Using TRILL, FabricPath, and VXLAN: Designing Massively Scalable Data Centers (MSDC) with Overlays(Networking Technology)

Using TRILL, FabricPath, and VXLAN Designing Massively Scalable Data Centers with Overlays   TRILL, FabricPath, and VXLAN overlays help you distribute data traffic far more effectively, dramatically improving utilization in even the largest data center networks. Using TRILL, FabricPath, and VXLAN is the first practical and comprehensive guide to planning and establishing these high-efficiency overlay networks. The authors begin by reviewing today’s fast-growing data center requirements, and making a strong case for overlays in the Massive Scale Data Center (MSDC). Next, they introduce each leading technology option, including FabricPath, TRILL, LISP, VXLAN, NVGRE, OTV, and Shortest Path Bridging (SPB). They also present a chapter-length introduction to IS-IS, focusing on details relevant to the control of FabricPath and TRILL networks. Building on this foundation, they offer in-depth coverage of FabricPath: its advantages, architecture, forwarding, configuration, verification, and benefits in Layer-2 networks. Through examples, they explain TRILL’s architecture, functionality, and forwarding behavior, focusing especially on data flow. They also fully address VXLAN as a solution for realizing IP-based data center fabrics, including multi-tenant cloud applications.   Using TRILL, FabricPath, and VXLAN provides detailed strategies and methodologies for FabricPath, TRILL, and VXLAN deployment and migration, as well as best practices for management and troubleshooting. It also presents three detailed implementation scenarios, each reflecting realistic data center challenges. In particular, the authors show how to integrate multiple overlay technologies into a single end-to-end solution that offers exceptional flexibility, agility, and availability.   Sanjay K. Hooda is principal engineer in Catalyst switching software engineering at Cisco. He has more than 15 years of network design and implementation experience in large enterprise environments, and has participated in IETF standards activities. His interests include wireless, multicast, TRILL, FabricPath, High Availability, ISSU, and IPv6. He is co-author of IPv6 for Enterprise Networks.   Shyam Kapadia, Technical Leader at Cisco’s Data Center Group (DCG), was an integral part of the team that delivered the next-generation Catalyst 6500 Sup 2T (2 Terabyte) platform. Since then, he has focused on developing new solutions for data center environments. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from USC, where his research encompassed wired, wireless, ad hoc, vehicular, and sensor networks.   Padmanabhan Krishnan has more than 12 years of experience in networking and telecommunications, including 7 at Cisco. His recent experience has included providing data path solutions for TRILL in the Catalyst 6500 Sup 2T Platform using FPGA, as well as design and development of platform core infrastructure and L2 features.   n  Discover how overlays can address data center network problems ranging from scalability to rapid provisioning n  Examine popular data center overlay examples n  Learn about extensions to IS-IS for TRILL and FabricPath n  Use FabricPath, TRILL, and VXLAN to simplify configuration, improve performance and availability, optimize efficiency, and limit table size n  Learn about FabricPath control and data plane architecture details n  Review example FabricPath configurations on Cisco Nexus 7000/6000/5000 switches n  Understand TRILL concepts and architecture, including overlay header, control and data plane, and MAC address learning n  Learn about VXLAN architecture details and packet forwarding n  Review example VXLAN configurations on a Cisco Nexus 1000V distributed virtual switch n   Implement TRILL/FabricPath networks with VXLAN to virtualized servers in an intra-data center environment n   Connect multiple traditional data centers using an OTV overlay as a Layer 2 extension n   Use OTV overlays to connect sites running FabricPath, TRILL, or both    

Table of Contents:
  Chapter 1 Need for Overlays in Massive Scale Data Centers 1 Evolution of the Data Center 1     Changing Requirements of Data Centers 4     Data Center Architectures 6     CLOS 8     Fat-Tree 9     Single Fabric 9     Need for Overlays 10 Summary 15 References 15   Chapter 2 Introduction to Overlay Technologies 19 Overlay Technologies Overview 20 Cisco FabricPath 22     FabricPath Requirements 22     FabricPath Benefits 23 FabricPath Architecture 24     FabricPath Encapsulation 24     FabricPath Data Plane Operation 25 TRILL 26     TRILL Requirements 27     TRILL Frame Format 28     TRILL Data Plane Operation 28 Locator ID/Separator Protocol 30     LISP Frame Format 30     LISP Routing 30 VXLAN 32     VXLAN Frame Format 33     VXLAN Data Path Operation 34 NVGRE 35     NVGRE Frame Format 36     NVGRE Data Path Operation 36 Overlay Transport Virtualization 38     OTV Frame Format 39     OTV Operation 40 Provider Backbone Bridges (PBB) 41 Shortest Path Bridging 43     Shortest Path Bridging MAC 43     Shortest Path Bridging VID 45 Summary 47 References 47   Chapter 3 IS-IS 49 Introduction to IS-IS 49 Concepts 50     Neighbor Discovery 51     Topology Exchange 51     Flooding 51     Route Computation 52     Link State Protocol Scaling 52     Link State Protocol in a Local Area Network 53 IS-IS Architecture Details 55 TRILL and FabricPath Specific Changes in IS-IS 56     Overview of TRILL and FabricPath 57     IS-IS Frame Formats 58         Router Capability TLV 59         Multitopology-Aware Port Capability TLV 59     TRILL IS-IS Neighbor Discovery 59         TRILL HELLOs 60         P2P HELLOs 63         TRILL Neighbor TLV 64         Router Capability Sub-TLVs 64         Multitopology-Aware Port Capability Sub-TLVs 64         Area Address TLV 67         Protocols Supported TLV 67 TRILL and FabricPath Topology Exchange 67     Flooding 69     Nickname or SwitchID Resolution 70     Shortest Path Computation 71     Distribution Trees Computation 71         Pruning the Distribution Tree 74     ESADI 77         MAC Reachability TLV 78     Fine Grained Labeling 79     Pseudo Node 81     Multi Topology Routing 83 Summary 84 References 84 Additional Resources 84   Chapter 4 FabricPath 85 FabricPath Overview 86 FabricPath Architecture 87     Core and Edge 88     Addressing Concepts 89     VLANs 89     vPC+ 89     FabricPath Encapsulation 91     FabricPath Control Plane Protocols 93         IGMP Snooping in FabricPath Multicast Networks 96     FabricPath Dynamic Resource Allocation Protocol 97         Allocation of Resources by DRAP 97         FabricPath MAC Address Learning 98         Control Plane Learning 98         Data Plane Learning 98 FabricPath STP Interaction 102     Topology Change Notifications Forwarding 105 FabricPath Packet Forwarding 106     Broadcast: ARP Request 108     Unicast: ARP Reply 111     Unicast: Data 113     IP Multicast Forwarding 116 FabricPath Basic Configuration 119     FabricPath Benefits 121 Summary 122 References 122   Chapter 5 TRILL 123 Need for TRILL 124     Spanning Tree in Layer 2 Networks 124     Issues with Spanning Tree Protocol 126     Virtual Switching System 127     Giant Virtual Switch 128     Flat Network 129     Layer 3 Network 130 Concepts and Terminologies 130     RBridge 131     Appointed Forwarder 132     Addressing Concepts 133 TRILL Frame Format 134 TRILL Control Plane 136     Unicast 136     Multicast 137         Pruning 139 TRILL Data Plane 141     Unicast 141         Ingress RBridge Processing 141         Processing of TRILL Packets 143     Multidestination 143         Ingress Processing 144         Core and Egress Processing 146         Egress Processing 146 MAC Address Learning in TRILL-Based Networks 147     Dynamic Learning 147     Learning Through Control Protocols 147 Work in Progress 148     Multitopology Routing 148     Fine-Grained Labeling 149         Ingress RBridge 152         Core RBridge 152         Egress RBridge 152     Pseudo Node 152         Choosing a Pseudo Nickname 154         Multiple Distribution Trees per Member RBridge 156         Synchronization of MAC Addresses 158 Case Studies 159     Bidirectional Packet Flow 159         Traffic from H1 to H2 160         Traffic from H2 to H1 164     Packet Flow for Pseudo Node 167         Packet Originating from Host H1 170         Reverse Traffic from Host H2 to H1 172 Summary 174 References 174 Additional Resources 175   Chapter 6 VXLAN 177 VXLAN Overview 177     Advent of VXLAN 178 VXLAN Architecture 179     VXLAN Header Format 181 VXLAN Packet Forwarding 182     Broadcast: ARP Request 183     Unicast: ARP Reply 184     Unicast: Data 186     Unknown Unicast 187     VM Mobility Case 188     IPv6 Data Forwarding 190     NS Request and NA Response 191     VXLAN Gateway 192     Inter-VXLAN Communication 196     Layer 3 Multicast 198     Multicast-Less VXLAN 200     Floodless VXLAN Forwarding 203     VXLAN as a Network Overlay 205     Other VXLAN Considerations 207 VXLAN Basic Configuration 208     VXLAN Gateway Configuration 210 Summary 211 References 211   Chapter 7 FabricPath Deployment, Migration, and Troubleshooting 213 vPC 214     vPC Overview 214     vPC Terminology 215     vPC Benefits 216     vPC Deployment Scenarios 217     Double-Sided vPC 218     vPC Operations 219     vPC Traffic Flow 224     Cisco Fabric Services over Ethernet 225     vPC ARP Sync 225     vPC Peer Gateway 225     vPC Verification 227 vPC+ 231     vPC+ Overview 231     vPC+ Basics 232     vPC+ Basic Packet Flow 236     Active/Active HSRP Forwarding 238 FabricPath Topologies 241 Migration to FabricPath Network 242     Conversion from Classical Layer 2 to FabricPath Network 242     Conversion of vPC to vPC+ (Classical Ethernet to FabricPath) 244     Configuring vPC+ on Secondary Switch 246     Configuring vPC+ on Primary Switch 249     Conversion of Access Switch (Sw3) Connecting to Secondary (Sw2) to FabricPath 251     Converting Access Switch Sw3 Uplink Connecting to Sw1 to FabricPath 254 Monitoring and Troubleshooting in FabricPath Networks 257     Loopback Message 258     Path Trace Message 259     Multicast Trace Message 259     FabricPath OAM Configuration Model 261 Summary 270 References 270   Chapter 8 TRILL Deployment, Migration, and Troubleshooting 271 Introduction 271 TRILL Deployment 271     TRILL Between Access and Distribution 274     TRILL Core 274         Layer 2 Bridging Case 276         Layer 3 Routing Cases 277     Expanding the POD 285     TRILL Everywhere 286     Meshed Distribution with No Core 287     Link Aggregation or Pseudo-Node Deployments 287     CLOS Network Model 289 Migration Toward TRILL 290     TRILL and Spanning Tree 291         Appointed Forwarder Solution 292         Spanning Tree Solution 293     Bottom-up Migration Toward TRILL 296     Top-down Migration Toward TRILL 298 Monitoring and Troubleshooting in TRILL Networks 299     OAM Packet Format 300     Connectivity Verification 302     Path Tracing 303     TRILL Configuration Model 304 Summary 304 References 305   Chapter 9 Multi-Overlay Deployments 307 Overview 307 Case Study 1: TRILL or FabricPath Network with VXLAN to Virtualized Servers 309 Case Study 2: Data Center Interconnect Using OTV 315 Case Study 3: Interconnecting TRILL or FabricPath Data Centers Using OTV 321     Merging TRILL or FabricPath Networks 321     Independent TRILL or FabricPath Networks 323     Interconnection of TRILL and FabricPath Data Centers 325     Packet Flow 325 Summary 327 References 328   Index 329

About the Author :
Sanjay Hooda, CCIE No. 11737, is currently a principal engineer at Cisco, where he works with embedded systems and helps define new product architectures. His current passion is to design the next-generation campus architecture, and he is focused on simplifying the design and deployment of wired and wireless infrastructure. Over the last 17 years, Sanjay’s experience spans various areas including high availability; messaging in large-scale distributed systems; Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA); large-scale software projects; and enterprise campus and LAN,WAN, and data center network design.   Shyam Kapadia, Ph.D., is currently a technical leader in the Data Center Group at Cisco. He graduated from the University of Southern California with Ph.D. and master’s degrees in computer science in 2006. His research interests broadly lie in the area of networking systems including wired, wireless, ad-hoc, vehicular, and sensor networks. He has co-authored several conference and journal publications in these areas including a book chapter in the relatively nascent area of intermittently connected wireless networks (http://anrg.usc.edu/~kapadia/publications.html). At Cisco, for the first few years, he was an integral part of the team that delivered the next-generation Catalyst 6500 Sup 2T platform. During the past few years, he has been intrinsically involved in developing solutions for data center environments with more than 25 submitted patents in this area. Over the past 12 years, Shyam has been the speakers chair for a premiere Open Source conference, Southern California Linux Exposition (SCALE), hosted in the Los Angeles area. In his spare time, he loves watching international movies and is passionate about sports like cricket, basketball, and American football.   Padmanabhan Krishnan is a software engineer in the Data Center Group at Cisco. He joined Cisco 7 years ago and has more than 12 years of experience in various areas of networking and telecommunication. He obtained his master’s degree in computer science from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Madras University, India. His research work for the master’s degree included Diffserv, MPLS traffic engineering, and QOS routing/Connection Admission Control in ad-hoc wireless networks. Padmanabhan has worked in many overlay technologies in Cisco such as 802.1ah, TRILL, FabricPath, and VPLS. He was responsible for the design and development of the core infrastructure used by the forwarding drivers and many Layer 2 features in the next generation Catalyst 6500 Sup 2T Platform. Prior to joining Cisco, Padmanabhan worked in ATM signaling and DVB-RCS, an interactive on-demand multimedia satellite communication system specification.