Create Rack Type (L3 Clos)

We'll demonstrate how to create a rack type for an L3 Clos rack with 2 Top-of-Rack (ToR) leaf switches with 40 servers connected to both switches.

1. From the left navigation menu, navigate to Design > Rack Types and click Create Rack Type (or to copy an existing rack type and customize it, click the Clone button in the Actions panel for the rack type to copy).

   (Note: Rack Type Builder was deprecated in version 6.0.0.)

   
   The Create Rack Type dialog opens (or the Clone Rack Type dialog opens).
2. Enter Summary details.
   Enter a unique rack type name (17 characters or fewer) and an (optional) description, then for Fabric Connectivity Design, select L3 Clos.
   
3. Create 2 leaf switches.
   1. Click the Add Leaf button (in the bottom row of operations buttons).
      

      A graphical representation of the leaf appears with an initial default label of leaf1.

      When a leaf is selected it has a red dashed border.

      The red triangle in the upper left corner of the leaf indicates that required fields need information. Hover over the triangle to see that you need to specify a logical device. Links per spine automatically defaults to 1 when you select the logical device.

   2. Click the settings button (the gear in the upper right corner of the leaf).

      The leaf settings dialog opens.

   3. From the Logical Device drop-down list, select the appropriate logical device for the Top-of-Rack (ToR) leaf switch.
      Note:

      For our example, we need a device with at least 40 ports for our servers (generic systems) and 2 ports for connecting to spines for when we create the template later. We're using the predefined logical device AOS-48x10+6x100-1, which represents a device with 2 panels (port groups) with the following characteristics:

      • The first port group consists of 48 ports at 10 Gbps that can connect to an access switch, a peer, or a generic system. We'll be using 40 of the ports.

      • The second port group consists of 6 ports at 100 Gbps that can connect to a spine or a generic system. We'll be using 2 of the ports.

      

      Since L3 Clos racks are connected to a spine, only logical devices that include a port with the spine role are included in the list. The list comes from the logical devices Design catalog (Design > Logical Devices), also known as the global catalog.

      

      After you select the logical device, available ports and port roles appear in the Available Ports section based on the logical device details. Also, the number of ports that have the spine role appear in the Links per spine section. The value defaults to 1. In our example, we want to be able to link to 2 spines when we create the template

      You can change any of the default Label values as you create your rack type.

      The red triangle in the upper left corner of the leaf goes away since the requirements for a leaf have been satisfied.

   4. With the leaf selected, click the Clone button (in the bottom row of operations buttons).

      The dialog for leaf1 closes, and the second leaf is created.

      Note:

      You can move leaf devices (and other elements) around on the canvas, and when you save your changes in the editor and then reopen it your leaf devices will still be where you moved them.

4. Create a generic system.
   1. Click the Add Generic Server button (in the bottom row of operation buttons).
      

      A graphical representation of the generic system appears with an initial default label of generic1.

      When a generic system is selected it has a red dashed border.

      The red triangle in the upper left corner of the system indicates that required fields need information. Hover over the triangle to see that the system needs to have a logical device specfied; it also needs to be connected to a leaf.

   2. Click the settings button (the gear in the upper right corner of the generic system).
      The generic systems settings dialog opens.
   3. From the Logical Device drop-down list, select the appropriate logical device for your servers.
      Note:

      For our example, we're using the predefined logical device AOS-2x10-1, which represents a device with 1 panel (port group) consisting of 2 ports at 10 Gbps that can connect to a leaf or an access switch.

      

      Since generic systems must connect to a leaf (or access switch), only logical devices that include a port with the leaf (or access switch) role are included in the list. The list comes from the logical devices Design catalog (Design > Logical Devices), also known as the global catalog.

      

      After you select the logical device, available ports and port roles appear in the Available Ports section based on the logical device details. We'll use those ports to connect to the leaf devices.

      The red triangle in the upper left corner of the generic system remains since we still need to add links. Let's do that now.

5. Link the generic system to the leaf devices.
   1. Click and drag to select the 2 leaf devices and the generic system. (As soon as you click outside the dialog, it closes.) Click the Managed Mutliple Links button (in the bottom row of operation buttons), then click Create.
      
      The dialog closes and the links are created.
   2. We want the LAG modes to be LACP Active, so let's open the link details and change the LAG mode. Click on one of the links to open details, then select LACP Active LAG mode and click outside the settings dialog. Repeat for the other link.
      
      We now have 2 leafs connected to one generic system configured for our example.
6. Clone the generic system to create 40 systems.
   Note:

   The way you clone systems affects how they are positioned in the limited viewing area of the canvas. If you clone one system many times, the systems line up in one column, which, depending on the number of systems you've created, prevents you from seeing the entire topology without having to scroll.

   A better way is to clone the system a few times to use the vertical space of the canvas, then clone those systems a few times to create the number of systems you want and to use the horizontal space. See below for how we do it with our example.

   1. Click to select the generic system, click the Clone button 9 times, then select all 10 generic systems and click the Clone button 3 times.
      
      40 generic systems have been generated that are linked to the 2 leaf devices.
7. Click Create (or Clone).