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What are Rack Types

Rack types are abstractions of racks that define the capabilities of racks without defining vendor-specific information. By not including any vendor details you can design your racks in the Apstra environment before selecting vendor hardware. Rack types specify a number of logical devices and link details. Logical devices are abstractions of physical devices that specify the number of ports on a device, their speed, and their assigned roles. Logical devices can have various roles; the ones applicable to rack types are leaf, access and generic system. The access role applies to devices using Junos OS only. Generic systems are devices that attach compute/storage.

When the majority of racks in your data center use the same leaf hardware with the same link speeds to hosts, uplink speeds to spines and so on, instead of designing and building every single rack in a data center, you can take advantage of the efficiency of designing one rack type and applying it in multiple places.

Rack Type Details

Rack type details are divided into the following sections:

Topology Preview

The Topology Preview section shows a visual representation of the logical elements in a rack type. The screenshot below shows the topology preview for the predefined rack type named L2 Virtual. It consists of one leaf device and 2 generic systems. (Generic systems attach compute/storage; they connect to a single rack in the topology.)

Summary

The Summary section includes the rack type name, a description (optional), and a designation of whether it's used in a Clos fabric or a full mesh fabric.

Summary

Description

Name (and optional description)

A unique name to identify the rack type, 17 characters or fewer

Fabric connectivity design
  • L3 Clos - used in 3-stage and 5-stage fabric templates with spine devices. The spine level connects leaf devices to each other.
  • L3 Collapsed - used in collapsed (spineless) templates. Leaf devices are connected directly to each other (full mesh).

    See Apstra 5.0.0 Feature Matrix for supported vendors.

Logical Structure

The Logical Structure section (new in Apstra version 5.0.0) is a visual representation of the logical relationships and dependencies in the rack type so you can validate the design against your expectations. The screenshot below is for the predefined rack type named L2 Virtual. It includes two different types of logical devices: one for the leaf with seven 10Gbps ports and the other for the generic systems with one 10Gbps port. Each logical device can use one of several device profiles as shown in the logical structure. Device profiles (hardware models) and logical devices (capabilities of devices) are associated with each other via interface maps. If you created a custom interface map that used one of the logical devices below, it would be added as one of the applicable device profiles below.)

Leaf Devices

The Leaf Devices section includes the following details:

Leaf Devices

Description

Leaf Name

64 characters or fewer

Leaf Logical Device

Used as ToR leaf switch network device(s)

Links per spine, and Link speed (L3 Clos Only)

Number of leaf-spine links and their speed.

Redundancy Protocol
CAUTION:

Make sure that the intended platform supports the chosen redundancy protocol. For example, L3 MLAG peers are not supported on SONiC, and ESI is supported only on Junos and (as of Apstra version 5.0.0) SONiC.
  • None - For single-homed connections
  • MLAG - For dual-homed connections. Both switches use the same logical device.
    • MLAG Keepalive VLAN ID - If left blank during rack type creation, 2999 is assigned to the peer link during the build phase. If 2999 conflicts with vendors' reserved ranges, enter a different ID.
      Note:

      Network device vendors have varying requirements for "reserved" VLAN ID ranges. For example, Cisco NX-OS reserves the VLAN ID range from 3968 to 4094. Arista, by default, uses a VLAN ID range from 1006 to 4094 for internal VLANs for routed ports.

    • Peer Links, and Link speed - Number of links between the MLAG devices, and their speed
    • Peer Link Port Channel ID
    • L3 peer links, and Link speed -Used mainly for BGP peering between border MLAG leaf devices in non-default routing zones. Mainly used for routed L3 traffic to solve EVPN blackhole issues or if upstream routers go down. L3 peer-links act as backup paths for the north-south traffic. Other than border leaf it can be used on any other ToR leaf devices as well as for avoiding blackholing traffic for a VRF.
    • L3 Peer Link Port Channel ID
  • ESI (Junos and SONiC) - Ethernet Segment ID assigned to the bundled links. Specifying device platforms other then Juniper Junos or SONiC (such as Cisco, Arista) results in blueprint build errors. For information about Juniper ESI, see Juniper EVPN Support, and Update ESI MAC msb.

Tags

User-specified. Select tags from drop-down list generated from global catalog or create tags on-the-fly (which then become part of the global catalog). Tags used in rack types are embedded, so any subsequent changes to tags in the global catalog do not affect the rack type.

Access Switches

ESI support at the access layer is supported. You can dual-home generic systems (servers) to access switches. We're leveraging EVPN at the access layer to enable ESI-LAG towards the generic system while keeping the L2 only nature of the access switch role.

Supported/Unsupported Topologies for ESI Access:

  • Each member of an access switch pair dual-attached to the leaf pair is supported.
  • Each member of an access switch pair single-attached to the leaf pair is supported.
  • One member of an access switch pair dual-attached to the leaf pair and the other member of an access switch pair single-attached to the leaf pair is not supported.

This is supported on 3-Stage, 5-Stage, and collapsed fabric blueprints. Day 2 topology changes are available through Add/Edit/Remove Racks.

Requirements for the switch model acting as access switch are:

  • EVPN-VxLAN with VTEP support is required on the Access Switches.
  • L2 VxLAN only is required, L3 VxLAN (RIOT) is not required, and will continue to be available only at the leaf layer.

When creating and managing access switches, follow the general workflow for building a network while taking into account the following options and design considerations.

  1. When creating logical devices, on leaf switches facing an access switch, select the port role access, and configure ports in the access switch logical device.

  2. Create an interface map per standard procedure.

  3. Create a rack type with configured access switches.

  4. Create a template that uses rack types with access switches.

  5. Create a blueprint and build it following the general workflow. You can perform the same tasks as for other blueprints.

The Access Switches section includes the following details:

Access Switches

Description

Access Switch Name

64 characters or fewer

Access Switch count

Number of access switches. These switches share the same logical link group.

Logical Device

The logical device that's applied to this access switch.

Redundancy Protocol
  • None - For single-homed connections
  • ESI (Junos only,and SONiC * as a Tech Preview) - Ethernet Segment ID assigned to the bundled links. Specifying device platforms other than Juniper Junos (such as Cisco, Arista) results in blueprint build errors.
    Note:

    ESI as a redundancy protocol on SONiC has been classified as a Juniper Apstra Technology Preview feature. These features are "as is" and voluntary use. Juniper Support will attempt to resolve any issues that customers experience when using these features and create bug reports on behalf of support cases. However, Juniper may not provide comprehensive support services to Tech Preview features.

    For additional information, refer to the Juniper Apstra Technology Previews page or contact Juniper Support.

     For information about Juniper ESI support, see Juniper EVPN Support and for information about ESI, see Update ESI MAC msb.
    • L3 Peer Links - Number of L3 peer links between both access switches.
    • Link Speed - Link speed on the peer link interfaces.

Tags

User-specified. Select tags from drop-down list generated from global catalog or create tags on-the-fly (which then become part of the global catalog). Tags used in rack types are embedded, so any subsequent changes to tags in the global catalog do not affect the rack type.

Logical Link
  • Name - 64 characters or fewer
  • Leaf - Leaf configured in Leafs section
  • Physical link count per individual switch
  • Link speed
  • Tags - User-specified. Select tags from drop-down list generated from global catalog or create tags on-the-fly (which then become part of the global catalog). Tags used in rack types are embedded, so any subsequent changes to tags in the global catalog do not affect the rack type.

Generic Systems

The Generic Systems section includes the following details:

Generic Systems

Description

Name

64 characters or fewer

Generic system count

Number of systems in the set

Port Channel ID Min, and Max

Port channel IDs are used when rendering leaf device port-channel configuration towards generic systems. default: 1-4096. You can customize this field. All non-default port channel numbers must be unique per system, not per blueprint.

Logical Device

The generic system network device

Tags

User-specified. Select tags from drop-down list generated from global catalog or create tags on-the-fly (which then become part of the global catalog). Useful for specifying generic systems as servers or external routers on nodes and links. Tags used in rack types are embedded, so any subsequent changes to tags in the global catalog do not affect the rack type.

Logical Link
  • Name - 64 characters or fewer
  • Switch - Leaf configured in Leafs section
  • LAG Mode
    • LACP (Active) - Link Aggregation Control Group (LACP) in active mode - This mode actively advertises LACP BPDU even when the neighbor does not.
    • LACP (Passive) - Link Aggregation Control Group (LACP) in passive mode - This mode doesn't generate LACP BPDU until it sees one from a neighbor.
    • Static LAG (no LACP) - Static LAGs don't participate in LACP and will unconditionally operate in forwarding mode.
    • No LAG - This link is not part of a LAG.
  • Physical link count per individual leaf, and Link speed) - Number of links from each generic system to each leaf and their speed. If using dual leaf switches, this number should be half of the total links attached to the generic system.
  • Tags - User-specified. Select tags from drop-down list generated from global catalog or create tags on-the-fly (which then become part of the global catalog). Useful for specifying generic systems as servers or external routers on nodes and links. Tags used in rack types are embedded, so any subsequent changes to tags in the global catalog do not affect the rack type.
Note:

You can also add generic systems to blueprints as a Day 2 operation. For more information, see Add Generic System.

Predefined Rack Types

The tables below show details of the predefined rack types that are included with Apstra.

Table 1: Predefined L3 Clos Rack Types without Access Switches
Rack Type Name Number and Type of Leafs Leaf Details Number of Generic Systems Generic System Details
evpn-mlag 1 MLAG pair MLAG pair 3  
evpn-single 1 single leaf single leaf    
L2 Compute 1 single leaf One panel with forty-eight 10 Gbps ports

  • Roles: Access / Peer / Generic

One panel with six 40 Gbps ports

  • Roles: Spine / Generic

 40 One 10 Gbps link single-homed at leaf
LAG Mode: No LAG
Roles: Leaf / Access
L2 ESI 2x Links 1 ESI group ESI group 1  
L2 HPC 1 single leaf single leaf 16  
L2 MLAG 2x Links 1 MLAG pair MLAG pair 1  
L2 MLAG Leaf 1 MLAG pair      
L2 One Leaf 1 single leaf single leaf 48  
L2 Virtual 1 single leaf Seven 10 Gbps ports:

  • 2 spine/leaf

  • 2 peer

  • 2 access/generic

  • 1 generic

 2 One 10 Gbps leaf/access port /// 10 Gbps link single-homed at leaf
L2 Virtual 2xDual 2 single leafs single leafs 1  
L2 Virtual 2xMLAG 2 MLAG pairs MLAG pairs 1  
L2 Virtual Dual 2 single leafs single leafs 2  
L2 Virtual MLAG 1 MLAG pair MLAG pair 2  
MLAG Compute 1 MLAG pair MLAG pair 40  
Table 2: Predefined L3 Clos Rack Types with Access Switches
Rack Type Name Number and Type of Leafs Leaf Details Number of Access Switches Access Switch Details Number of Generic Systems Generic System Details
L2 Access 4x 1 single leaf 1 x 40 Gbps links per spine 4 single switches 2 x 10 Gbps leaf_link single-homed at leaf. LAG Mode: LACP (Active) 4  
L2 ESI Acs Dual 1 ESI group   1 ESI group   3  
L2 ESI Acs Single 1 ESI group   1 ESI group   2  
L2 MLAG 1x access 1 MLAG pair   1 single switch   2  
L2 MLAG 2acs+1lef 1 MLAG pair, 1 single leaf   3 single switches   4  
L2 MLAG 2x access 1 MLAG pair   2 single switches   2  
L2 One Access 1 single leaf   1 single switch   4  
Table 3: Predefined Collapsed Fabric Rack Types
Rack Type Name Number and Type of Leaf Devices Leaf Details Number of Access Switches Access Switch Details Number of Generic Systems Generic System Details
Collapsed 1xleaf 1 single leaf device 2 x 10 Gbps mesh links
Logical Device Roles:

  • 2 ports: spine / leaf

  • 2 ports: peer

  • 2 ports: access / generic

  • 1 port: generic

 1 single switch 1 x 10 Gbps leaf link single-homed at leaf
LAG Mode: LACP (Active)
Roles:

  • 8 ports: leaf / access / peer / generic

 2 One 10 Gbps link single-homed at access
LAG Mode: No LAG
Roles:

  • 1 port: Leaf / Access
Collapsed 2xleafs 1 ESI group Two 10 Gbps mesh links
Roles:

  • 2 ports: spine / leaf

  • 2 ports: peer

  • 2 ports: access / generic

  • 1 port: generic

 None N/A 2 One 10 Gbps link dual-homed at ESI leaf
LAG Mode: LACP (Active)
Roles:

  • 2 ports: Leaf / Access

Rack Types in the Apstra GUI

From the left navigation menu of the Apstra GUI, navigate to Design > Rack Types to go to the rack types table in the design (global) catalog.

To see how design elements and device profiles are related to each other, click Show relationship (new in Apstra version 5.0.0). This is helpful if you're new to the Apstra environment.

Many rack types are predefined for you. To search for a rack type by its name, click the Search button (magnifying glass) and enter your criteria.

Click a rack type name to go to its details.

You can create, edit, and delete rack types.

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