ACI and VMware vCenter

[Yong Peng]

Hi,

Greetings.

When I am prepariing a LAB: ACI simulator + vCenter, a question araises:

The VDS configuration is aligned with the apic. If the APIC only has OOB connection to VMware environment, can EPG and Contract work on the VDI?

Look into the topology, ACI has no data plane connection to the Host, but it can integrate with vCenter, add VDI to the vCenter by leveraging on OOB. If I have VMs in 2 EPGs under the same BD, can I control the communication by contract?

[Claudia de Luna]

Hi @Yong Peng,

The ACI simulator is terrific for learning where things are and how to create the constructs.  They are also great for testing automation but as you saw below, there is no data plane and so anything that requires a data plane will not work.  So you can create your Contracts and apply them but you can't actually test if they will block or permit traffic.   There are some good labs you can rent but they are not inexpensive (for me anyway).

I use the simulator all the time but they do have limitations!