Introduction
The Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric is a fabric-as-a-service solution that allows you to design and build a physical network that is managed by a cloud-based service. Your network can start as small as a single switch and can grow to multiple locations, each with a fabric of many switches.
Two main components comprise the Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric solution:
Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric service: A cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) network infrastructure management solution. The Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric service is hosted and operated by Cisco, and is the single point of provisioning and visibility for your fabrics.
Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric switches: Cloud-managed Hyperfabric switches on your premises or in a colocation environment. All administration of the switches is handled by the cloud-based service.
The design, deployment, and operation of the Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric is based on a shared responsibility model between you and Cisco. Cisco automation and operations staff own the proper functioning of the cloud-based service and the software upgrade process. Your staff maintains direct control of the timing of switch upgrades and of all interconnections to your applications, hosts, domestic network, and connectivity to the cloud-based service.
These data sheets provide high-level information about the products in this solution:
Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric API
The Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric API is a programmatic interface to the cloud service, using the REST architecture. The API accepts and returns HTTPS messages that contain JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) payloads. You can use any programming language to generate the messages and the JSON payloads that contain the API methods or object definitions.
The API allows developers to access network configuration, monitoring, and management features of Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric, making it easier to integrate network automation and management capabilities into custom applications, scripts, or third-party systems. For example, the API allows you to create and manage a complete network fabric with its nodes, fabric connections, and overlay configuration faster without having to interact with the Web UI. It also allows you to bind devices to nodes based on the hardware inventory present in another system such as a configuration management database (CMDB).
By using the API, you can also retrieve details about assertions that you can use to trigger other changes in Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric or other systems.
To improve the developer experience when using the Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric API, the API has been designed to support both the use of names and UUIDs in all API paths. This provides the advantage of being able to use names, which are easier to remember, but also provides the ability to rename objects as the UUID of the objects guarantees their uniqueness.
In summary, the Cisco Hyperfabric API helps automate network operations, providing developers with the necessary tools to maintain and operate their critical network fabrics.