Understanding QFabric System Terminology
To understand the QFabric system environment and its components, you should become familiar with the terms defined in Table 1.
Table 1: QFabric System Terms
Term | Definition |
|---|---|
Clos network fabric | Three-stage switching network in which switch elements in the middle stages are connected to all switch elements in the ingress and egress stages. In the case of QFabric system components, the three stages are represented by an ingress chipset, a midplane chipset, and an egress chipset in an Interconnect device (such as a QFX3008-I Interconnect device). In Clos networks, which are well known for their nonblocking properties, a connection can be made from any idle input port to any idle output port, regardless of the traffic load in the rest of the system. |
Director device | Hardware component that processes fundamental QFabric system applications and services, such as startup, maintenance, and inter-QFabric system device communication. A set of enhanced Director devices with hard drives can be joined to form a Director group, which can then be enhanced with other Director devices that provide additional memory and processing power. (See also Director group.) |
Director group | Set of Director devices that host and load-balance internal processes for the QFabric system. The Director group handles tasks such as QFabric system network topology discovery, Node and Interconnect device configuration, startup, and DNS, DHCP, and NFS services. Operating a Director group is a minimum requirement to manage a QFabric system. The Director group runs the Director software for management applications and runs dual processes in active/standby mode for maximum redundancy and high availability. (See also Director software and Director device.) |
Director software | Software that handles QFabric system administration tasks, such as fabric management and configuration. The Junos OS-based Director software runs on the Director group, provides a single, consolidated view of the QFabric system, and enables the main QFabric system administrator to configure, manage, monitor, and troubleshoot QFabric system components from a centralized location. To access the Director software, log in to the default partition. (See also Director device and Director group.) |
fabric control Routing Engine | Virtual Junos OS Routing Engine instance used to control the exchange of routes and flow of data between QFabric system hardware components within a partition. The fabric control Routing Engine runs on the Director group. |
fabric manager Routing Engine | Virtual Junos OS Routing Engine instance used to control the initialization and maintenance of QFabric system hardware components belonging to the default partition. The fabric manager Routing Engine runs on the Director group. |
infrastructure | QFabric system services processed by the virtual Junos Routing Engines operating within the Director group. These services, such as fabric management and fabric control, support QFabric system functionality and high availability. |
Interconnect device | QFabric system component that acts as the primary fabric for data plane traffic traversing the QFabric system between Node devices. An example of an Interconnect device is a QFX3008-I Interconnect device. (See also Node device.) |
Junos Space | Carrier-class network management system for provisioning, monitoring, and diagnosing Juniper Networks routing, switching, security, and data center platforms. |
network Node group | Set of one to eight Node devices that connects to an external network. |
network Node group Routing Engine | Virtual Junos OS Routing Engine instance that handles routing processes for a network Node group. The network Node group Routing Engine runs on the Director group. |
Node device | Routing and switching device that connects to endpoints (such as servers or storage devices) or external network peers, and is connected to the QFabric system through an Interconnect device. You can deploy Node devices similarly to the way a top-of-rack switch is implemented. An example of a Node device is the QFX3500 Node device. (See also Interconnect device and network Node group.) |
partition | Collection of physical or logical QFabric system hardware components (such as Node devices) that provides fault isolation, separation, and security. In their initial state, all QFabric system components belong to a default partition. |
QFabric system | Highly scalable, distributed, Layer 2 and Layer 3 networking architecture that provides a high-performance, low-latency, and unified interconnect solution for next-generation data centers. A QFabric system collapses the traditional multi-tier data center model, enables the consolidation of data center endpoints (such as servers, storage devices, memory, appliances, and routers), and provides better scaling and network virtualization capabilities than traditional data centers. Essentially, a QFabric system can be viewed as a single, nonblocking, low-latency switch that supports thousands of 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports or 2-Gbps, 4-Gbps or 8-Gbps Fibre Channel ports to interconnect servers, storage, and the Internet across a high-speed, high-performance fabric. The QFabric system must have sufficient resources and devices allocated to handle the Director group, Node device, and Interconnect device functions and capabilities. |
QFabric system control plane | Internal network connection that carries control traffic between QFabric system components. The QFabric system control plane includes management connections between the following QFabric system hardware and software components:
To maintain high availability, the QFabric system control plane uses a different network than the QFabric system data plane, and uses a fabric provisioning protocol and a fabric management protocol to establish and maintain the QFabric system. |
QFabric system data plane | Redundant, high-performance, and scalable data plane that carries QFabric system data traffic. The QFabric system data plane includes the following high-speed data connections:
To maintain high availability, the QFabric system data plane is separate from the QFabric system control plane. |
QFabric system endpoint | Device connected to a Node device port, such as a server, a storage device, memory, an appliance, a switch, or a router. |
QFabric system fabric | Distributed, multistage network that consists of a queuing and scheduling system that is implemented in the Node device, and a distributed cross-connect system that is implemented in Interconnect devices. The QFabric system fabric is part of the QFabric system data plane. |
QFX3500 Node device | Node device that connects to either endpoint systems (such as servers and storage devices) or external networks in a QFabric system. It is packaged in an industry-standard 1U, 19-inch rack-mounted enclosure. The QFX3500 Node device provides up to 48 10-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces to connect to the endpoints. Twelve of these 48 interfaces can be configured to support 2-Gbps, 4-Gbps or 8-Gbps Fibre Channel, and 36 of the interfaces can be configured to support Gigabit Ethernet. Also, there are four uplink connections to connect to Interconnect devices in a QFabric system. These uplinks use 40-Gbps quad small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) interfaces. (See also QFX3500 switch.) |
QFX3500 switch | Standalone data center switch with 10-Gigabit Ethernet access ports and 40-Gbps quad, small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) uplink interfaces. You can (optionally) configure some of the access ports as 2-Gbps, 4-Gbps, or 8-Gbps Fibre Channel ports or Gigabit Ethernet ports. The QFX3500 switch can be converted to a QFabric system Node device as part of a complete QFabric system. The switch is packaged in an industry-standard 1U, 19-inch rack-mounted enclosure. (See also QFX3500 Node device.) |
QFX3600 Node device | Node device that connects to either endpoint systems (such as servers and storage devices) or external networks in a QFabric system. It is packaged in an industry-standard 1U, 19-inch rack-mounted enclosure. The QFX3600 Node device provides 16 40-Gbps QSFP+ ports. By default, 4 ports (labeled Q0 through Q3) are configured for 40-Gbps uplink connections between your Node device and your Interconnect device, and 12 ports (labeled Q4 through Q15) use QSFP+ direct-attach copper (DAC) breakout cables or QSFP+ transceivers with fiber breakout cables to support 48 10-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces for connections to either endpoint systems (such as servers and storage devices) or external networks. Optionally, you can choose to configure the first eight ports (Q0 through Q7) for uplink connections between your Node device and your Interconnect device, and ports Q2 through Q15 for 10-Gigabit Ethernet or 40-Gigabit Ethernet connections to either endpoint systems or external networks. (See also QFX3600 switch.) |
QFX3600 switch | Standalone data center switch with 16 40-Gbps quad, small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) interfaces. By default, all the 16 ports operate as 40-Gigabit Ethernet ports. Optionally, you can choose to configure the 40-Gbps ports to operate as four 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports. You can use QSFP+ to four SFP+ breakout cables to connect the 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports to other servers, storage, and switches. The QFX3600 switch can be converted to a QFabric system Node device as part of a complete QFabric system. The switch is packaged in an industry-standard 1U, 19-inch rack-mounted enclosure. (See also QFX3600 Node device.) |
redundant server Node group | Set of two Node devices that connect to servers or storage devices. Link aggregation group (LAG) interfaces can span the Node devices within a redundant server Node group. |
rolling upgrade | Method used in the QFabric system to upgrade the software for components in a systematic, low-impact way. A rolling upgrade begins with the Director group, proceeds to the fabric (Interconnect devices), and finishes with the Node groups. |
Routing Engine | Juniper Networks-proprietary processing entity that implements QFabric system control plane functions, routing protocols, system management, and user access. Routing Engines can be either physical or virtual entities. The Routing Engine functions in a QFabric system are sometimes handled by Node devices (when connected to endpoints), but mostly implemented by the Director group (to provide support for QFabric system establishment, maintenance, and other tasks). |
routing instance | Private collection of routing tables, interfaces, and routing protocol parameters unique to a specific customer. The set of interfaces is contained in the routing tables, and the routing protocol parameters control the information in the routing tables. (See also virtual private network.) |
server Node group | Set of one or more Node devices that connect to servers or storage devices. |
virtual LAN (VLAN) | Unique Layer 2 broadcast domain for a set of ports selected from the components available in a partition. VLANs allow manual segmentation of larger Layer 2 networks and help to restrict access to network resources. To interconnect VLANs, Layer 3 routing is required. |
virtual private network (VPN) | Layer 3 routing domain within a partition. VPNs maintain privacy with a tunneling protocol, encryption, and security procedures. In a QFabric system, a Layer 3 VPN is configured as a routing instance. |
