Cisco Cisco Prime Network Services Controller Adaptor for DFA White Paper

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Benefits of Network Simplification

The result of the unified approach is a simpler fabric that provides consistent, reliable performance and access to

services for software deployments at every location in the network. Here are some of the benefits of a simplified

and more homogenous network:

●

Elimination of the Layer 2 and Layer 3 complexity of traditional topologies, with consistent use of IP

addresses for traffic forwarding, simplifies deployment and network design and removes location

dependencies for application placement.

●

A maximum two-hop communication path between any two applications in a very large cloud network

provides reliability and predictable latency.

●

A homogeneous Cisco DFA allows Layer 4 through 7 network services and security to be delivered reliably

and consistently to applications independent of their location in the network. Virtual service nodes, for

example, are at most only two hops from any application node. The deployment of firewalls, load

balancers, and monitoring tools becomes easier and neither defines nor depends on the network topology.

●

With a simpler, homogenous fabric architecture, network flexibility is greatly increased, and more

sophisticated orchestration is possible with greater degrees of automation, including zero-touch

provisioning and automated network configuration

●

The capability to eliminate physical and virtual gateways increases the scalability and reliability of the data

center fabric.

●

Use of a single environment simplifies troubleshooting and accelerates problem resolution.

Implementing the Cisco Dynamic Fabric Automation Architecture

For organizations evolving or migrating to the enhanced Cisco DFA design, the transition is cost effective and

smooth and generally based on existing Cisco Nexus

Family hardware already in place. With software upgrades,

Cisco Nexus 6000 and 7000 Series Switches can participate in the spine and the leaf nodes, including the border

leaf nodes (the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series needs to be upgraded to the Cisco Nexus F3-Series line card to act as a

leaf node). Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches can be used in the network spine.

To begin the migration and deployment of the architecture, organizations should implement Cisco FabricPath as

well as Cisco Nexus 1000V Series virtual switches at the virtual machine access layer. Organizations should also

consider building fabrics based on the Cisco Nexus platforms. For more information about the Cisco Nexus

platforms that support the enhanced forwarding mechanism, please refer to the Cisco Nexus DFA webpage at

http://cisco.com/go/dfa

Conclusion

The Cisco DFA architecture is a logical evolution of traditional data center fabric designs to address rapidly

emerging cloud network requirements. The architecture eliminates the need for overlay networks, which can

hinder traffic visibility and optimization and reduce scalability when physical server and virtual machine

environments are integrated. This simpler, more homogeneous architecture enables zero-touch provisioning and

greater orchestration, while delivering more predictable performance and latency for large cloud networks.