Cisco Updates ACI Platform

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Cisco updates the Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) software defined networking (SDN) platform with the addition of microsegmentation, increased virtualisation capabilities and Docker support.

Cisco Microsegmentation comes on both physical (bare metal) and multivendor virtualised applications (VMware VDS, Microsoft Hyper-V), extending ACI across multi-site environments to deliver policy-driven automation across multiple datacentres.

Meanwhile Docker container integration comes through the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Project Contiv, an open source project defining infrastructure operation policiesfor container-based application deployment.

ACI also supports automated service insertion for 3rd party layer 4-7 service, as well as support for cloud automation tools such as VMware vRealise Automation, OpenStack and Open vSwitch (OVS). New ACI ecosystem members enable to automation of entire application suites, including PaaS and SaaS.

Further software capabilities provide APIC NX-OS-style Command Line Interface (CLI) support, Basic and Advanced GUI modes, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) support and troubleshooting wizard enhancements such as Heat Map.

"Policy-based automation, consistent network security and central compliance support are critical for IT efficiency, business agility, and competitive advantage," Cisco says. "Several ACI customers have achieved full automation of the network and are focusing on automation across their Layer 4-7 network services, security and application groups as the next step.”

Go Cisco Extends SDN Leadership With New ACI Capabilities