Cisco ACI stands for Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure.
Cisco ACI is a software-defined networking (SDN) solution that simplifies, optimizes, and accelerates the deployment and management of applications and infrastructure in data centers and clouds. Cisco ACI uses a policy-driven approach that defines the desired state and behavior of the network, rather than the individual configuration of each device. Cisco ACI also integrates with various tools and platforms to provide visibility, security, automation, and analytics for your network.
Cisco ACI captures higher-level business and user intent in the form of a network policy and converts this intent into the network constructs necessary to dynamically provision network, security, and infrastructure services. It uses a holistic systems-based approach, with tight integration between hardware and software and physical and virtual elements, an open ecosystem model, and innovative Cisco customer Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) to enable unique business value for modern data centers. This unique approach uses a common policy-based operating model across the network, drastically reducing the cost and complexity of operating the network.
Cisco ACI consists of two main components: the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series spine and leaf switches for Cisco ACI. The APIC is the central point of network configuration and management. It provides a unified view of the entire network fabric, as well as the health and performance of the applications running on it. The APIC also communicates with external controllers and orchestrators to integrate with various tools and platforms. The Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches are the physical nodes that form the network fabric. They support high bandwidth, low latency, and load balancing for optimal performance. They also implement the policies defined by the APIC using a declarative model that ensures consistency and reliability.
Some of the benefits of Cisco ACI are:
• It reduces complexity and human errors by automating network operations and enforcing consistent policies across multiple sites and clouds.
• It improves performance and scalability by using a spine-leaf architecture that supports high bandwidth, low latency, and load balancing.
• It enhances security and compliance by implementing zero-trust models, micro segmentation, threat detection, and policy enforcement.
• It accelerates innovation and agility by enabling faster application delivery, cloud integration, and DevOps collaboration.