What are the ACI underlying protocols?

Cisco ACI uses the following protocols for the control plane: 1) LLDP: for fabric discovery. 2) DHCP: for fabric nodes IP settings assignment from APIC. 3) IS-IS: for VTEPs infra network reachability. 4) COOP: for endpoints reachability information from the leaf to the spine switches. 5) MP-BGP: for external route redistribution inside the ACI fabric. 6) IFM: for policy communication. 7) NTP: for time sync in the fabric. For Data plane; Cisco ACI uses iVXLAN encapsulation. iVXLAN uses a custom UDP destination port, 48879, instead of the standard VXLAN UDP port 4789.

Master Cisco ACI Protocols (Data, Control, and Mgmt Planes)

Cisco ACI redefines how we design, deploy, and manage data center networks. The ACI underlying protocols interplay the Data, Control, and Management plane.

In this video, I unravel the Cisco ACI underlying protocols.

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Summary

The Underlay network represents the hardware infrastructure.
The Overlay network represents the virtual network interconnecting the end devices.
ACI Data Plane: iVXLAN encapsulated packets.
ACI Control Plane: LLDP, DHCP, IS-IS, COOP, MP-BGP, IFM & NTP.
ACI Management Plane: GUI, CLI & REST API (INB vs. OOB).

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Salman Alhiary Expert Network Consultant

In the networking field since 2010, 2× CCIE (ENT & DC), and founder of LearnWithSalman—specializes in Cisco Data Center networking and automation. A former Cisco TAC engineer and now an Expert Professional Services consultant, he delivers lab-first tutorials, deep templates, and repeatable playbooks through his courses and technical blog, all built from real enterprise projects.

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