Installing ISE on cisco UCS C220 M4S

[NOCNOC80902]

Hi All ,

we have one UCS server model C220 M4S used as CMS server and not needed any more.

we are planning to use is for cisco ISE implementation.

Is there any limitation or compatibility issue to do so ?

[Marcelo Morais · Accepted solution]

Hi @NOCNOC80902 ,

 take a look at Performance and Scalability Guide for Cisco Identity Services Engine, search for Table 4. Specifications for Different Hardware Platforms., to check the hardware specification of your UCS C220 M4S before ISE installation.

 Remember that the SNS 3500 Series appliance is a UCS C220 M4 (SNS 3500 Series Hardware Installation Guide) ... SNS 3600 Series is a UCS C220 M5.

Hope this helps !!!

[Arne Bier · Accepted solution]

I doubt whether you will be able to install ISE on any bare metal server that is not the official SNS-3XXX series - because the Secure Boot in the ISE software enforces this. So your best bet would be to run a Hypervisor (e.g. VMWare ESXi) on that chassis and then run ISE on top of it. Just ensure that if this is for production use, that you allocate it the correct resources - or else it will run like a donkey - and you might run into issues with TAC support. But as a lab node it might just be perfect (> 16 GB RAM).

[Marcelo Morais]

Hi @Arne Bier ,

 UCS C for Cisco Collab come with VMWare ESXi, and you install the Collab Software (CUCM, CUC, and others) as VMs., but the requirements are lower than ISE (please take a look at Cisco Collaboration Virtualization).

[Arne Bier]

@NOCNOC80902 - what is the spec of this box?  How much RAM, disk storage (is RAID involved?) and what type of CPUs in the socket(s) ? 

[thomas · Accepted solution]

Should not work unless it is an official SNS-3xxx appliance.

Your best bet would be to install a supported hypervisor onto it then install ISE as a VM.

See https://cs.co/ise-scale > Cisco ISE Hardware Platforms for equivalent sizes of VMs to match the appliances.