Connect. Secure. Manage.
Cisco ACI Virtualisation Integration
Integrate supported virtualisation environments with Cisco ACI, coordinating network policy, virtual switching and administrative responsibilities.
Devices supported
across the UK
Client locations
supported
Traffic handled
at peak time
Average
response time
Average response is not a resolution time or a contractual guarantee. Support scope and response commitments are agreed for each engagement.
Cisco ACI virtualisation integration connects fabric rules to the virtual switches and workloads on a supported platform. We plan this with your virtualisation team. The checks cover access rights, version support and who controls each setting. Tests then follow the workload’s full path, including the services it must reach.
Workload-led design
Start with application, compute and storage dependencies rather than the switch model.
Clear failure domains
Understand which links, devices and sites can fail together.
Operational clarity
Make fabrics, external routing and management responsibilities supportable.
Confirm the platform and integration scope
We list the hypervisor, management system, ACI release and hardware before choosing how to link them. Current vendor guidance is checked for supported versions and feature limits. A product name or an older supported release is not enough. The exact versions proposed for this rollout must work together.
The scope distinguishes observation from configuration management. Some needs may be met through conventional physical attachment, while others justify a supported virtual-machine-manager domain or related integration. We agree what the fabric will create or manage and what remains under the virtualisation team’s control. This prevents two tools from attempting to maintain incompatible versions of the same network setup.
Standards & partnerships
Confidence in the team behind your network.
Cisco Partner
Cisco Meraki
Cyber Essentials
Cyber Essentials PlusMCI Network Services is operated by Proxar Ltd. Certifications apply to the certified legal entity and the scope of its certificates. View accreditation information
Map workload attachment to ACI policy
Endpoint groups, domains and VLAN pools need to correspond to the way workloads are attached to virtual networks. We document that relationship and the allocation model used by the chosen integration. Physical and virtual workloads may share some services while requiring different attachment policies. The design makes these relationships clear instead of assuming that identical names imply identical forwarding behaviour.
The app policy remains a separate responsibility. Integrating a virtualisation manager does not on its own produce the correct contracts, shared-service access or tenant isolation. We review the required flows with app and security owners, then check that the workload is classified as intended. A discovered virtual machine is not necessarily a correctly connected or correctly restricted virtual machine.
A useful starting point
Not sure where to start?
Bring the requirement. We will help you define the engineering work.
Agree uplinks, MTU and physical resilience
The Nexus leaf connections and host uplinks must use compatible modes, tagging and failure behaviour. We review virtual-switch settings, physical port policies and any link-aggregation arrangement together. MTU is checked across the relevant path, including encapsulation and app needs. A mismatch can remain hidden until larger transfers or workload migration exercise a different traffic pattern.
Physical diversity is assessed with the server team. Two uplinks do not provide independent service if they share the same vulnerable component or if the host cannot use the remaining path correctly. We identify management access needed during a network failure and agree which host or app tests will show recovery. The responsibility boundary is recorded before production changes begin.
Different environments. The same care.
Built around the work
your network supports.
Finance, banking and the wider private sector. We start with the systems and people that depend on your connections.
Finance & banking
Market-data paths, routing and provider coordination on clients’ behalf.
Financial-market services ↗Offices & multi-site teams
Reliable access between people, workplaces and business applications.
Office network design ↗Data centres & cloud
Network boundaries, workload connections and operational ownership.
Data centre networks ↗Protect credentials and administrative ownership
Integration accounts should have the permissions needed for the supported functions, not unrestricted access by default. We review roles, certificate validation, account recovery and the consequences of password or certificate changes. Secrets are stored in authorised systems and rotated through a process that accounts for the dependency between platforms.
We also define how administrators will detect and resolve drift. Manual changes in a virtualisation console may be overwritten by a controller, while changes in the fabric may affect workloads owned by another team. The operating procedure identifies the authoritative system and the approval path for common tasks. This is essential to keeping an initially successful integration reliable over time.
Pilot workload placement and movement
A pilot tests the whole task. We create or link the virtual network, attach a suitable test workload and check access to its required apps. We inspect the applied policy and traffic path as well as the device list. We also test blocked traffic to confirm that services remain separate where the design requires it.
Where supported and relevant, testing includes workload movement, host-uplink failure and restoration. These events can expose stale endpoint information, allocation inconsistencies or gaps in access policy. The test plan is coordinated with the platform team so that a network exercise does not inadvertently disrupt clustered or storage-dependent workloads. Untested behaviours remain visible in the acceptance record.
Hand over an integrated operating procedure
The deliverable includes the supported version combination, attachment mappings, access duties and procedures for routine changes. It records the tests performed and any limitations. Upgrade planning must consider both sides of the integration; changing a hypervisor or fabric release independently can alter a previously checked arrangement.
MCI can deliver a new integration, review a current one or support a migration into ACI. The work connects with ACI migration services and virtualisation network integration. Provide the platform inventory, current uplink design and desired management workflow to begin. We will define the network work and the participation required from your virtualisation administrators for a meaningful acceptance test.
Talk to a specialist
What does your network need next?
Tell us what you are planning, changing or trying to improve. We will help define a practical next step and the engineering scope.
+44 203 196 6566Choose option 1
sales@proxar.co.ukUK-wide service.
Most of our engineers are based in Kent, with a focus on London, Sussex, Essex and Berkshire.
Existing customers should use their agreed support and escalation channels. This form is for service enquiries, not a monitored emergency ticket.
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