Data Center Networking

What is data center networking?

Reliable and high-performing data center networking enables organizations to provision new services faster, leverage automation and orchestration to reduce the cost of ownership, empower development teams, and better secure assets through enterprise segmentation. Modern data center networks must be automated to provide business with the agile services they need.

Modernizing the Data Center Network Is Not About Switches: Part I

Application availability for all users, anytime, from any location, on any cloud, is critical in meeting business needs. This article will cover the disruptors and industry transitions that must be considered in any data center network modernization project.

Dec 9, 2020

4 min read

Article Multisite Orchestrator

How to Determine If ACI Multi-Site is the Right Data Center Solution

Is ACI and ACI Multi-Site the correct solution for your data center refresh? By leveraging the ACI Multi-Site on-demand labs, you can determine if the ACI Multi-Site spine/leaf fabric architecture fits your business and technical requirements for brownfield or greenfield data center refreshes.

Jun 12, 2020

6 min read

Article Nexus 7K Switching Family

6 Steps to Understanding Cisco ACI

When understood, these six concepts will help anyone new to ACI to understand a more detailed technical discussion.

Jan 12, 2020

8 min read

Lab

Cisco ACI Module 1 - ACI APIC Setup, Best Practices Lab and Tutorial

Cisco's ACI Anywhere vision is to allow a single security and connectivity policy with a single pane of glass to manage all multicloud environments. The key to ACI Anywhere is the ACI Multi-Site Orchestrator (MSO), which allows the administrator to create consistent security and connectivity policies across multiple physical, virtual and cloud-based sites. This series of 4 lab modules will go through all the steps necessary to bring up an ACI Multi-Site environment from scratch. It will be divided into modules for the student to easily consume.

May 18, 2020

3 min read

Lab

Lab VMware NSX

VMware NSX-T Virtual Lab

This is an On-Demand Lab for VMware NSX-T. It provides the same lab experience as the one day NSX-T training class but without the slide content and on-site architect. This lab is not meant to teach operations, best practices or replace VMware's hands-on classes.

Jan 31, 2021

2 min read

How do I get started?

Data center networks have evolved to consist of both logical and physical networks. Simplifying data center operations through automation introduces new concepts as well as challenges to maintaining security and reliability. WWT can help you assess your current environment, then design, build, install and operate the optimal data center networking solution to meet your short and long-term business goals.

Evaluate

Evaluate and learn about the different technologies that make up today's modern data centers, software-defined networking (SDN) solutions, and automation tools and platforms.

Lab

Cisco ACI Module 1 - ACI APIC Setup, Best Practices Lab and Tutorial

May 18, 2020

3 min read

Lab

Lab Cisco ACI

NEXUS Dashboard and NEXUS Insights Lab

Over the years, Cisco has developed various ACI tools (now for DCNM and NX-OS and eventually public cloud visibility) known as the day 2 operations suite. The tools are Network Assurance Engine (NAE) and NEXUS Insights (NI is now the combination of Network Insights Resources (NIR) and Network insights Advisor (NIA)). Cisco has embarked on combining NAE and NI into a single pane of glass view and providing sharable data lakes for all apps, allowing for correlating application performance and fabric events.

Apr 26, 2021

2 min read

Lab

Lab VMware NSX

VMware NSX-T Virtual Lab

Jan 31, 2021

2 min read

Lab

Lab Data Center Networking

Multi-Site DCNM Lab

This lab will enable a student to build a basic Multi-Site fabric using Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) for complete end-to-end connectivity.

Aug 30, 2021

1 min read

Lab

Lab FRR (Free Range Routing)

Open Networking: Linux Fabric Lab

At the core of every modern network operating system sits a Linux kernel. This kernel is accessible on major vendors (eg, Cisco, Juniper and Arista), to varying degrees. However, in the Open Networking space, it IS the operating system. The open nature of Linux allows for a great deal more flexibility in designing, building, maintaining and automating a fabric than has been enjoyed by previous generations of technology.

Sep 20, 2021

1 min read

Design

Proper underlay (physical network) and overlay (logical network) design is crucial to achieving the desired simplicity of modern data center networks. You can only achieve data security and constant policy by taking a holistic approach that removes traditional data center workgroup silos. WWT can help you plan and design an automated, secure and streamlined data center.

Article Cisco ACI

Understanding the Cisco NEXUS Dashboard Platform

Here's what you should know about the new Cisco NEXUS Dashboard platform and how to think about day 2 operations moving forward.

Apr 2, 2021

7 min read

Article Data Center Networking

Thinking About ACI or DCNM for Your Next Data Center Upgrade?

Thinking about ACI or DCNM for your next data center upgrade? This article will help you learn more about the advantages of each fabric.

Sep 22, 2021

10 min read

Article

What Is Software-Defined Networking (SDN)?

At its core, software-defined networking (SDN) separates the management, which is the control plane of network devices, from the data plane, which relays network traffic.

Aug 25, 2021

5 min read

Article Data Center Networking

SmartNICs, Distributed Service Processing Cards and Functional Accelerator Cards: The Future of Networking

Learn what a SmartNIC is, and why today is the perfect time to start implementing them.

Jun 15, 2021

4 min read

Article Network Function Virtualization (NFV)

Five Questions to Ask Before Diving Deep Into Open Networking

Open network acts as a key enabler of disruptive technologies, allowing for innovative software integrations to run on top of off-the-shelf hardware to produce best-of-breed solutions that can deliver impactful business outcomes.

Mar 11, 2020

5 min read

Implement

Because data centers house the crown jewels of any business, they must be properly planned and implemented to mitigate risk. We have the experience and expertise to help you every step of the way.

Workshop Data Center Networking

Data Center Networking Design Workshop

A Data Center Networking Design Workshop creates a holistic view of your data center infrastructure that can deliver the right support for security, connectivity and operational impact.

Sep 5, 2019

1 min read

Workshop ACI Virtual Pod

Cisco ACI Design Workshop

Oct 31, 2019

1 min read

Workshop Network Function Virtualization (NFV)

VMware NSX-T Design Workshop

WWT's goal of the NSX-T Design Workshop is to help provide a solid design foundation for NSX-T.

Nov 4, 2019

1 min read

Workshop Application Centric Infrastructure

NSX on ACI Workshop

WWT's goal of the NSX on ACI Workshop is to help provide guidance around integrating VMware NSX with Cisco's ACI.

Nov 6, 2019

1 min read

Briefing SONiC

Open Networking Briefing

Opensource/Whitebox Networking is both a technology and methodology. Through this briefing, you will develop an understanding of the technical, logistical and economic considerations involved in the evaluation, customization, at-scale deployment and ongoing support for ON solutions.

Aug 17, 2020

1 min read

Operate

The work doesn't stop once a data center is up and running. There are still Day 2 operational tasks, monitoring tools and additional features to implement. WWT can help you make the most of your hardware and software investment. Post-deployment is also a great time to continue learning about new automation tools and skills.

Video Infrastructure Automation

Using Ansible Tower to Implement Security Policies and Telemetry Streaming for Hybrid Clouds

Network analytics provides insight to the traffic flow between applications and endpoints. Telemetry data is streamed in real-time from software sensors and network devices to big-data clusters. Implementing the policy to create a whitelist-based segmentation and zero-trust model requires automation when dealing with tens of thousands of workloads and complex rules.

Nov 1, 2019

51:29

Article Infrastructure Automation

It's an Exciting Time to Be in Networking...

The role of network engineers is evolving to one that requires skills creating, manipulating and generating data used to automate network configuration.

Nov 18, 2019

4 min read

Article HashiCorp Terraform

An Automation Journey: From ACI to IAC With Terraform

Terraform is a tool for building, changing and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently. It can handle the repetitive configuration task programmatically without the need to use the ACI management GUI or command-line interface.

Dec 2, 2019

3 min read

Case Study Infrastructure Automation

WWT Saves Time and Money Using Ansible Automation

By adopting Ansible automation, WWT IT is no longer asking themselves if they should automate; they’re asking what should they automate next?

Oct 22, 2019

4 min read

Article SONiC

Open Networking: What to Expect in 2021

SONiC is working its way to the top of the Open Network foodchain, and now the big vendors are lining up to support it.

Jan 28, 2021

5 min read

Case studies

Case Study Data Center Networking

WWT Delivers First of Its Kind ACI Multi-Site, Multi-Pod Integration During Data Center Migration

WWT’s subject matter expertise and willingness to go the extra mile helped a massive service provider consolidate more than 50 data center facilities into three while upskilling its IT team to work with the technology.

Jun 1, 2021

4 min read

Case Study NetApp - Product

Rapid Deployment of FlexPod Solution Speeds Time to Market for DoD

WWT provided integration, configuration, custom cabling, testing, staging and shipping within the integration center to meet the demands of a federal agency.

Jan 17, 2020

3 min read

Case Study Supply Chain and Integration Services

Kansas City International (KCI) Airport: Vblock™ Testing and Implementation

Recognizing the growing importance to provide a positive customer experience as a way to differentiate itself and remain competitive, an international airport turned to us for help in realizing a better solution.

Dec 31, 2019

5 min read

Case Study Server Infrastructure

Global Health IT Services Provider: Cisco ACI Integration

Multi-step proof of concept proves integration feasibility of next-gen compute platform with customer's existing Cisco ACI environment

Oct 22, 2019

5 min read

Connect with our experts

Bill Thompson

WWT

Director, Global Solutions Development

Craig Kemmerer

WWT

Technical Solutions Architect - ACI

Matt Hilliker

WWT

Technical Solutions Architect

Eric Fairfield

WWT

Technical Solutions Architect

Michael Witte

WWT

Technical Architect III, GET

Jon Duren

WWT

Practice Manager - Network Solutions

Rita Younger

WWT

Practice Lead

Nick Thompson

WWT

Principal Solutions Architect - Automation

Justin van Schaik

WWT

Technical Solutions Architect

Get started today

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What is data center networking?

How do I get started?

Evaluate

Design

Implement

Operate

Case studies

Connect with our experts

Bill Thompson

WWT

Craig Kemmerer

WWT

Matt Hilliker

WWT

Eric Fairfield

WWT

Michael Witte

WWT

Jon Duren

WWT

Rita Younger

WWT

Nick Thompson

WWT

Justin van Schaik

WWT

Get started today

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