Requirements for Fabric Controller
Overview
Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) is the comprehensive management solution for all NX-OS deployments spanning LAN Fabric, SAN, and IP Fabric for Media (IPFM) networks in data centers powered by Cisco. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller also supports other devices, such as IOS-XE switches, IOS-XR routers, and non-Cisco devices. Being a multi-fabric controller, Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller manages multiple deployment models like VXLAN EVPN, Classic 3-Tier, FabricPath, and Routed based fabrics for LAN while providing ready-to-use control, management, monitoring, and automation capabilities for all these environments. In addition, Cisco NDFC when enabled as a SAN Controller automates Cisco MDS Switches and Cisco Nexus Family infrastructure in NX-OS mode with a focus on storage-specific features and analytics capabilities.
NDFC primarily focuses on Control and Management for three primary market segments:
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LAN networking including VXLAN, Multi-Site, Classic Ethernet, and External Fabrics supporting Cisco Nexus switches running standalone NX-OS, with additional support for IOS-XR, IOS-XE, and adjacent Host, Compute, Virtual Machine, and Container Management systems.
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SAN networking for Cisco MDS and Cisco Nexus switches running standalone NX-OS, including support for integration with storage arrays and additionally Host, Compute, Virtual Machine, and Container Orchestration systems.
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Media Control for Multicast Video production networks running Cisco Nexus switches operated as standalone NX-OS, with additional integrations for 3rd party media control systems.
After you deploy Nexus Dashboard using a deployment mode that includes NDFC:
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Fabric Discovery—Discover, Monitor, and Visualize LAN Deployments.
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Fabric Controller—LAN Controller for Classic Ethernet (vPC), Routed, VXLAN, and IP Fabric for Media Deployments.
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SAN Controller—SAN Controller for MDS and Nexus switches. Enhanced SAN Analytics with streaming telemetry.
Network Requirements
Note |
This section describes additional requirements and guidelines if you plan to enable the Fabric Controller service. Ensure that you have already satisfied the platform-level requirements described in the Prerequisites and guidelines for all enabled services section. |
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Starting with Nexus Dashboard release 3.1.1, Cisco DC App Center connectivity has been removed from Nexus Dashboard because downloading the services separately is no longer required.
To deploy Fabric Controller, download the unified installation image from the Software Download page; individual services’ installation images are no longer available from the Cisco DC App Center.
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As mentioned in the previous section, all new Nexus Dashboard deployments must have the management network and data network in different subnets.
Note
Only SAN Controller persona can be deployed in Nexus Dashboard using the same subnets for the data and management networks.
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Interfaces on both Data and Management networks can be either Layer 2 or Layer 3 adjacent.
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Connectivity between the nodes is required on both networks with the following additional round trip time (RTT) requirements:
Table 1. Fabric Controller RTT Requirements Connectivity
Maximum RTT
To switches
200 ms*
* POAP (PowerOn Auto Provisioning) is supported with a max RTT of 50 ms between Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller and the switches.
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You must allocate the following number of persistent IP addresses depending on your use case.
With LAN deployment type and LAN Device Management Connectivity set to
Management
(default):-
2 IPs in the management network for SNMP/Syslog and SCP services
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If EPL is enabled, 1 additional IP in the data network for each fabric
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If IP Fabric for Media is enabled, one of the following:
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1 additional IP in the management network for telemetry for single node ND
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3 additional IPs in the management network for telemetry in a 3 node ND cluster
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With LAN deployment type and LAN Device Management Connectivity set to
Data
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2 IPs in the data network for SNMP/Syslog and SCP services
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If EPL is enabled, 1 additional IP in the data network for each fabric
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If IP Fabric for Media is enabled, one of the following:
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1 additional IP in the data network for telemetry for single node ND
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3 additional IPs in the data network for telemetry for multi-node ND cluster
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When operating in Layer 3 mode with LAN deployment type, LAN Device Management Connectivity must be set to
Data
and all persistent IPs must be part of a separate pool that must not overlap with the ND management or data subnets.
When operating in Layer 2 mode with SAN Controller deployment type:
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1 IP for SSH
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1 IP for SNMP/Syslog
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1 IP per Nexus Dashboard cluster node for SAN Insights functionality
For an overview of Persistent IP functionality, see Prerequisites and guidelines for all enabled services. Allocating persistent IP addresses can be done during the initial cluster deployment or after the cluster is deployed using the External Service Pools configuration in the UI.
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For cohosting NDFC and Nexus Dashboard Insights on the same Nexus Dashboard cluster, the Nexus Dashboard nodes must be Layer 2 adjacent.