing on a single product or technology, he explores product capabilities as interoperable design tools that can be combined and integrated with other solutions, including VMware vSphere. With the author’s guidance, you’ll learn how to define and implement highly-efficient architectures for new, expanded, or retrofit data center projects. By doing so, you can deliver agile application provisioning without purchasing unnecessary infrastructure, and establish a strong foundation for new cloud computing and IT-as-a-service initiatives. Throughout, Santana illuminates key theoretical concepts through realistic use cases, real-world designs, illustrative configuration examples, and verification outputs. Appendixes provide valuable reference information, including relevant Cisco data center products and CLI principles for IOS and NX-OS. With this approach, Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals will be an indispensable resource for anyone preparing for the CCNA Data Center, CCNP Data Center, or CCIE Data Center certification exams.     Learn how virtualization can transform and improve traditional data center network topologies  Understand the key characteristics and value of each data center virtualization technology  Walk through key decisions, and transform choices into architecture  Smoothly migrate existing data centers toward greater virtualization  Burst silos that have traditionally made data centers inefficient  Master foundational technologies such as VLANs, VRF, and virtual contexts  Use virtual PortChannel and FabricPath to overcome the limits of STP  Optimize cabling and network management with fabric extender (FEX) virtualized chassis  Extend Layer 2 domains to distant data center sites using MPLS and Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV)  Use VSANs to overcome Fibre Channel fabric challenges  Improve SAN data protection, environment isolation, and scalability  Consolidate I/O through Data Center Bridging and FCoE  Use virtualization to radically simplify server environments  Create server profiles that streamline “bare metal” server provisioning  “Transcend the rack” through virtualized networking based on Nexus 1000V and VM-FEX  Leverage opportunities to deploy virtual network services more efficiently  Evolve data center virtualization toward full-fledged private clouds