Apstra Components
The following sections describe the elements that comprise a Juniper Apstra system.
Apstra Server
Lightweight, scalable VM appliance that serves as the centralized management/configuration system. Appliance simply requires IP management access to switches, typically via the OOB management network.
Apstra Device Agents
Software agents are created and installed to manage each switch or server under Apstra management. Agents are used to both receive and instantiate intent (configuration) from the centralized Apstra server and to collect analytics from each switch and send it to the Apstra server where that data is stored in the graphDB.
Network Operating System
A Network Operating System (NOS) is an OS that is primarily designed to support the functionality of an integrated multi-layer switch or router. Apstra as a multi vendor solution currently supports: Cisco NXOS, Arista EOS, JunOS, and SONiC.
Management Network
The Juniper Apstra server simply requires IP connectivity between itself and any devices under management. There are no distance, latency or delay requirements. An OOB Management Network is required. Apstra does not sit in either the data or control planes.