CiscoProfessional
Implementing Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure
DCACI · 5 days
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CiscoExpertOn requestUpdated: July 2026
DCACID Training for Your Team — Designing Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure
Most expensive ACI mistakes are made before the first switch is racked: a tenancy model copied from a slide deck, a Multi-Site architecture chosen because it sounded safer, an L3Out design that fights the WAN team for years. DCACID (Designing Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure) addresses the decision layer — the requirements-to-architecture reasoning that implementation courses assume someone else already did.
The course works through fabric sizing and topology, tenancy and policy design, the single-pod versus Multi-Pod versus Multi-Site decision tree, external connectivity, service insertion placement and brownfield migration design, largely through design exercises and case studies rather than configuration labs. It is an expert-level program: attendees should already know how ACI is built, because the week is about whether it should be built that way.
As a training operator, we arrange delivery through authorized partners with architect-grade instructors — live online in your time zone, on site, or as a private group where the design exercises can quietly resemble your own upcoming project.
Who this course is for
- Data center architects responsible for an upcoming ACI design or redesign
- Senior ACI engineers moving from implementing designs to making them
- Consultants and integrator architects who produce ACI designs for customers
- Technical leads sanity-checking an integrator's proposal before signing it
What your team will learn
Topic areas below are grouped in our own words. The full official agenda is available on request — it comes from the authorized partner as part of your quote.
- Turning requirements into a fabric: sizing, leaf-spine topology and the choices you cannot cheaply undo
- Tenancy models that survive contact with the org chart — who owns what in the policy tree
- Single pod, Multi-Pod, Multi-Site or remote leaf: picking the architecture the requirements actually justify
- External connectivity design: L3Outs, transit and the WAN edge without surprises
- Designing service insertion — where firewalls and load balancers belong in a policy-driven fabric
- Migration design: getting a brownfield network into ACI without a big-bang weekend
Key facts
| Duration | On request |
|---|---|
| Level | Expert |
| Prerequisites | Working ACI implementation experience at DCACI level; exposure to data center design discussions helps |
| Formats | Live online (VILT), On-site at your location, Private group, Seats in scheduled groups |
| Languages | English + local-language instructors on request |
Formats and how we organize it
- Live online (VILT)
- On-site at your location
- Private group
- Seats in scheduled groups
One request → three options
Fill in the form below — it takes a couple of minutes. Within 5 business days you compare 2–3 concrete offers — provider, instructor, dates, price below the public list. We contract and administer the delivery end to end. Details:how we work and vendor training.
DCACID vs alternatives: which to choose
Factual criteria only — level, duration, audience and certification. The right choice depends on your team's starting point and stack.
Cisco DCACIA (ACI — Advanced)
The implementation-side expert course: building and operating Multi-Pod, Multi-Site and service insertion. Choose DCACIA for the engineers who configure; DCACID for the people who decide what gets configured — many teams send one of each.
Cisco DCID (Data Center Design)
The broad data center design course across network, compute and storage, mapped to exam 300-610 on the CCNP track. Choose DCID for general DC design and certification; DCACID when the design problem is specifically an ACI fabric.
A custom intensive
A design review of your actual environment can be more useful than a generic design course: a custom 2–3 day workshop on our materials works through your requirements, constraints and migration plan with an expert in the room.
Need only part of DCACID?
If your team needs a subset of this program — or a mix of topics from several courses — we build a custom 2–4 day intensive on our own materials, shaped by your infrastructure. One custom program typically replaces 2–3 catalog courses.
Explore custom coursesDCACID: frequently asked questions
How is a design course different from the implementation ones?
DCACID works at the decision level: given requirements, which architecture, hardware profile, tenancy model and connectivity design are justified — and what each choice costs later. Implementation mechanics are assumed knowledge from DCACI. Expect case-study and design-exercise work rather than configuration labs.
Who should attend — architects or engineers?
Both profiles benefit, for different reasons. Architects get a structured method for ACI-specific decisions; senior engineers get the reasoning behind designs they otherwise inherit. What matters is real ACI exposure at DCACI level — the course debates trade-offs, not fundamentals.
Does DCACID prepare a certification exam?
No exam maps directly to it. The CCNP Data Center design concentration exam, 300-610, is prepared by the broader DCID course. Teams choose DCACID when the goal is a sound ACI design decision, not a credential — often just before a major design commitment.
Does the course cover migration from a traditional network?
Yes — migration design is a substantial block: how to map an existing VLAN-and-VRF estate onto tenants and EPGs, sequence the cutover, and keep L3 connectivity intact throughout. It is the part most teams say paid for the course.
How do we organize DCACID training?
Fill in the request form on this page — team size, format, timing. Within 5 business days you receive 2–3 options from authorized partners with vetted instructors, dates and prices below public lists.
Request 2–3 DCACID training options — quotes within 5 business days
No commitment — describe the task and we come back with concrete options, dates and prices.
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