This all started when I saw that Cisco used to offer a product called SRE-V which was basically ESXi packaged up to run on the Cisco Services-Ready Engine (SRE). This is data sheet which contains their specifications and the routers that support them.
I used to own 4 of the SM-SRE-910-K9 service modules which I used to run inside a Cisco 3945E Integrated Service Router which used to terminate my old 500Mbit BTnet Leased Line. I used to run VMware ESXi v5.5 on them, however they were quite limited on CPU and Memory, given that they ran my public PowerDNS servers very respectably for quite some time, along with a vCenter Server and also a pair of Microsoft Active Directory Servers.
Fast Forward a few years later…
I already have a Cisco 4451-X Integrated Services Router router which is used to terminate my 1GbE BTnet leased line, so I took the plunge and I purchased 2 of the Cisco UCS E-160S/M3 Service Modules.
These come with 2 x 32GB = 64GB of RAM and 2 x 3.49 TB 12Gbps SAS HDDs and an Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU D-1528 @ 1.90GHz which is a 6 Core 12 Thread CPU and dual Intel Ethernet Connection X552/X557-AT 10GBASE-T.
The M3 servers contain integrated eMMC storage that is not user configurable. There is a 8GB partition for Cisco IMC and 8GB partition for the VMware ESXi installation.
As you can see these run the latest version of VMware ESXi v8 Update 3 perfectly with no additional VIBs or tweaks required, I am however using an older version of the BIOS as Cisco Paywall their BIOS updates.
I have configured iSCSI storage over the 2 x 10GbE ports on the front of the module so the VMware ESXi does not rely on any of the onboard router ports for either management or virtual machine traffic.
Router Physical Hardware
show inventoryRouter Physical Hardware Results
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INFO: Please use "show license UDI" to get serial number for licensing.
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NAME: "Chassis", DESCR: "Cisco ISR4451 Chassis"
PID: ISR4451-X/K9 , VID: V08 , SN:
NAME: "Power Supply Module 0", DESCR: "450W AC Power Supply for Cisco ISR4450, ISR4350"
PID: PWR-4450-AC , VID: V02 , SN:
NAME: "Power Supply Module 1", DESCR: "450W AC Power Supply for Cisco ISR4450, ISR4350"
PID: PWR-4450-AC , VID: V03 , SN:
NAME: "Fan Tray", DESCR: "Cisco ISR4450, ISR4350 Fan Assembly"
PID: ACS-4450-FANASSY , VID: , SN:
NAME: "module 0", DESCR: "Cisco ISR4451 Built-In NIM controller"
PID: ISR4451-X/K9 , VID: , SN:
NAME: "NIM subslot 0/1", DESCR: "NIM-2FXS/4FXOP Voice Analog Module"
PID: NIM-2FXS/4FXOP , VID: V01 , SN:
NAME: "NIM subslot 0/2", DESCR: "NIM-4G-LTE-GA Module"
PID: NIM-4G-LTE-GA , VID: V01 , SN:
NAME: "Modem 0 on Cellular0/2/0", DESCR: "Sierra Wireless MC7304 4G-GA"
PID: MC7304 4G-GA , VID: 1.0 , SN:
NAME: "NIM subslot 0/3", DESCR: "24 ports Async Serial NIM"
PID: NIM-24A , VID: V03 , SN:
NAME: "PVDM subslot 0/4", DESCR: "PVDM4-256 Voice DSP Module"
PID: PVDM4-256 , VID: V02 , SN:
NAME: "NIM subslot 0/0", DESCR: "Front Panel 4 ports Gigabitethernet Module"
PID: ISR4451-X-4x1GE , VID: V01 , SN:
NAME: "module R0", DESCR: "Cisco ISR4451 Route Processor"
PID: ISR4451-X/K9 , VID: V08 , SN:
NAME: "module F0", DESCR: "Cisco ISR4451 Forwarding Processor"
PID: ISR4451-X/K9 , VID: , SN:
NAME: "module 1", DESCR: "Cisco ISR4451 Built-In SM controller"
PID: ISR4451-X/K9 , VID: , SN:
NAME: "SM subslot 1/0", DESCR: "UCS-E160S-M3/K9 - UCSE SW Module"
PID: UCS-E160S-M3/K9 , VID: V02 , SN:
NAME: "module 2", DESCR: "Cisco ISR4451 Built-In SM controller"
PID: ISR4451-X/K9 , VID: , SN:
NAME: "SM subslot 2/0", DESCR: "UCS-E160S-M3/K9 - UCSE SW Module"
PID: UCS-E160S-M3/K9 , VID: V02 , SN: To access the Cisco IMC of each of the 2 UCS-E modules you need to configure access via the routers integrated ports as follows:
I have aggregated all 4 of the 1GbE ports on the router into a port channel using LACP and I have created sub interfaces on that port channel interface.
For context my out of band management VLAN is 10.0.11.0/24
interface GigabitEthernet0/0/0
description Uplink to Cisco WS-C3850 Stack
no ip address
negotiation auto
channel-group 1 mode active
interface GigabitEthernet0/0/1
description Uplink to Cisco WS-C3850 Stack
no ip address
negotiation auto
channel-group 1 mode active
interface GigabitEthernet0/0/2
description Uplink to Cisco WS-C3850 Stack
no ip address
negotiation auto
channel-group 1 mode active
interface GigabitEthernet0/0/3
description Uplink to Cisco WS-C3850 Stack
no ip address
negotiation auto
channel-group 1 mode active
interface Port-channel1
description Uplink to Cisco WS-C3850 Stack
no ip address
no negotiation auto
interface Port-channel1.11
description Port-Channel 1 - Sub Interface - VLAN 11
encapsulation dot1Q 11
ip address 10.0.11.90 255.255.255.0Configure Module 1
ucse subslot 1/0
imc access-port shared-lom console
imc ip address 10.0.11.91 255.255.255.0 default-gateway 10.0.11.90
interface ucse1/0/0
ip unnumbered Port-channel1.11
no negotiation auto
switchport mode trunk
no mop enabled
no mop sysid
interface ucse1/0/1
no ip address
no negotiation auto
switchport mode trunk
no mop enabled
no mop sysid
ip route 10.0.11.91 255.255.255.255 ucse1/0/0 permanentConfigure Module 2
ucse subslot 2/0
imc access-port shared-lom console
imc ip address 10.0.11.92 255.255.255.0 default-gateway 10.0.11.90
interface ucse2/0/0
ip unnumbered Port-channel1.11
no negotiation auto
switchport mode trunk
no mop enabled
no mop sysid
interface ucse2/0/1
no ip address
no negotiation auto
switchport mode trunk
no mop enabled
no mop sysid
ip route 10.0.11.92 255.255.255.255 ucse2/0/0 permanentLinks
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