topic Fabric extend over a set of Exos switches? in ExtremeSwitching (VSP/Fabric Engine)

Fabric extend over a set of Exos switches?

AlexH — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 20:36:50 GMT

This may not be possible, but it would be handy if it is... I have 4 switches on my desk, a pair of 430s running EXOS, and 2 5320s using VOSS. I have 2 laptops, and they connect just fine over the 2 430s in a VLAN, but that was just to test. I was attempting to refer to this page : Fabric Engine User Guide (extremenetworks.com)

to build out a test setup to link the 2 VOSS switches over the EXOS switches somehow to extend the fabric over. Since I am new to VOSS, and honestly relatively new to EXOS although I can now get around in it ok, they are slightly different /tongue in cheek there.

So, is this even a possibility, or would I have to use something like an XA1400 to set this up?

Re: Fabric extend over a set of Exos switches?

MJS — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 12:23:12 GMT

Hi Alex. I believe you're on the right track to consider using "Fabric Extend". Here are some detailed examples of how to make this happen.

https://extreme-networks.my.site.com/ExtrArticleDetail?an=000078226&q=fabric%20extend
https://extreme-networks.my.site.com/ExtrArticleDetail?an=000078216&q=fabric%20extend

Re: Fabric extend over a set of Exos switches?

gfriedl — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 12:53:09 GMT

correct .. the differences in both approaches - L2 versus L3 based Fabric Extend would be following (might not be a complete list, but important to consider):

L2 / VLAN-based approach requires 2 dedicated VLANs per "remote" site, but uses just same frame size as a usual SPBM packet, so 22 additional Bytes for 8021.ah (MAC-in-MAC)
L3 based (uses VXLAN ancapsulation) would just require "IP underlay" (in your case could be just IP on a single VLAN, stretched across the EXOS switches) and the switches in between would need to support frames up to 1594 Byte length (enable jumbo on EXOS). you might also build a routed network based on your EXOS nodes and have dedicated subnets on bot ends to the fabric; in this case don't forget to create routes or enable a routing protocol within the "underlay".

Re: Fabric extend over a set of Exos switches?

AlexH — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 13:23:59 GMT

Thanks, it looks like I have some reading to do! It would think it would be better to stay in L2 if possible, but I had forgotten about the MTU size change, so thanks for that reminder as well.

Re: Fabric extend over a set of Exos switches?

WillyHe — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:59:17 GMT

I like to add one more solutions, indeed, there are, depending on the needs, tree solutions.
The first two solutions are best for L2 intermediate LAN/WAN/PROVIDER networks.
Remember SPBM-FC requires point to point tagged vlan connections for the back-bone vlans

When it is a single NNI SPBM-FC connection between two SPBM-FC switches over an intermediate L2 network, just configure both SPBM-FC back-bone vlans end to end to pass over the intermediate L2 network.
When more SPBM-FC connections are required over the same intermediate L2 network, the SPBM-FE-L2 is the better solution because of jumbo frame support and no additional header, just the back-bone vlan id's are replaced by the per SPBM-FE-L2 interface configured vlan id's (vlan translation/SPBM-FE-L2.
All these vlans must be created over the intermediate L2 network, or transparent ports/QinQ/.... can be used to transport over the intermediate network.
When the intermediate network is a L3 network, then SPBM-FE-L3 is the solution?

SPBM-FE-L3 requires more switch resources compared to SPBM-FE-L2

Re: Fabric extend over a set of Exos switches?

Ludovico_Steven — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 06:59:31 GMT

Make sure you enable Jumbo frame support on the EXOS switches (is not enabled by default), or the ISIS FE adjacencies won't come up!

Re: Fabric extend over a set of Exos switches?

AlexH — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 20:46:25 GMT

I was able to get this working over layer 2, although I would change that logical isis port command after the initial configuration to go into that logical port and run the commands there. Thank you all for your assistance! It'll help us in getting our new location up and running with fabric.