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Understanding OpenStack-Contrail Networking Fabric Integration

 

Contrail Networking Release 2011 supports integrating OpenStack with Contrail Networking Fabric. A Modular Layer 2 (ML2) Neutron plug-in is deployed for this integration. With this integration, you can manage underlay networks for OpenStack compute nodes.

Modular Layer 2 (ML2) Neutron Plug-in

Starting in Contrail Networking Release 2011, the ML2 Neutron plug-in is used to integrate OpenStack with Contrail Networking Fabric. Neutron is an OpenStack project that manages networking between interface devices. The ML2 plug-in enables OpenStack to use various layer 2 networking technologies that are found in complex real-world data centers.

In order to facilitate multi-vendor solutions, Neutron offers the following plug-ins:

  • Monolithic Plug-in

  • Modular Layer 2 (ML2) Plug-in

The Monolithic plug-in is no longer supported and is removed from OpenStack. With this release, the only supported plug-in is ML2. For more information on the plug-in, see ML2 Plug-in.

With Contrail Networking Release 2011, the ML2 plug-in is used with Contrail Command UI to facilitate multi-vendor solutions. ML2 plug-in works with Open vSwitch, Linux Bridge, and HyperV layer 2 agents. The ML2 plug-in simplifies adding support for layer 2 networking technologies. This plug-in requires less initial effort to deploy than what would be required to add a new monolithic plug-in.

The ML2 framework offers the following drivers:

Figure 1: ML2 Framework
ML2 Framework
Type Drivers—Describes the type of underlying technology that is deployed.
Mechanism Drivers—Facilitates the multi-vendor solutions built upon the technology specified by type driver.

Benefits of ML2 Plug-in

The following are the benefits of ML2 plug-in:

  • Helps in integrating OpenStack with Contrail Networking Fabric.

  • Used with Contrail Command to facilitate multi-vendor solutions.

  • Simplifies adding support for layer 2 networking technologies.

Design Overview

This section describes the topology.

Figure 2: Topology
Topology

Figure 2 depicts the OpenStack Controller, Contrail Networking Controller and the fabric. The Neutron Rest API, ML2 plug-in for layer 2 networking technologies, L3 router plug-in, and the mechanism drivers rests within the Neutron server. The ML2 plug-in mechanism driver (Tungsten Fabric ML2 Driver) and the Tungsten Fabric L3 driver connects the server to the Config API. The connection between the Config API and the fabric is established through the device manager.

ML2 Neutron Plug-in—This plug-in is also called the ML2 plug-in. The ML2 Neutron plug-in is used to integrate OpenStack with Contrail Networking Fabric. This plug-in enables OpenStack to use various layer 2 networking technologies that are found in complex real-world data centers. For more information, see Modular Layer 2 (ML2) Neutron Plug-in.
Tungsten Fabric Mechanism Driver —This driver is also called the Tungsten Fabric ML2 Driver or ML2 Driver. This driver is located in the OpenStack repository. The driver communicates with the Contrail Controller and manages Juniper devices. This driver is triggered by the ML2 plug-in in response to networking events such as creating a virtual network or modifying a port, that is handled by Neutron.
Tungsten Fabric Router Service Plug-in—This is also called the L3 Router Plug-in. The Tungsten Fabric Router Service Plug-in supports routing functionality on fabric. This plug-in also supports vendor-specific routing functionality. This plug-in pushes the ERB or CRB routing configuration on leaf or spine devices respectively.

Related Documentation

Release History Table
Release
Description
2011
Starting in Contrail Networking Release 2011, the ML2 Neutron plug-in is used to integrate OpenStack with Contrail Networking Fabric.