Troubleshooting Cisco Data Center Infrastructure

The Troubleshooting Cisco Data Center Infrastructure (DCIT) course builds essential skills in diagnosing and resolving issues within Cisco data center environments. Participants will gain hands-on experience troubleshooting Cisco Unified Fabric, Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS), and Cisco Application-Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI).

This training covers key troubleshooting techniques for Cisco Nexus switches, Cisco Multilayer Director Switches (MDS), Cisco Fabric Extenders (FEXs), and Cisco UCS solutions. Learners will also explore tools and methodologies to identify and resolve LAN, SAN, and automation-related issues in Cisco data centers.

This course awards 50 Continuing Education (CE) credits for Cisco recertification and prepares participants for the 300-615 DCIT certification exam.

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Apply troubleshooting methodologies to Cisco data center networks
• Use Cisco command-line interface (CLI) tools to diagnose and resolve network issues
• Identify and resolve VLAN and private VLAN (PVLAN) issues
• Troubleshoot port channels, virtual port channels, and VXLAN
• Diagnose and fix routing and high-availability protocol issues
• Implement troubleshooting procedures for LAN security features
• Resolve hardware and software issues affecting individual Cisco devices
• Identify and troubleshoot Fibre Channel interface operations and fabric services
• Troubleshoot Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and N-Port Virtualization (NPV) mode
• Perform advanced troubleshooting for Cisco UCS B-Series and C-Series servers
• Identify tools and techniques for troubleshooting Cisco ACI
• Diagnose issues related to automation, scripting, and programmability in Cisco data center environments

To fully benefit from this course, participants should have:

• Experience configuring, securing, and maintaining LAN and SAN environments using Cisco Nexus and MDS switches
• Familiarity with Cisco UCS configuration and management
• Knowledge of Cisco ACI architecture and implementation

Target audience

This course is designed for IT professionals responsible for troubleshooting Cisco data center environments, including:

• Network designers
• Network administrators
• Network engineers
• Systems engineers
• Consulting systems engineers
• Technical solutions architects
• Server administrators
• Network managers
• Cisco integrators and partners

Describing the Troubleshooting Process

• Overview of troubleshooting methodologies
• Defining a structured approach to issue resolution
• Best practices for diagnosing data center infrastructure problems

Understanding CLI Troubleshooting Tools

• Common Cisco CLI tools for troubleshooting
• Logging and monitoring in Cisco NX-OS
• Using debugs and show commands for issue diagnosis

Troubleshooting VLANs and PVLANs

• Identifying VLAN and PVLAN misconfigurations
• Diagnosing VLAN membership and trunking issues
• Resolving VLAN connectivity and security concerns

Troubleshooting Port Channels and Virtual Port Channels

• Understanding port channel configurations
• Diagnosing virtual port channel (vPC) failures
• Resolving mismatched configurations and misaligned load balancing

Troubleshooting VXLAN

• Identifying VXLAN configuration and forwarding issues
• Diagnosing VXLAN tunnel failures
• Resolving VXLAN control-plane and data-plane problems

Troubleshooting Routing and High-Availability Protocols

• Identifying issues with OSPF, BGP, and EIGRP in data centers
• Diagnosing high-availability failures in HSRP and VRRP
• Resolving route redistribution and prefix filtering problems

Troubleshooting Data Center LAN Security

• Identifying security-related connectivity failures
• Diagnosing issues with Cisco TrustSec and MACsec
• Resolving port security and ACL-related problems

Troubleshooting Platform-Specific Issues

• Identifying and resolving issues affecting Cisco Nexus switches
• Diagnosing Cisco MDS switch-specific problems
• Debugging performance issues on Cisco FEX devices

Troubleshooting Fibre Channel Interfaces

• Identifying Fibre Channel connectivity issues
• Diagnosing link failures and port state anomalies
• Resolving Fibre Channel login and authentication problems

Troubleshooting Fibre Channel Fabric Services

• Identifying fabric-related issues in SAN environments
• Diagnosing zoning and LUN mapping misconfigurations
• Resolving Fibre Channel name service and domain conflicts

Troubleshooting NPV Mode

• Understanding N-Port Virtualization (NPV)
• Identifying issues related to upstream switch connectivity
• Diagnosing SAN fabric login failures

Troubleshooting FCoE

• Identifying Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) performance issues
• Diagnosing misconfigurations in converged network adapters
• Resolving problems related to FIP snooping and FC-MAP settings

Troubleshooting Cisco UCS Architecture and Initialization

• Understanding Cisco UCS boot processes
• Diagnosing hardware initialization failures
• Identifying faults using Cisco UCS Manager

Troubleshooting Cisco UCS Configuration

• Identifying configuration inconsistencies in Cisco UCS
• Diagnosing network and storage connectivity issues
• Resolving policy-related conflicts in service profiles

Troubleshooting Cisco UCS B-Series Servers

• Identifying issues with Cisco UCS B-Series server operation
• Diagnosing blade server chassis connectivity problems
• Resolving common boot and firmware upgrade issues

Troubleshooting Cisco UCS B-Series LAN and SAN Connectivity

• Diagnosing vNIC and vHBA connectivity issues
• Identifying uplink failures and fabric interconnect misconfigurations
• Resolving Ethernet and Fibre Channel connectivity problems

Troubleshooting Cisco UCS C-Series Servers

• Identifying hardware failures in Cisco UCS C-Series standalone servers
• Diagnosing Integrated Management Controller (IMC) issues
• Resolving boot order and BIOS configuration errors

Troubleshooting Cisco UCS C-Series LAN and SAN Connectivity

• Diagnosing LAN and SAN connectivity issues
• Identifying problems with Virtual Interface Cards (VICs)
• Resolving network disconnection and latency issues

Troubleshooting Cisco UCS C-Series and Cisco UCS Manager Integration

• Identifying integration challenges between Cisco UCS C-Series and UCS Manager
• Diagnosing API communication failures
• Resolving firmware incompatibilities

Exploring the Tools and Methodologies for Troubleshooting Cisco ACI

• Understanding Cisco ACI troubleshooting tools
• Diagnosing issues related to Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC)
• Resolving endpoint reachability and policy enforcement problems

Troubleshooting Automation and Scripting Tools

• Identifying automation issues in data center environments
• Diagnosing scripting errors in Python and PowerShell
• Resolving API-related connectivity and authentication problems

Troubleshooting Programmability

• Identifying programmability issues in Cisco ACI and UCS
• Diagnosing REST API, NETCONF, and YANG model errors
• Resolving policy automation and orchestration challenges

Exams and assessments

This course prepares learners for the 300-615 DCIT exam but does not include a formal exam. Interactive labs and knowledge assessments reinforce key learning objectives.

The cost of the exam is not included with this course. Please speak to your account manager to add it to your order.

Hands-on learning

This course includes:

• Interactive labs for troubleshooting Cisco Nexus, MDS, and UCS environments
• Real-world troubleshooting exercises using Cisco CLI tools
• Guided troubleshooting scenarios for LAN, SAN, and automation issues