http://next-hop-self.it/tags/datacenter/ Recent content in datacenter on next-hop-self Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Mon, 11 May 2026 19:00:06 +0100 http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-ucs-host-upgrade-utility/ Mon, 11 May 2026 19:00:06 +0100 http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-ucs-host-upgrade-utility/ In the last few days, I encountered some physical issues with a Nexus Dashboard cluster node. After replacing the UCS node (C225-M6, also known as ND-NODE-L4), I tried to perform the initial configuration through the node’s CIMC page (hostname, addressing, timezone, NTP, DNS, etc.). During these activities, I noticed that the CIMC version was very old, so I decided to upgrade it. The first step was to determine the target version; I decided to use version 4. http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-aci-shared-l3out/ Mon, 23 Feb 2026 09:00:06 +0100 http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-aci-shared-l3out/ During last months i was involved into ACI deep learning that gave me the opportunity to achieve the DCACI specialist certification and, of course, the CCNP Data center certification. One of the main step to achieve the ACI certification is practice! Practice gives you the ability to surf the system GUI with agility and enforces your knowledge and the understanding of how the different object joins together. One of the most satisfying lab i made during the training is the shared L3Out. http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-dci-host-reachability-and-fault-scenario/ Tue, 10 Sep 2024 08:00:06 +0100 http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-dci-host-reachability-and-fault-scenario/ The final step about “VXLAN EVPN DCI” journey regards host reachability and fault scenario. In this post i’ll try to verify the reachability between 2 hosts in different sites and their behavior when the network faces some faults. Host reachability When the overlay configurations is up and running we can try to connect a host or a device (in my lab i will use SiteA-1 and SiteB-1 switches on vlan 10) to our BGW and try to reach the remote side using our VXLAN EVPN DCI. http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-dci-overlay-configuration/ Fri, 26 Jul 2024 08:00:06 +0100 http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-dci-overlay-configuration/ The third part of the “VXLAN EVPN DCI” project regards overlay configurations in terms of: BGP NVE interface Recalling the underlay L3 diagram, we used OSPF protocol to achieve border gateway L3 adjacency and advertise into the routing domain some Loopback interfaces, Lo0 and Lo1: Now, we can take advantage of the previous configuration to configure BGP on each border gateway and establish full-mesh iBGP sessions sourced by Lo0. http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-dci-underlay-configuration/ Mon, 15 Jul 2024 10:00:06 +0100 http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-dci-underlay-configuration/ The second part of the “VXLAN EVPN DCI” project regards underlay configurations in terms of: VPC domain Ling-aggregation IGP routing VPC domain is a Cisco feature on the Nexus switches that provides the ability to configure a Port-Channel across multiple switches (i.e. VPC peers). The VPC peers, configured into a VPC domain, act as a single switch from data-plane perspective but operates independetly at control-plane. Recalling the lab topology, i need to configure 2 different VPC domain (i. http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-dci-design-consideration/ Mon, 08 Jul 2024 10:00:06 +0100 http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-dci-design-consideration/ In the last weeks i have work on a sample project about a VXLAN EVPN DCI since a customer asks for legacy L2 trunk DCI dismission (Hurray!) so i started with requirements collection from the customer, something like: Redundancy Fast failover Simplicity (after all they need to manage the solution provided) and after talked together about some design considerations, i finally decide to create a sample lab in order to test the possible final soluton. http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-vpc/ Tue, 16 Apr 2024 10:00:06 +0100 http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-vpc/ This time i introduced the concept of Virtual Port-Channel, also known as VPC, in my lab since it’s a very used feature in real datacenter scenario. With VPC you can attach a downstream device (switch, router, server, firewall, …) in “dual-homing” mode to 2 different Nexus switch, the VPC peers or members. In your downstream device you simply need to configure a classic port-channel (lacp) while on Nexus side you need to create a VPC domain in order to synchronize the data-plane maintaining a separate control-plane. http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-ingrep/ Tue, 02 Apr 2024 12:45:06 +0100 http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-evpn-ingrep/ In the previous post i labbed a VXLAN Flood and Learn solution in order to put in communication 2 devices in the same subnet dived by a routed network, today i’ll try to upgrade this scenario introducing a control-plane like BGP EVPN. With a control-plane i don’t need anymore Flood and Learn in order to discover the remote mac-address. When a client is “discovered” by the VTEP, the VTEP itself send the reachability info (e. http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-fandl/ Fri, 22 Mar 2024 14:06:06 +0100 http://next-hop-self.it/posts/dc-vxlan-fandl/ This year i plan to deep learn datacenter protocols and technologies because many more customers engaged me to support them in datacenter refreshing or enhancement and i want to, at least, become a CCNP Datacenter in order to offer them an always better solution. One of the datacenter trend-topic is VXLAN for sure, so i read “Building Data Centers with VXLAN BGP EVPN” and i’m trying to setup a VXLAN lab starting from the simplest scenario: VXLAN Flood and Learn.