This is a one Stop wiki for UC on UCS.
http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/Unified_Communications_in_a_Virtualized_Environment
http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/UC_Virtualization_Supported_Hardware#UC_on_UCS_Tested_Reference_Configurations
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/virtual/CUCM_BK_CA526319_00_cucm-on-virtualized-servers_chapter_00.html
I see that you have a lot of planning questions, why don;t you get in touch with the Planning, Designing and Implementation team,
http://www.cisco.com/web/partners/tools/pdihd.html#~five
Q. Is there any good document which mentions step by step procedure how to install & bring up the UCS 240 M3 SFF server. Example-start with RAID followed with ESXi install, vSphere/vCentre..
- Setup CIMC ,
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10493/products_configuration_example09186a0080b10d66.shtml
For RAID you can use CIMC or UCS SCU ( Server Configuration utility) or LSI MegaRaid WebBIOS.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/virtual/CUCM_BK_CA526319_00_cucm-on-virtualized-servers_chapter_00.html#CUCM_RF_D3A9AF42_00
Install Esxi Remotely via KVM on RAID group and you probably want to use Cisco Customized OEM
https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=CISCO-ESXI-5.0.0-GA-23AUG2011&productId=229
Q. Is there any SRND,best practice document for Cisco UCS 240 M3 SFF -RAID,NIC, vCentre..
- There are lot of White papers,Install/Configure guide etc on Cisco.com as well as Vmware.com
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/virtual/CUCM_BK_CA526319_00_cucm-on-virtualized-servers_chapter_00.html
Q. We have 14 hard disks per server. What is the recommended RAID configuration.RAID5?Any good document on RAID configuration?
- RAID 1 for HyperVisor and RAID 5/6 as Datastore is the way to go
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns340/ns517/ns224/ns944/whitepaper_c11-728200.html
Refer to the Docwiki for more informaiton.
Q. Do we need two vCenter to manage all the VMs on 4 servers in two Data Centers taking into account of redundancy if one vCenter fails or WAN failure between data Centers.
- Too many Variables
Q. I need to install and bring up the UCS server remotely. If I configure the management IP through BIOS and connect the management port to the network, can I configure rest of the server remotely?
- yes that can be done using CIMC Web gui.
Q. I see four 1 GB NIC ports on the UCS server and assume should be configured as trunk/dot1q on the network switch.Is there anything to be done on UCS to configure as trunk port? Should the ports on the network switch be configured as trunk/dot1q & speed 1000full as best practice?
- It all depends on the co-resident Vms but I think trunk is the way to go.
