Hardware, Software, and System Requirements
Cisco ISR G2, E-Series Server, NCE, and Cisco IOS Software Release Compatibility
Cisco ISR 4000 Series, E-Series Server, CIMC, and Cisco IOS Software Release Compatibility
Important Information About the VMware FL-SRE-V-HOST License
Important Information About the Host Upgrade Utility
UCSE Command Changes in Cisco IOS 15.4(3)M Release
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
This document provides new features, system requirements, compatibility information, and open and resolved caveats for the Cisco UCS E-Series Server and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine (NCE) software release 2.x. Use this document in conjunction with the documents in the “Related Documentation” section.
Note Documentation is sometimes updated after original publication; therefore, for updated content, review the documentation on Cisco.com.
Table 1 provides an overview of the significant changes that are introduced for the CIMC release 2.4.1.
Table 2 provides an overview of the significant changes that are introduced for the CIMC release 2.3.1.
Table 3 provides an overview of the significant changes that are introduced for the CIMC release 2.2.1.
Support added to install the SM E-Series Network Compute Engine (SM E-Series NCE) into the Generation 2 Cisco Integrated Services Routers (ISR G2) and the Cisco 4451-X Integrated Services Router (Cisco ISR 4451-X). |
Hardware Installation Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine |
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Intel Ivy Bridge E3-1105C v2 support added on the UCS-E140S-M2 Single-Wide E-Series Server. |
Hardware Installation Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine |
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Enhanced LDAP server configuration, which allows you to configure the LDAP servers and configure LDAP groups. |
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Enhanced SNMP configuration, which allows you to configure SNMP properties, configure SNMP trap settings, send SNMP trap messages, and manage SNMP users. |
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Enhanced virtual media configuration, which allows you to create or remove a vMedia volume and view vMedia properties. |
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Table 4 provides an overview of the significant changes that are introduced for the 2.1 release.
The Cisco UCS E-Series Servers (E-Series Servers) and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine (NCE) are a family of size-, weight-, and power-efficient blade servers that are housed within the Generation 2 Cisco Integrated Services Routers (Cisco ISR G2) and the Cisco ISR 4000 series. These servers provide a general-purpose compute platform for branch-office applications deployed either as bare-metal on operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows or Linux, or as virtual machines on hypervisors, such as VMware vSphere Hypervisor, Microsoft Hyper-V, or Citrix XenServer.
The E-Series Servers are purpose-built with powerful Intel Xeon processors for general-purpose compute. They come in the following form factors: single-wide and double-wide. The single-wide E-Series Server fits into one server module (SM) slot, and the double-wide E-Series Server fits into two SM slots.
The NCEs are price-to-power optimized modules that are built to host Cisco network applications and other lightweight general-purpose applications. They come in two form factors: SM and EHWIC. The SM E-Series NCE fits into one SM slot, and the EHWIC E-Series NCE fits into two EHWIC slots.
Note ● EHWIC E-Series NCE can be installed in the Cisco ISR G2 only.
Note ● E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE can be installed in the Cisco ISR G2 and the Cisco ISR 4000 Series.
The following M1 E-Series Servers are supported:
The following M2 E-Series Servers and SM E-Series NCE are supported:
Note The M1 and M2 E-Series Servers naming terminology indicates different generations of Intel processors within the respective servers.
The following EHWIC E-Series NCE is supported:
Note For details about the M1 and M2 E-Series Servers and the EHWIC E-Series NCE hardware, see the “Hardware Requirements” section in the Hardware Installation Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine.
E-Series Servers require three major software systems:
Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) is a management module, which is built into the motherboard. A dedicated ARM-based processor, separate from the main server CPU, runs the CIMC firmware. The system ships with a running version of the CIMC firmware. You can update the CIMC firmware, but no initial installation is needed.
CIMC is the management service for the E-Series Servers. CIMC runs within the server. You can use CIMC to access, configure, administer, and monitor the server.
BIOS initializes the hardware in the system, discovers bootable devices, and boots them in the provided sequence. It boots the operating system and configures the hardware for the operating system to use. BIOS manageability features allow you to interact with the hardware and use it. In addition, BIOS provides options to configure the system, manage firmware, and create BIOS error reports. The system ships with a running version of the BIOS firmware. You can update the BIOS firmware, but no initial installation is needed.
Operating System or Hypervisor
The main server CPU runs on an operating system such as Microsoft Windows, Linux, or Hypervisor. You can purchase an E-Series Server with a preinstalled operating system such as Microsoft Windows or VMware vSphere Hypervisor TM, or you can install your own operating system.
The following operating systems are supported on the E-Series Servers:
– Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard 64-bit
– Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise 64-bit
– Windows Server 2012 Standard 64-bit
– Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2
– SUSE Linux Enterprise 11, service pack 2
– Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.0, update 2
– VMware vSphere Hypervisor TM 5.1, update 1
E-Series Servers are available in the following options:
At the time of purchase, you can choose the appropriate RAID option that you want enabled on the E-Series Server.
Note If you purchase this option, the Microsoft Windows Server license is preactivated.
At the time of purchase, you can choose the appropriate RAID option that you want enabled on the E-Series Server.
If you are using a VMware FL-SRE-V-HOST license (equivalent to VMware vSphere Hypervisor™ 5.X), make sure that you are using 32 GB or less of RAM. If more than 32 GB of RAM is used, you will get an error message, and you will not be able to apply the license. If you want to use 48 GB RAM, upgrade your license to FL-SRE-V-HOSTVC.
The Host Upgrade Utility (HUU) is supported on CIMC 2.1.0 and later releases. You cannot use the HUU to upgrade firmware components from a CIMC release prior to 2.1.0.
To upgrade the CIMC and BIOS firmware from a release prior to 2.1.0, you must upgrade them manually. For instructions on how to obtain firmware from Cisco Systems and for CIMC and BIOS firmware installation procedures, see the “Firmware Management” chapter in the configuration guides for the version of the CIMC that you are using. The configuration guides are available at: http://www.cisco.com/ en/US/products/ps12629/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html.
As of Cisco IOS 15.4(3)M release, the following ucse commands are modified to include the subslot keyword:
Table 9 lists the caveats from release 1.0(2) that are resolved or closed in release 2.x.
For links to the following Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the NCE documents, see Documentation Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine :
– Release Notes for Cisco IMC PowerTool, Release 1.x
– Cisco UCS PowerTool, Release 1.1.1 User Guide
– Cisco IMC Remote Action Service 1.1.1 User Guide for HP Operations Orchestration 9.00
– Cisco IMC Smart Plugin 1.0 Installation Guide for HP Operations Manager—Windows
– Cisco IMC Smart Plugin 1.0 Operations Guide for HP Operations Manager—Windows
– Release Notes for Cisco IMC Management Pack, Release 1.1 for Microsoft System Center 2012, 2012 SP1 and 2012 R2, Operations Manager
– Cisco IMC Management Pack User Guide, Release 1.1 for Microsoft System Center 2012, 2012 SP1 and 2012 R2, Operations Manager
For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see the monthly What’s New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html
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