📘Cisco DevNet Associate (200-901 DEVASC)

For the Cisco DevNet Associate (200-901 DEVASC) exam, you must understand how Cisco manages compute infrastructure using:

Cisco UCS Manager
Cisco Intersight

You should know:

What they are
What problems they solve
Their main features
How they are accessed (GUI and APIs)
How they support automation and programmability

This topic is important because DevNet focuses heavily on APIs, automation, and infrastructure as code.

1️⃣ Cisco UCS Manager

What Is Cisco UCS?

Cisco UCS (Unified Computing System) is Cisco’s data center compute platform. It includes:

Physical servers (blade and rack servers)
Networking components
Storage access
Virtualization integration

All of these are managed centrally using Cisco UCS Manager.

What Is Cisco UCS Manager?

Cisco UCS Manager is the embedded management system for Cisco UCS hardware.

It runs inside:

UCS Fabric Interconnects

It allows administrators to:

Configure servers
Manage hardware
Control networking for servers
Define server identities
Automate provisioning

It provides:

GUI (web interface)
CLI
XML API

Key Capabilities of Cisco UCS Manager

1️⃣ Centralized Management

Instead of configuring each server individually:

You manage all servers from a single interface.
Networking, BIOS, firmware, and storage settings are centrally controlled.

This simplifies data center operations.

2️⃣ Service Profiles (Very Important for Exam)

A Service Profile defines the identity and configuration of a server.

It includes:

MAC addresses
WWN (World Wide Name)
BIOS settings
Boot order
Firmware version
Network policies

This allows:

Rapid server deployment
Stateless computing

What is Stateless Computing?

Server identity is not tied to physical hardware.

If a server fails:

Move the service profile to another physical server.
The new server takes on the same identity.

This is extremely important in enterprise IT environments.

3️⃣ Policy-Based Management

Instead of configuring each server manually:

You define:

Network policies
Power policies
Maintenance policies
Firmware policies

These policies are reused across multiple servers.

This reduces errors and increases consistency.

4️⃣ Automation with UCS Manager API

UCS Manager provides:

XML-based API
Supports REST through tools
SDKs (Python, PowerShell)

You can:

Create service profiles
Configure networking
Query server health
Modify BIOS settings

Example use case:

Automatically deploy 50 new servers using a script.
Monitor hardware health programmatically.

For DevNet, understand:

UCS Manager is programmable.
Infrastructure can be automated using API calls.

5️⃣ Hardware Monitoring

UCS Manager monitors:

CPU health
Memory
Power supplies
Fans
Temperature
Network interfaces

It provides:

Fault alerts
Event logs
System health status

This helps operations teams respond quickly to hardware issues.

2️⃣ Cisco Intersight

What Is Cisco Intersight?

Cisco Intersight is a cloud-based infrastructure management platform.

Unlike UCS Manager (which runs locally),
Intersight runs in the cloud.

It manages:

UCS servers
HyperFlex systems
Standalone rack servers
Kubernetes environments
Public cloud integrations

It supports:

On-premises
Hybrid cloud
Multi-cloud environments

Key Capabilities of Cisco Intersight

1️⃣ Cloud-Based Management

Intersight is delivered as SaaS.

This means:

No local management server required.
Accessible from anywhere.
Automatic updates.

It simplifies infrastructure management.

2️⃣ Unified Management Across Platforms

Intersight can manage:

Multiple UCS domains
Distributed data centers
Remote branch servers

All from a single cloud dashboard.

This is critical in large enterprise environments.

3️⃣ API-First Platform (Very Important for DevNet)

Intersight is designed as an API-first platform.

That means:

Everything in the GUI uses APIs.
You can automate everything via REST API.

It provides:

RESTful API
JSON data format
OpenAPI specification
SDKs (Python, PowerShell, Go)

This makes it ideal for:

DevOps
Infrastructure as Code
CI/CD integration

For the exam, remember:

Intersight is modern, REST-based, and cloud-driven.

4️⃣ Infrastructure Automation and Orchestration

Intersight supports:

Server provisioning
Policy automation
Template-based deployment
Workflow automation

You can:

Define server profiles
Clone templates
Automate infrastructure lifecycle

Example IT usage:

Automatically provision compute resources for a new application deployment.
Integrate with CI/CD pipeline to prepare infrastructure before software deployment.

5️⃣ Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Intersight integrates with:

Terraform
Ansible
CI/CD tools

You can manage infrastructure using:

Code instead of manual configuration.

This aligns with DevNet exam objectives.

6️⃣ Analytics and Optimization

Intersight provides:

Capacity planning insights
Resource utilization data
Firmware recommendations
Compatibility validation

It uses cloud intelligence to:

Suggest improvements
Detect misconfigurations

3️⃣ Comparing UCS Manager and Intersight

Feature	UCS Manager	Intersight
Deployment Model	On-premises	Cloud-based
API Type	XML API	REST API
Scope	Single UCS domain	Multi-domain, hybrid cloud
Modern DevOps Integration	Limited	Strong
SaaS	No	Yes
Infrastructure as Code	Basic	Advanced

4️⃣ APIs and Programmability (Exam Focus Area)

You must understand:

UCS Manager API

XML-based
Session-based authentication
Suitable for automation scripts

Intersight API

RESTful
JSON payloads
API key authentication
Resource-based URIs
Fully documented OpenAPI spec

For DevNet:

Intersight is more aligned with modern API standards.
UCS Manager represents traditional infrastructure APIs.

5️⃣ Real IT Environment Usage Examples

In enterprise IT environments:

Example 1: Automated Server Deployment

A script:

Calls Intersight API
Creates server profile
Assigns network policies
Powers on server

This supports automated application rollout.

Example 2: Monitoring Hardware Health

Monitoring system:

Queries UCS Manager API
Retrieves health status
Sends alerts if failure detected

Example 3: CI/CD Integration

During pipeline execution:

API call provisions compute resources.
After testing, infrastructure is decommissioned automatically.

This demonstrates infrastructure automation.

6️⃣ Key Exam Points to Remember

For the DEVASC exam, remember:

✅ UCS Manager manages UCS hardware locally
✅ Intersight is cloud-based management
✅ UCS Manager uses XML API
✅ Intersight uses RESTful API
✅ Service Profiles define server identity
✅ Policy-based management ensures consistency
✅ Intersight supports Infrastructure as Code
✅ Both platforms support automation
✅ Intersight is API-first

7️⃣ Simple Summary (For Non-IT Learners)

UCS Manager controls Cisco servers inside a data center.
Intersight controls servers from the cloud.
Both allow automation.
Intersight uses modern REST APIs.
Service Profiles allow fast server replacement.
Policies reduce configuration mistakes.
APIs allow scripts and DevOps tools to manage infrastructure.

Final Exam Strategy Tip

If you see questions about:

Stateless servers → Think Service Profiles (UCS Manager).
Cloud-managed compute → Think Intersight.
Modern REST API → Intersight.
XML API → UCS Manager.
Infrastructure automation → Both, but Intersight is more modern.