sc1

sc2

replacing UCS B-series blade servers that are managed by UCSM requires their decommission and deletion from the inventory of UCSM first. The new blade servers must be commissioned with UCSM.

Note: CIMC vs UCSM and Intersight

When a UCS C-series rackmount server is managed by UCSM, it can no longer be managed by CIMC.
Only UCS C-series rackmount servers that are in standalone mode can be managed through CIMC.

Register a UCS C-series rackmount server in UCSM#

A new UCS C-series rackmount server comes pre-configured to integrate with UCSM through the connection to the FIs. Once the UCS C-series server is cabled to the FIs, I wait for some minutes and I will see the server pop up in the UCSM page:

sc3

#verifyThis I should not press the boot button of the UCS server or power cycle it, or it will not register with UCSM.

Steps to replace a UCS C-series Rackmount Server in UCSM managed Mode#

set in maintenance, decommission then delete.

sc4

sc5

sc6

CIMC Backup and Restore#

Cisco recommends backing up the CIMC firmware before a HUU upgrade or a replacement of the UCS C-series rackmount server.

![[ciscoucscimcconfigbackup.png]]

![[ciscoucscimcconfigrestore.png]]

Verification of the correct firmware after upgrade:

![[ciscoucscheckafterHUUupgrade.png]]

Graceful Shutdown of a UCS C-series Server in Standalone Mode#

![[ciscoucsCgracefulshutdown.png]]

Registering a UCS C-series rackmount server with Intersight#

aka “claiming a server in Intersight”. Requirement: the CIMC firmware version must be compatible with Cisco Intersight.

![[ciscoucsCcimcIntersight01.png]]

![[ciscoucsCcimcIntersight02.png]]

Enter the Device ID.

compute nodes for UCS X-Series#

Example: UCS 210c M6 compute node.

![[UCS210cM6-01.png]]

decommission a B-series blade server before replacement#

![[decommissionucsbseriesblade.png]]

X440p PCIe Nodes#

is a sort of extender of the number of available PCIe slots for each compute node that sits in a UCS-X 9508 chassis. I insert the X440p in the chassis and its resources are available to all the compute nodes of the chassis. I can insert stuff like GPU cards, FPGAs and smartNICs, in the X440p PCIe nodes, and I can allocate those resources in software using UCS Manager to any compute nodes I want.

GPU Sockets#

aka GPU slots.

![[ciscoucsGPUslots01.png]]

![[ciscoucsGPUslots02.png]]

![[ciscoucsGPUslots03.png]]

Power Supplies#

Replacing power supplies is typically done in hot (i.e. with no server shutdown required) if the server or the chassis has redundant remaining power supplies.

![[ciscoucspowersupplies.png]]

Fan modules#

![[ciscoucsfanmodules01.png]]

![[ciscoucsfanmodules02.png]]

Notice the mezzanine disk bays:

![[ucsB200M4bladeserver01.jpg]]

![[ucsB200M4bladeserver02.jpg]]

![[ucsB200M4bladeserver03.jpg]]

![[ucsB200M5bladeserver01.jpg]]

![[ucsB200M6bladeserver01.jpg]]

![[ucsB200M6bladeserver02.jpg]]

![[ucsC225M6rackmount01.jpg]]

![[ucsC225M6rackmount02.jpg]]

![[ucsC225M6rackmount03.jpg]]

![[hotswappabledrivebays.png]]

Refresh on Server Components#

![[cisco-ucs-everywhere-01.png]]

![[cisco-ucs-blade-server-VIC-as-mezzanine.png]]

PCIe#

PCI express. is the successor to PCI. A standard for communication between peripherals (NIC, HDD, SSDs, etc.) and the computer motherboard. On the motherboard, the connector for PCIe cards is called PCIe slot. A PCIe slot connects PCIe devices to the PCIe bus. The PCIe bus is a collection of circuits, logic and protocols that transmit data between a PCIe device and other computer systems through the PCIe slot. ![[pcie-bus-001.png]]

PCIe cards#

Whether connected directly to the motherboard through a PCIe slot or through a riser, I must remove the server metal case in order to install/replace PCIe cards (and schedule a maintenance window). are installed directly on the PCIe slot of the motherboard or on the PICe riser card slots. Example: PCIe card for UCS C-series rack-mount servers, 2x 40G QSFP:

![[UCSC-PCIE-C40Q_D.png|500]]

![[UCSC-PCIE-C40Q_A.png|500]]

![[UCSC-PCIE-C40Q_C.png]]

Replacing a PCIe card on a Cisco UCS C-series rack-mount server

PCIe Lanes and PCIe slots#

PCIe cards have lanes. Each lane transports 8-bit sized packets in the sending and receiving directions. The number of lanes is marked with ‘x’ symbol in the PCIe name. The hardware of the PCIe slots on the motherboard are designed in a way that matches the type of PCIe card. Thus they suggest the number of lanes of the PCIe that fits in:

![[pcie001.jpg|500]]

Riser#

it comes as PCI riser (legacy models) or PCIe riser. There are no risers that combine PCI and PCIe slots. A PCI riser has slots for PCI cards. A PCIe riser has slots for PCIe cards. Example 1: PCI riser

![[pci-riser-card-01.jpg|600]]

Example 2: PCIe riser

![[pcie-riser-card-01.png|700]]

The riser card is a card that connects on one side to the motherboard (through its golden pins) and to PCI or PCIe cards on the other side (the PCI or PCIe connects to the slots that are on the riser card) while changing the spatial orientation of those PCI or PCIe cards. The reason why is because most UCS servers have a shallow form and thus a PCIe card can not be inserted vertically to the motherboard. The solution is to insert a riser on the motherboard, then connect the PCIe to the riser. That way, the PCIe card becomes parallel to the motherboard.

On a server whose motherboard supports riser cards, not every generic riser card can be inserted. Vendors issue specific riser models and describe the compabitility of riser cards with riser slots on the motherboard.

Example: On a UCS C245 M6, there are three riser slots. Some of them accept riser 1A card model, some accept only riser 1B card model (see the server hardware installation guide). On each of the riser cards, not all slots support every PCIe device; Some of them support Add-In-Cards, some of them support NVMe SSDs.

When no cables are mentioned, then riser refers to the riser card. Otherwise, I must be more precise in any technical discussion and distinguish between riser cards and riser cables.

Riser cables#

I need them to connect PCIe devices that, because of their size or physical location, can not be directly plugged into the riser card. I connect them like this:

flowchart RL
D --> A --> B --> C
A(riser card)
B(riser cable)
C(PCIe device)
D(Motherboard)

Example: NVIDIA GPUs are big and do not fit directly into a riser card. I need to connect them to the riser card using riser cables.

![[pcierisercables001.png|300]]

LoM#

LOM is the built-in I/O module that contains network ports.

mLOM#

mLOM (modular LAN on Motherboard) is a slot that is built in the motherboard that allows to connect mLOM cards to the motherboard. => mLOM provides connectivity to the motherboard without sacrificing a PCIe slot. How to access it depends on whether I am using a UCS blade architecture or UCS rack architecture.

mLOM for UCS B-series Blade servers#

In UCS B-series Blade server architecture, I need to remove the Blade server from the UCS chassis, open the server metal case and insert the mLOM module.

Example: Cisco VIC 1440 has mLOM form factor. VIC 1440 is meant for UCS M5 generation B-series Blade servers only. It goes in the mLOM slot.

![[cisco-ucs-B-vic1440-mLOM.png|500]]

![[cisco-VIC1440-mLOM.png]]

![[install-VIC-mLOM-in-motherboard-mLOM-slot.png]]

mLOM in UCS C-series rack-mount servers#

In the UCS C-series rack-mount servers, adding/removing mLOM devices takes place externally on the rear of the server, without opening the server’s metal case like with the Blade servers; I insert mLOM cards on the rear side of the UCS server.

Some mLOMs are designed exclusively for specific UCS generations.

mLOM slot aka mLOM bay aka mLOM card bay.

Example 1: VIC mLOM 2x 10GBaseT

![[ucs-UCS-VIC1227T-mLOM.png|500]]

Example 2: 40G 2x QSFP mLOM

![[UCSC-mLOM-C40Q-002.jpg|500]]

![[UCSC-mLOM-C40Q-001.jpg|500]]

Example 3: APIC-M3, see the LOM and mLOM VIC:

![[3-APICs.png|500]]

Mezzanine Slots, Mezzanine Cards#

mLOM and mezzanine are two form factors for Cisco VIC cards.

Example: VIC1440 goes into the mLOM slot of the motherboard, some other VICs go into a PCIe mezzanine slot on the motherboard.

PCIe mezzanine slots are only available in UCS B-series blade servers.

They are called mezzanine because they are inserted/built neither on the bottom nor on the roof of the enclosure.

![[mezzanine01.jpg|400]]

Cisco VIC 1400-series cards are compatible with a range of UCS B-series Blade servers, UCS C-series rack-mount servers and UCS S-series Storage servers. But not every VIC 1400-series card is compatible with all UCS servers.

![[cisco-vic-product-family.png]]

TPM#

Trusted Platform Module: a chip that stores cryptographic keys, used for encryption and decryption, ensures that the OS has not been tampered with. TPM is inserted into the TPM socket.

![[TPM-Chip.jpg|500]]

NVLink#

NVLink is an NVIDIA invention. It is a high-speed interconnect technology from NVIDIA for GPU-to-GPU and CPU-to-CPU communication. As of 2025, NVLink is at its fourth generation. It is used in NVIDIA A100 and H100 GPUs, which are used in the most powerful supercomputers in the world.

Backplane#

a big card with a bunch of connectors to connect hot-swappable storage devices. not to be confused with the motherboard, which contains CPU elements.

Midplane#

like the backplane, but has connectors on both sides of it.

mini-storage slot#

It is possible to provide additional storage internally in the server chassis by attaching a [[#mini-storage carrier]].

Mini-storage slots are available on Blade and rack servers, starting with UCS M5 series and above.

![[mini-storage-slot-001.png|500]]

![[mini-storage-slot-002.png|500]]

mini-storage carrier aka mini-storage module#

A mini-storage module is a card that is inserted into the mini-storage slot. It carries one or more M.2 NVMe SSDs or SATA cards.

![[mini-storagecarrier001.png]]

Chassis Intrusion Switch#

writes a log entry in the system log file whenever the server cover is removed.

DIMM Sockets#

aka DIMM slots: the slots on the motherboard where DIMM memory cards are inserted.

CPU Socket#

A CPU socket is the physical housing on the motherboard where the physical CPU resides.

CPU Heatsink#

On top of the CPU socket is the CPU heatsink placed. The CPU Heatsink is a piece of metal that catches the heat and divert it away from the CPU.

![[cpuheatsink001.jpg]]

Example: Place a second CPU and its heatsink + insert two new disks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU6RuM_tMlc

![[UCS-Blade-server-twoCPU-heatsinks.png|500]]

Thermal paste#

special material that transfers heat from the CPU or GPU to the heatsink.

![[thermal-paste.jpg|500x376]]

When replacing a heatsink for a CPU or GPU, the replacement kit usually contains pre-applied thermal paste, so nothing to add to it. But if I want to only clean the CPU or GPU, I need to purchase a cleaning kit which includes cleaning fluids and a seringe with thermal paste.

Air Baffle#

a cover that disperses air across many components. Typically there are CPU air baffles, GPU air baffles, memory air baffles, etc.

Example:

![[air-baffle001.png|500x300]]

GPU Heatsink#

![[GPUheatsinkreplacement2025-11-02 11-16-28.png|500x300]]

![[GPUheatsinkreplacement2025-11-02 11-20-11.png|500x300]]

![[GPUheatsinkreplacement2025-11-02 11-20-25.png|500x300]]

UCS Architecture#

Previous UCS architecture (pre-2025):

![[ucs-architecture-no-ucsx.png]]

UCS architecture as of August 2025:

![[ucs-architecture-with-ucsx.png]]

Note: More resources are available on youtube to compensate for the lack of experience with the hardware.

VIC#

For UCS B-series Blade servers, UCS C-series rack-mount servers and UCS S-series storage servers. offers proprietary and advanced features such as support for virtualization: the creation of vNICs (not to be confused with [[VMware vSphere Concepts#vNIC, vmnic, vSwitch|VMware vNICs]]) and vHBAs.

in UCS B-series Blade Servers	in UCS C-series rack-mount Servers
#verifyThis VIC is installed on the comput nodes (the blade servers) in mezzanine slots or in the mLOM slots, depending on the model.	VIC is typically installed as a mLOM

Example 1: VIC 1225T

![[cisco-VIC1225T-2x10GBaseT.jpg|300]]

Example 2: VIC1225

![[cisco-VIC1225-2x10GSFPplus.jpg|300]]

VIC1445#

contains 4 physical ports numbered 1 - 4 from left to right, grouped in two pairs:

ports 1 and 2 form the logical port group eth2-1.
ports 3 and 4 form the logical port group eth2-2. When cabling APIC to leaf nodes, we are allowed to use only one physical port from each port group, so:
port 1 and 3, or
port 2 and 4. VIC1445 physical ports support:
10Gbps over fiber connectivity using SFP-10G-SR, SFP-10G-LR or SFP-10G-AOCxM cables
25Gbps over fiber connectivity.

![[ciscoVICfamily01.png]]

NIC Mode#

tells on which ports the CIMC interface is reachable. The following are some NIC mode options:

Dedicated#

CIMC is reachable only on the [[CIMC for APIC#Method 3 CIMC Management Port|CIMC management port]].

Shared LOM#

CIMC is reachable on any port of the LOM module.

🍍 ![[CIMC configuration utility 001.png]]

Shared LOM 10G#

CIMC is reachable on any 10G-port of the LOM module.

Cisco Card#

#TBC

To design adequate power per UCS server: ucspowercalculator.cisco.com ![[UCSpowercalculator01.png]] #QA There are double-wide GPU cards. Are there single-wide GPUs? Unified Computing System = combination of compute, storage and networking in the same system. #QA the concept of cores per socket in the world of processors. #QA memory DIMM slots; DIMM memory. #QA M.2 SATA drives vs HDD #QA the concept of I/O and I/O throughput. #QA the concept of memory frequency, e.g. memory at speeds of 2933 MHz. #QA pass-through controllers The housing where I insert a drive on a UCS C-series or B-series Blade server chassis is called a ==drive bay==. There are front bays (attach to the server from the front) and rear bays (attach to the backplane). cool concept: link partner = the device at the other end of the cable. #QA concept of backplane in UCS?

🍎 2.5-inch SSD SAS for Cisco UCS ![[SAS SSD 001.jpg]]

Mixing SAS SSD and SAS HDD in a UCS C-series rack-mount server. ![[mixing-SAS-SSD-and-SAS-HDD-in-UCS.png]]

🍑 2.5-inch SSD SATA for Cisco UCS ![[SATA SSD 001.jpg]]

🍐 2.5/inch SSD NVMe for Cisco UCS ![[SSD NVMe 001.jpg]]

UCS Big Picture#

![[b00000217.png|1500]]

UCS servers have generations: M4 generation, M5 generation, etc.

UCS B-Series#

UCS blade server chassis#

is the 5108 chassis. is 6 RU aka UCS B-series Blade Server enclosure. houses B-series Blade servers. houses up to 8 half-width or 4 full-width B-series Blade servers. fit in a standard 19" DC rack

![[b00000218.png]]

![[b00000219.png]]

![[b00000220.png]]

![[b00000221.png]]

![[UCS-blade-server-chassis.png]]

#QA what is the chassis backplane?

UCS B-series blade servers#

come in half width or full width form factors (i.e. half a slot or a full slot in a UCS Blade server chassis) I can mix half-width with full-width blade servers in a blade server chassis; The full-width servers must be placed at the bottom. Example: UCS B200 M5 blade servers (are half width)

![[B200 M5 01.png]]

up to two HDD (SAS or SATA) or SSD in the front-panel slots #QA NVMe support? UCS B-series Blade servers are aka server nodes or compute nodes. Each server node has a huge motherboard. #verifyThis Cisco UCS B-series Blade server B200 M4 build up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKHDaz5gqbs Cisco UCS B-Series Blade server Chassis hardware: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlNGo9viXMk UCS B-Series B200 M4 Blade server memory insertion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUlgysMxqYo UCS B-series Blade server Enclosure 5108 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M43MVsgY6cA

![[one-ucs-blade-server-001.png]]

![[removing-a-ucs-blade-server-002.png]]

![[removing-a-ucs-blade-server-003.png]]

![[ucs-blade-server-004.png]]

KVM cable to locally manage the Blade server instead of UCS Manager or Intersight:

![[KVM cable.png|300]]

Up to two GPUs or two storage drives can be installed on the front and rear mezzanine connectors. Example: Blade B200 M5 server with NVIDIA GPUs

![[B200 M5 04.png]]

Example: UCS B480 M5 blade servers (are full width)

![[B480 M5 01.png]]

#QA Cisco SingleConnect technology either additional storage or GPUs can be connected to the mezzanine connectors. up to four NVIDIA GPUs: two on the front mezzanine connectors and two on the rear mezzanine connectors.

![[B480 M5 02.png]]

Example: UCS B200 M4 Blade server

![[B200 M4 01.png]]

Example: UCS B260 Blade M4 server

![[B260 M4 01.png]]

can be upgraded to UCS B460 Blade M4 server (in a primary-standby system)

![[B460 M4 01.png]]

Note: Always read the hardware server installation guide for detailed internal components, LEDs and hardware operations considerations.

UCS Fabric Interconnects#

management of UCS servers, LAN and SAN connectivity are provided by the Fabric Interconnects. build the core of the UCS fabric. UCS servers connected to FI belong to the same management domain. Fabric Interconnect (short: FI):

attach directly to the VIC IOM of UCS C-series rack-mount servers directly,
for larger scale: attach to Nexus 2000 series Fabric Extenders in order to connect to the VIC IOM of the UCS C-series rack-mount servers,
attach to UCS 2200 fabric extenders in order to connect to UCS B-series Blade servers. The UCS 2200 IOM FEX are inserted into the UCS B-series blade chassis. For more details, refer to the [[#UCS Architecture]].

Note on UCS Fex vs Nexus 2000 Fex: UCS 2200 Fabric Extenders != Nexus 2000 Fabric Extenders.

The UCS 6454 FI supports:

Ethernet,
FCoE on all Ethernet ports,
FC on select ports.

![[cisco-ucs6454-0001.jpg|500]]

UCS Manager software is embedded within the UCS FI. Some UCS FI come as switches, some as I/O modules like the UCS 6324 FI.

![[ucs6332-16UP-001.jpg]]

![[cisco-ucs-6248-48UPFI.jpg]]

![[ucs-fabricinterconnect-001.png]]

![[ucs6324-fi-001.png]]

#QA UCS 6300 Fabric Interconnect: what are layer-1 and layer-2 ports? #QA What is the beacon LED for?

![[UCS-FI-001.png]]

Initial Setup#

The IP profile configured at the boot of the FI (IP address, subnet mask, IP default gateway) is used to reach UCS Manager GUI. Upgrading the FI firmware takes place using UCSM. The downloaded firmware must be manually activated for both system and kernel in the UCSM GUI. FI reboots. To check the current version use the CLI command show version. FIs are typically configured in pairs for high availability and failover purposes: I must connect them using their L1 and L2 ports and configure each FI to join the cluster. One is designated as the primary FI and the other is the subordinate FI. FIs in a cluster are referred to “FI A” and “FI B”. Either one of them can be configured as primary or subordinate; Initial provisioning and verification of the FI A and B: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/ucs-manager/GUI-User-Guides/Getting-Started/4-2/b_UCSM_Getting_Started_Guide_4_2/b_UCSM_Getting_Started_Guide_4_1_chapter_0100.html#concept_5F813DECC8B34C0DB531A1435A88F732 FIs joining a cluster must have the same firmware version. A life-simplifying feature is the FI Auto-Sync feature; The FI senses the firmware version of the peer FI and upgrades/downgrades the firmware on the local FI accordingly. This requires L1 and L2 ports being cabled and both FIs being of the same hardware model. ⚠️ IP address of a FI node != IP address of the FI cluster.

![[data-center-sideA-sideB-.png]]

Replacing a FI#

#lab Check if the system is running as a cluster with show cluster extended-state

FI-A# **show cluster extended-state** 
Cluster Id: 0x537d0580bf9911e0-0x8955000decd07984
A: UP, PRIMARY
B: UP, SUBORDINATE
A: memb state UP, lead state PRIMARY, mgmt services state: UP
B: memb state UP, lead state SUBORDINATE, mgmt services state: UP
   heartbeat state PRIMARY_OK 
INTERNAL NETWORK INTERFACES:
eth1, UP
eth2, UP
==HA READY   <<<<<<<<<<<<<←---------------- HA is READY==
Detailed state of the device selected for HA storage:
Chassis 1, serial: FOX1344G1R1, state: active
Chassis 2, serial: FOX1318GDKR, state: active

By the way, in a FI cluster, removing the active FI forces the standby FI to become the new active with minimal data interruption.

Contact Cisco AM or TAC to transfer the the license from the faulty FI to the replacement FI. Label all the cables. Save the software configuration. Perform fabric evacuation so that data does not flow through the faulty FI anymore. Insert the replacement FI and attach all cables to it. Power it on. If after POST checks the system detects a mismatch in the firmware version, it’ll suggest me to upgrade it by itself:

---- Basic System Configuration Dialog ---- 
  This setup utility will guide you through the basic configuration of 
  the system. Only minimal configuration including IP connectivity to 
  the Fabric interconnect and its clustering mode is performed through
  these steps. 
  Type Ctrl-C at any time to abort configuration and reboot system.
  To back track or make modifications to already entered values, 
  complete input till end of section and answer no when prompted
  to apply configuration. 
  Enter the configuration method. (console/gui) ? console 
  Installer has detected the presence of a peer Fabric interconnect.
  This Fabric interconnect will be added to the cluster. Continue (y/n) ? y 
  Enter the admin password of the peer Fabric interconnect: 
    Connecting to peer Fabric interconnect... done 
    Retrieving config from peer Fabric interconnect... done 
    Installer has determined that the peer Fabric Interconnect is 
    running a different firmware version than the local Fabric.
    Cannot join cluster.
    Local Fabric Interconnect
      UCSM version     : 3.1(2c)
      Kernel version   : 5.0(3)N2(3.12b)
      System version   : 5.0(3)N2(3.12b)
      local_model_no   : UCS-FI-6454
    Peer Fabric Interconnect
      UCSM version     : 3.1(2c)
      Kernel version   : 5.0(3)N2(3.12c)
      System version   : 5.0(3)N2(3.12c)
      peer_model_no    : UCS-FI-6454  
  ==Do you wish to update firmware on this Fabric Interconnect to the Peer's version? (y/n): y== 
  Updating firmware of Fabric Interconnect....... 
  [ Please don't press Ctrl+c while updating firmware ] 
  Updating images
  Please wait for firmware update to complete...
<output truncated>

Remove Data Evacuation from the replacement FI. Apply the license again.

UCS Fabric Extender (FEx)#

aka I/O Modules (IOM). attach to the UCS B-series blade server chassis on the I/O bay. 🍍 ![[CiscoIOM001.png|500]]

is an extension card of the UCS FI; performs no switching. allows to multiplex network traffic from all UCS B-series Blade servers toward the FI. ist meant only to be inserted on UCS B-series chassis; easiy scales the number of managed UCS B-series Blade server enclosures without requiring additional UCS FIs.

![[ucs-fabric-extenders-002.png]]

![[cisco-ucs-2304-fex.png]]

![[cisco-ucs-2304-fex002.png]]

![[10G-backplane-eth-con.png]]

Cisco refers to external and internal network connections when describing IOMs in data sheets. Internal connections are the backplane connections (toward UCS B-series Blade servers). Two are deployed per chassis. 🍎 UCS-IOM-2204XP-RF

![[UCS-IOM-2204XP-RF.jpg]]

🦬 UCS-IOM-2208XP

![[cisco-ucs-fex-2208XP-01.jpg|500]]

![[cisco-ucs-fex-2208XP-02.jpg|500]]

![[cisco-ucs-fex-2208XP-03.jpg|500]] 🍍 UCS-IOM-2408 ![[cisco-ucs-IOM-2408.png|500]]

UCS E-series blade servers#

“E” stands for “Embedded” built in the ISR G2 (Cisco 1900, 2900, 3900) and 4000-series routers. come as:

single-wide server,
double-wide server,
EHWIC Network Compute Node (NCE)
SM NCE (Service Module NCE)
NIM NCE ![[ucs-e-series001.png]]

![[ucsEseries.png]] A UCS E-series server that is correctly inserted in the ISR router shows in the output of show platform:

Router# show platform
Chassis type: ISR4451/K9
Slot Type State Insert time (ago)
--------- ------------------- ---------------------
0 ISR4451/K9 ok 1d01h
0/0 ISR4400-4X1GE ok 1d01h
1 ISR4451/K9 ok 1d01h
1/0 UCS-E160DP-M1/K9 ok 1d01h   <-----
2 ISR4451/K9 ok 1d01h
R0 ISR4451/K9 ok, active 1d01h
F0 ISR4451/K9 ok, active 1d01h
P0 XXX-XXXX-XX ok 1d01h
P1 Unknown ps, 1d01h
P2 ACS-4450-FANASSY ok 1d01h
Slot CPLD Version Firmware Version
--------- ------------------- ---------------------
0 12090323 12.2(20120829:165313)
1 12090323 12.2(20120829:165313)
2 12090323 12.2(20120829:165313)
R0 12090323 12.2(20120829:165313)
F0 12090323 12.2(20120829:165313)

UCS S series Storage servers#

#TBC

UCS C-series rack-mount servers#

can provide virtualization -> then called virtualized server. can host bare-metal applications -> then called bare-metal server. in the Hardware Installation Guides, ‘dedicated management port’ refers to the CIMC management port.

![[ciscoucscseries-01.png]]

Integrated UCS C-series server vs standalone UCS C-series server#

The integrated server is managed by UCS Manager. The standalone server is not.

UCS S-series Storage servers#

are EoL EoS.

UCS X-Series#

Chassis is 9508 07 RU 8 slots for front-loading compute nodes or resource nodes (like the X440p). midplane-free architecture.

![[ucsxchassis.png|605x350]]

Intelligent Fabric Modules IFM#

are designed exclusively for UCS X-series modular servers. provide LAN and SAN support. is responsible for monitoring and managing the chassis health (fans, power supplies, LED panel, temperature, etc.) and the KVM/Serial over LAN data of each server node. I must deploy them always in pairs for high availability.

Media Mapping#

![[mount the iso in CIMC.png]]

UCS Service Profiles#

a kind of template that contains configuration settings for a server. apparently reduces server provisioning time.

Management Options of UCS Fabrics#

Three options: UCSM, Intersight, CIMC.

Topic	UCS Manager	Intersight	CIMC
where is it hosted?	on prem, embedded in the Fabric Interconnects	in Cisco cloud	on every UCS C-series rack-mount server
offers API?	XML API	REST API	no
RBAC	yes	yes	yes
how to activate it?	the initial IP address configured on the FI is the IP to use to reach UCSM	the FI must be configured in ==Intersight managed mode==.	enabled by default
management of the complete lifecycle of the UCS fabric?	yes	yes	no
for which UCS server series?	all	all	C-series and E-series only.

Technology	Definition
UCS Domain	a set of UCS servers and Fabric Interconnects that are managed by Intersight.
UCS Domain Profile	a group of settings that usually map to a rack of UCS servers and UCS FIs.
UCS Domain Policies	each UCS domain policy can be attached to one or more UCS domain profiles. Examples of domain policies are: port policy, VLAN policy, network connectivity policy, etc.

Add/Delete VLANs on Intersight#

Configure or modify a VLAN policy under Infrastructure Services -> Policies.

By default, the toggle button Allow on all uplinks is activated, which means that the VLAN to be created is allowed on all uplink ports and port channels. (an uplink port is usually configured as member port of a port channel on the UCS FI).

Native VLAN#

In Intersight, you can set any VLAN as native VLAN. In UCS Manager, only VLAN 1 is set as native VLAN by default and can not be changed.

Exams requiring this knowledge#

[[DCID#20% 4.0 Automation Design#4.1.b Cisco Intersight]]

Notes#

Most of the knowledge I assembled here is taken from Cisco U FLDTECH course and my interactions with deepseek.

BE6H-M5-K9 is the Cisco Business Edition 6000, which is a UCS C-series rack-mount server that is assembled to satisfy Cisco apps like Collaboration. It is pre-shipped with a specific vSphere version. If I want to upgrade vSphere, I must:

ensure the target vSphere version is compatible with my hardware; For that I use the Cisco Hardware and Software Compatibilty List

![[Screenshot From 2025-10-23 21-13-02.png]]

![[Screenshot From 2025-10-23 21-12-49.png]]

ensure that my UCS C-series server has a minimum firmware (CIMC HUU) version that is supported by what the Compatiblity List displays. Otherwise I must upgrade the CIMC HUU. To find out which target CIMC HUU version to choose, I can orient my choice to whatever recommended version on the software.cisco.com site:

![[Screenshot From 2025-10-23 21-07-01.png]]

![[Screenshot From 2025-10-23 20-59-21.png]]

Cisco UCS

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