Cisco APIC-L2-K9 Full English Product Description
1. Short Official Part & License Label
APIC-L2-K9: Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller Large-Size Physical Appliance, 1U Rack-Mount Server Based on UCS C220 M4, 2×10G SFP+ VIC 1225 Converged Ports, ACI SDN Fabric Controller, Supports up to 6000 Fabric Edge Ports, Deployed as a Minimum 3-Node Cluster, Declarative Application-Centric Policy Model, Multi-Tenant Microsegmentation, L4-L7 Service Graph Orchestration, Integrated CIMC Out-of-Band Management, REST API / HTML5 GUI / CLI, End-of-Sale Legacy ACI Datacenter Controller
2. Full Product Overview
The Cisco APIC-L2-K9 is the large-scale physical appliance within the second-generation APIC hardware family, built on the UCS C220 M4 rack server platform for the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI). It acts as the unified control plane, policy engine and management orchestrator for large-scale leaf-spine datacenter fabrics.
Unlike the medium-scale APIC-M2-K9 (max 1000 edge ports), the APIC-L2 delivers higher CPU, memory and storage resources to supportup to 6000 fabric edge ports, designed for enterprise datacenters, multi-pod architectures and multi-site ACI deployments. The APIC always runs in a clustered deployment (minimum 3 nodes for production HA). It implements declarative application-centric networking: administrators define application requirements via EPGs, contracts and filters; the APIC automatically distributes consistent forwarding, security, mobility and QoS policies across all leaf switches, eliminating per-device CLI configuration.
Hardware foundation: Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 CPUs, 128GB DDR4 RAM, dual redundant SAS RAID storage. Network adapter is UCS VIC 1225 dual-port 10G SFP+ converged NIC. It supports optional dual redundant AC power supplies and hot-swappable redundant fans to remove single points of failure. Integrated Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) enables independent out-of-band hardware power control, remote console and sensor monitoring, separate from the APIC operating system.
Lifecycle Status: APIC-L2 reached End-of-Sale (EoS) February 2019, End-of-Support (EoL) January 31, 2024. Supported ACI firmware up to Release 5.x; it cannot run ACI 6.1 and newer major releases. Successor hardware includes APIC-L3 / L4 generations. Interoperates with all Nexus 9000 ACI-mode leaf/spine switches. Management interfaces include embedded HTML5 GUI, Bash-style CLI, and REST APIs for integration with automation platforms.
Key Differentiator vs APIC-M2-K9: Doubled memory and compute capacity, supporting up to 6000 fabric edge ports (vs 1000 on M2), suitable for large single-pod fabrics, multi-pod and multi-site ACI topologies. Compared to virtual APIC: Dedicated physical server hardware with persistent local storage, higher performance and native CIMC out-of-band hardware management.
3. Complete Hardware Physical & Interface Specifications
Form Factor & Mechanical
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Rack Form Factor: Standard 1U 19-inch rack-mount chassis (UCS C220 M4)
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Dimensions: 44.45 mm (H) × 431.8 mm (W) × 711.2 mm (D) / 1.75 × 17 × 28 inches
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Unit Weight: 13.6 kg (30 lbs) single PSU; up to 14.8 kg fully loaded with dual PSUs
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Cooling System: Multiple hot-swappable redundant internal cooling fans
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Power Supply: Single AC PSU standard; optional second redundant AC PSU for fault tolerance
Rear Panel Interface Layout
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2×10G SFP+ uplink slots (Supports SFP+ SR/LR fiber and copper transceivers; LAG EtherChannel supported)
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1× 10/100/1000BASE-T dedicated CIMC out-of-band management port
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RJ45 RS‑232 serial console port for local CLI access
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Multiple Type-A USB ports for firmware uploads and configuration exports
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Dual AC power supply input slots (primary + optional redundant secondary PSU)
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Physical security lock slot
Front Panel LED Status Indicators
Global status LEDs: Power 1, Power 2, System Health, Critical Fault, Fan Status, Disk Activity
Per-port Link/Activity LEDs for both 10G SFP+ uplinks and CIMC management port
Power & Environmental Parameters
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Input AC Range: Universal 100–240 VAC, 47–63 Hz
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Maximum Total Power Consumption: 650 W with dual PSUs
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Operating Temperature: 5°C to 40°C (41°F to 104°F)
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Storage Temperature: -40°C to 65°C (-40°F to 149°F)
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Humidity: 10%–90% non‑condensing (operation & storage)
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Regulatory Certifications: UL 60950‑1 safety, CE, FCC Class A EMC, ICES‑003, VCCI
Verified Scalability Limits (APIC-L2 Cluster)
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Maximum supported fabric edge ports: 6000 ports
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Supported leaf + spine switches: Up to 400 nodes
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Maximum independent tenants: 1000
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Maximum EPGs (Endpoint Groups): 60,000
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Maximum security contracts: 60,000
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Supports L4-L7 service graphs, multi-pod ACI, multi-site ACI and remote leaf deployments
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Fabric discovery: LLDP-based automatic leaf-spine topology discovery
4. Core ACI Software Feature Suite
1. Declarative Application-Centric Policy Model
Define application networking requirements using EPGs, contracts and filters. The APIC distributes policy dynamically across all leaf switches. Policy versions, audit trails and rollback are natively supported. No per-switch manual CLI configuration required.
2. Multi-Tenant Segmentation
Logical tenant isolation, independent VRF address spaces, separate security domains for shared multi-tenant datacenter infrastructure. Native TrustSec integration for workload microsegmentation.
3. Unified Workload Mobility
VM mobility integration with VMware vCenter; workloads retain security policy when migrating between leaf nodes. Supports distributed anycast gateway, Layer 2 and Layer 3 workload mobility.
4. L4-L7 Service Graph Orchestration
Automated insertion of firewalls, load balancers and WAF appliances between EPGs. Supports routed and transparent service deployment models.
5. Fabric Monitoring & Telemetry
Real-time topology visualization, fabric health scoring, fault management, performance statistics, on-demand packet capture and historical analytics. Streaming telemetry export to external SIEM and monitoring systems.
6. Enterprise Wireless & Security Stack
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Authentication: Local user database, RADIUS/TACACS+, LDAP, SAML SSO
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Access Control: Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
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Threat Defense: Endpoint tracking, rogue endpoint detection, microsegmentation via contract filtering
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Encryption: TLS for controller communications, MACsec for fabric inter-switch links
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Compliance: PCI DSS, HIPAA ready audit logging
7. Guest Wireless Services
Integrated guest access workflows, web splash authentication, time-limited user credentials and cross-fabric guest mobility.
8. High Availability & Operations
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Active/Standby cluster architecture (minimum 3 nodes for production)
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Synchronized database across all cluster members
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In-Service Software Upgrade (ISU) for rolling non-disruptive controller upgrades
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Full fabric configuration backup and restore capability
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Independent CIMC out-of-band hardware management
9. Programmability & Orchestration
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Embedded HTML5 GUI, Bash-style CLI
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REST API, XML API for integration with Ansible, Terraform and third-party orchestrators
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Native integration with VMware vCenter, SCVMM, OpenStack and Cisco Prime Infrastructure
5. Typical Deployment Scenarios
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Large-scale enterprise datacenter ACI leaf-spine fabric supporting thousands of server endpoints
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Multi-pod and multi-site ACI architectures for geographically distributed datacenters
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Multi-tenant shared datacenter infrastructure requiring workload microsegmentation
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Legacy routed network transformation to SDN zero-trust microsegmentation architecture
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Lab and proof-of-concept environments for large-scale ACI multi-pod and multi-site validation
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Intermediate migration platform before upgrading to newer APIC-L3 / L4 hardware generations
6. Short Sales Listing Tagline
Cisco APIC-L2-K9 Legacy 1U Rackmount Large-Size ACI Application Policy Infrastructure Controller, Supports up to 6000 Fabric Edge Ports, Built on UCS C220 M4 Server, 2×10G SFP+ VIC 1225 Converged Ports, Integrated CIMC Out-of-Band Hardware Management, Declarative Application-Centric Policy, Multi-Tenant Microsegmentation, L4-L7 Service Graph Orchestration, Managed via HTML5 GUI, CLI and REST APIs, Deployed as Minimum 3-Node Cluster, End-of-Sale Datacenter SDN Controller for Large Enterprise & Multi-Pod ACI Fabrics
