Interconnecting 2 Existing Fabrics

[gtkins121]

Hey,

Fairly new to Extreme & Fabric engine.

I have inherited a fabric engine deployment, 7520's as the Core of the network (still getting used to fabric esq terminology) with a mixture of 4000/5000 switches for the edge. We have an integration with Control in Site Engine for policy enforcement. We have users that roam to our network from a 3rd party (neighboring company) and work within the physical boundaries of our network and there is a longer term strategy to integrate Our fabric with the third parties Extreme fabric. We essentially have areas of our buildings where both companies have representatives collaborating on projects. We want to basically be able to accomodate their segmented VLANs/I-SID's as well as them accomodate ours. Any tips/pointers in the right direction for planning this would be great. I understand at this point that their I-SID's would need to be unique to ours and the VLANs if present on same switch. We are also conscious we want to ensure control, protection and segregate routing information etc. or would it literally just be easier to just have a trunk port between the two fabrics?

Any reference material would be great, or if anyone has experience doing this?

Cheers

[Roger_Lapuh · Accepted solution]

Hi  

gtkins121

 this sounds like a perfect request for a multi-area design. Multi-Area will give you the option to decide which ISIDs can talk across the area boundary and you can also control which VRFs and which IP routes you want to redistribute between the entities.

Roger

[gtkins121]

Thank you! Multi-Area SPBM right? sounds like the option i need.

[Brent_Addis]

Honestly this is probably out of scope for a forum. It can be done, but you'll need someone with some fabric experience so I would be looking for a local partner.

Start by auditing i-sids in use. Make sure there is no overlap. Maybe for sanity moving forwards allocate a large segment each so you both "Stay in your lane"

A few thoughts:

• I-SIDs must be globally unique across both environments

• VLAN IDs (if locally significant) must not conflict when on the same switch

• Decide between:

  • Full fabric extension (preferred)

  • Border interconnect via routed VRFs

  • Traditional VLAN trunking (easiest short term, least scalable)

If I was doing this, my next steps would be:

-Document current VLAN/I-SID/VRF allocations

-Align with third party on shared I-SID/VLAN/VRF strategy

-Identify collaboration zones and shared edge ports

-Build test interconnect (start with VLAN trunk or test I-SID)

-Think about your long term model and what kind of shared integration you need

Personally, I believe Fabric is the way to go here and not trunking which is like a 10 year step back, but if you're new to it which you seem to be, search out a local partner for advice.

[gtkins121]

Appreciate the assistance and guidance.