Cisco Knowledge Heart Community Supervisor (DCNM) has lengthy been thought of the gold customary of SAN administration due to its stability, wealthy options, and large adoption. DCNM has been round and serving clients very effectively for over 20 years. It was initially featured together with the launch of the MDS 9000 switches. Again then, it was referred to as Material Supervisor and this identify is utilized in conversations even to today. That was the time when functions used a monolithic design. Nevertheless, occasions have modified, and during the last decade, software program improvement has undergone a complete makeover. As a substitute of a giant monolith, lately an utility is split into a number of microservices. Then, every of those companies runs in its devoted containers. This microservices-based design results in many advantages, corresponding to increased scale, improved safety, increased availability, and quicker improvement.
DCNM’s monolithic design, regardless of serving effectively for 20 years, is unable to unleash the complete potential of movement visibility, real-time analytics, and better scale. As a substitute of making an attempt to retrofit these advantages into DCNM, we rewrote all the utility from scratch utilizing the microservices structure. Throughout this recent improvement, we additionally gave it a brand new identify referred to as Nexus Dashboard Material Controller (NDFC).
Observe: The main target of this submit is on NDFC SAN Controller.
Advantages of Upgrading from DCNM to NDFC SAN Controller
In January 2023, we launched the third main launch (12.1.2) of NDFC SAN Controller. This makes the proper time to improve from DCNM to NDFC not simply because three is a magic quantity, but in addition due to ten causes that I’m sharing on this submit.
1. Upgrading from DCNM to NDFC is Free
We designed NDFC to honor the prevailing DCNM licenses. This funding safety turns into much more rewarding with the distinctive longevity of Cisco switches due to in-place upgrades to the upper speeds. For instance, clients who purchased MDS 9710 with DCNM license in 2013 can improve to NDFC in 2023 utilizing the identical license. Simply to be clear, any newly bought Nexus and MDS switches nonetheless require new NDFC licenses. However NDFC will be capable of handle any present switches you will have already bought DCNM licenses for. Primarily, it’s free to improve from DCNM to NDFC.
2. Lively-Lively Clustering for Excessive-Availability
The internet hosting platform of NDFC, referred to as Nexus Dashboard (ND), gives native active-active clustering. You’ll be able to deploy 3 nodes of Nexus Dashboard in a cluster after which set up a single occasion of NDFC on it. The consumer expertise for SAN Administration stays unchanged no matter 1-node ND or a 3-node ND cluster. Nevertheless, with 3-node cluster, ND routinely distributes microservices on a number of nodes. If one node fails, the prevailing two nodes proceed to run NDFC. This achieves an unprecedented reliability for SAN Administration and Insights.
Lively-Lively clustering doesn’t exist in DCNM. It has a unique implementation for reaching excessive availability, referred to as Federation. However due to the dependency on an exterior Oracle RAC database, DCNM Federation will increase the overall value of possession. In distinction, Nexus Dashboard natively integrates distributed database companies for reaching active-active clustering. This design makes excessive availability of NDFC way more reasonably priced.
To today NDFC is the one SAN administration software program to supply a real extremely out there structure to drastically enhance up-time and availability for SAN operations. In a time when down-time is solely unacceptable, this structure delivers piece of thoughts even on the community administration facet of the enterprise.
3. NDFC One View – Single-pane-of-glass Throughout A number of NDFC Servers
NDFC One View gives centralized administration and visualization of a number of SAN environments which are managed by completely different NDFC servers. Utilizing an executive-level dashboard of One View, you possibly can seamlessly navigate to a collaborating NDFC server utilizing Single Signal-On (SSO). This results in quicker troubleshooting and simplified Day 2 operations.
There isn’t a additional license for NDFC One View. If you have already got DCNM/NDFC license for managing the switches, you can begin utilizing NDFC One View at this time with no additional value.
DCNM doesn’t provide the same function. When you’ve got a number of DCNM servers managing completely different SAN environments, getting a unified view throughout all these DCNM servers is feasible solely after upgrading to NDFC.
4. Larger Scale
Beginning 12.1.2 launch, NDFC can handle as much as 40K ports (earlier 20K ports) and as much as 160 switches (earlier 80 switches). This elevated scale helps to consolidate a number of DCNM servers in fewer NDFC servers, and therefore saves time, effort, and cash.
Moreover the material scale, SAN Insights can now monitor as much as 1 million I/O flows per NDFC server. When SAN Insights was first added to DCNM 11 in 2018, it might monitor 20K flows. Later, DCNM 11.5 elevated this scale to 60K flows. In 2021, the primary launch of NDFC 12.0.0 elevated the variety of monitored flows to 250K, which was additional elevated to 500K with 12.1.1 launch. Now, NDFC 12.1.2 can monitor 1 million flows delivering 50x enhance during the last 5 years.
This elevated scale gives two key advantages. First, it permits monitoring each movement, which is required as a result of customers have no idea when and the place an issue could floor. SAN Insights repeatedly displays efficiency of I/O flows proactively and their historical past is offered when an anomaly is detected (extra on anomaly detection shortly). The second purpose is that even a material with just a few switches can have a whole lot of hundreds of flows. For instance, one buyer has 180K flows in a material of simply 4 switches. When accounting for twin materials, the movement depend of their atmosphere is roughly 380K. NDFC can monitor these environments in an always-on style and might scale occasion additional.
5. SAN Insights Anomaly Detection
Not simply monitoring, NDFC can routinely detect anomalies in any of the million flows. You’ll be able to set the insurance policies of your alternative or just activate the ready-made insurance policies in NDFC. For instance, NDFC can create an anomaly coverage to inform the admins when learn or write I/O operations to a LUN (for SCSI site visitors) or Namespace (for NVMe site visitors) takes longer than 500 microseconds. Anomaly detection helps in detecting storage efficiency points a lot sooner than utility is affected.
This function of anomaly detection doesn’t exist in DCNM. Monitoring and the power to detect anomalies in 1,000,000 flows is feasible solely due to the microservices-based structure of NDFC.
6. Current DCNM Options
It isn’t simple, however we are attempting onerous to exceed the excessive bar set by DCNM. Within the final two years, now we have added (and redesigned) most DCNM options to NDFC, corresponding to zoning, efficiency monitoring, gadget alias administration, interactive topologies, programmable studies, SAN Insights, VM integration, UCS site visitors visualization, config backup and restore, swap picture administration, and a lengthy record of options. For the long-time customers of DCNM, particularly those that nonetheless use its Java GUI (generally known as thick shopper), the expertise of utilizing NDFC is completely different. I like to recommend beginning this transition ahead of later. Whereas making this transition, we’re open to your concepts for including new options and enhancing present options.
7. New Options and Administration of Newer Switches solely in NDFC
Not simply including present options from DCNM, however we’re additionally growing new options in NDFC. The important thing factors it that these new options are solely entering into NDFC. For instance, the brand new Configuration Monitor function routinely detects any drift from a golden NX-OS config and generates alarms (Determine 1). This detects any unintentional modifications and helps in stopping harm to your atmosphere.
Moreover new options, the newer 64GFC MDS switches (MDS 9124V, MDS 9148V, and later) can solely be managed by NDFC.
We nonetheless assist DCNM and haven’t but introduced its finish of life. However we’re not including new options and assist for newer switches in DCNM. All of the innovation goes solely to NDFC.
8. Run NDFC as a Bodily Equipment
Bodily equipment (referred to as pND) is a brand new deployment mannequin for NDFC. Like Cisco Nexus and MDS switches the place the {hardware} and software program (NX-OS) is absolutely supported by Cisco, the pND {hardware} and software program are additionally absolutely supported by Cisco. This reduces the dependency on different groups for deploying and sustaining NDFC.
NDFC SAN Controller may also be deployed on RHEL (referred to as rND) or as an OVA on ESXi (referred to as vND). We provide this flexibility so as to select the most suitable choice to your atmosphere. In the event you see worth in utilizing the bodily equipment (pND), that is one more reason for upgrading from DCNM to NDFC.
9. VM Visitors Visibility
NDFC stitches end-to-end flows between VM and LUN (for SCSI site visitors). This makes VM-Initiator-Goal-LUN (VM-ITL) movement in SAN Insights. For NVMe site visitors, the same movement is named VM-ITN movement the place N represents a Namespace.
DCNM gives I/O flows at a granularity of ITL or ITN. Stitching these flows to a VM requires guide correlation in vCenter. NDFC simplifies this step by routinely correlating ITL and ITN flows with the VMs.
This VM-ITL and VM-ITN movement visibility in NDFC results in a lot quicker decision of gradual efficiency points.
10. Forestall SAN Congestion and Sluggish-Drain utilizing DIRL
Congestion Evaluation function in NDFC (successor of DCNM Sluggish Drain Evaluation) gives a topology visualization of the supply, trigger, and time of congestion. One other new function, referred to as Occasion Analytics, routinely receives congestion alerts from the Port-Monitor function on the MDS switches. These new options in NDFC permit correlation and investigation of congestion points utilizing intuitive charts and traits.
Moreover detecting congestion, NDFC additionally permits configuring Dynamic Ingress Price Limiting (DIRL), which is a novel innovation on MDS switches for stopping congestion. NDFC additionally visualizes the outcomes of DIRL that additional permit optimizing congestion thresholds.
These new enhancements for detecting and stopping congestion are solely out there in NDFC. You’ll be able to proceed to make use of Sluggish-Drain Evaluation in DCNM however the full advantage of Congestion Evaluation and skill to configure and visualize DIRL is feasible solely after upgrading to NDFC.
The way to Improve from DCNM to NDFC SAN?
We offer a device to simplify the improve from DCNM to NDFC SAN Controller. This device takes the backup of the found cloth, alarm insurance policies, server setting, and even the efficiency monitoring knowledge from DCNM and restores these to NDFC.
My private advice is to run DCNM and NDFC in parallel for some time. Then decommission DCNM solely after you might be comfy working NDFC. In case your automation infrastructure depends on DCNM, this strategy provides sufficient time to replace and confirm NDFC RESTful APIs.
Consult with the white paper for a step-by-step steerage for upgrading from DCNM to NDFC.
Conclusion
We proceed to assist DCNM and haven’t but introduced its finish of life. However new improvements and assist for newer switches is offered solely inside NDFC. With the third main launch, scale of 1,000,000 I/O flows, stability, and newer options, now could be the proper time for upgrading from DCNM to NDFC SAN Controller. Beginning this transition sooner provides sufficient time for a sleek improve, get acquainted with the Nexus Dashboard platform, and confirm automation.
In the event you prefer to see any new options in NDFC, please attain out to us through your account group or depart a remark under.
To be taught extra about NDFC, check with the next assets.
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