#1 most frequent
United States of America
51.0%1,016 installations of 1,992
What is Cisco ACI?
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) is network virtualization technology.
Categories & Use Cases
Who Buys & Uses Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI)
#2 most frequent
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
5.0%99 installations of 1,992
#3 most frequent
Germany
4.7%94 installations of 1,992
Pros
- Centralized network management and enhanced visibility via a single pane of glass
- Robust network automation and policy-driven configuration capabilities
- Programmability and API integration (e.g., Ansible, Terraform, REST API)
Cons
- Quality and accessibility of product documentation
- Performance and usability of the graphical user interface (GUI)
- Complexity in policy configuration
Software Defined Network and ACI - a review
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We as Cisco Premier Enterprise customer have Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) deployed in our infrastructure for couple of years and we have had a great experience using Software Defined Networking.
Pros
- EPG
- Bridge Domain
- VRF
- Connecting and policing porta
- Having unilateral policy across fabrics
Cons
- Security group policies
- Micro segmentation
- Firewall protecting Virtual machines
Return on Investment
- Very effective ROI
- Implement once, deploy multiple times
- Portable resources
Other Software Used
External User Manager for Microsoft Teams
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure review
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Manages datacenter network
Pros
- Manages OS updates
- Logs faults
- One page view of network, visibility
Cons
- Documentation between OS versions
- Applying multiple EPGs on a single leaf
- Policy nesting is not very intuitive
Return on Investment
- Positive is central management to network infrastructure
- Positive ease to distribute OS updates
- Negative is incorporating newer high bandwidth breakout cables
Other Software Used
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure review
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Manage ACI network and its devices
Pros
- Friendly GUI/UI
- Easy hardware setup
Cons
- Wider places for physical connections
Return on Investment
- Consolidation of old devices
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We moved for NXOS to Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure when we life cyled out 7Ks and 2Ks with the 9K platform. We are an air gaped install.
Pros
- Dashboard
- Faults
Cons
- It will be nice when AI is brought into this product. This will save a lot of time that is spent researching how to fix issues and keep things running optimally.
Return on Investment
- I think this help others that our not as experienced find issues sooner than previously.
Other Software Used
Microsoft Access
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure review
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure is the epicenter of our on-premise data center network infrastructure. We integrate it with our vCenters using VMM to shape a cohesive virtualization environment.
Pros
- Configuration of network fabrics
- Integration with vCenter
- Monitoring and audit
Cons
- Could be more verbose during updates
Alternatives Considered
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches
