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Understanding QFabric System Administration Tasks and Utilities

The following items describe QFabric system components, common administration tasks that you perform on the QFabric system, or utilities that help you to manage the QFabric system and its components.

  • Converting the device mode (QFX3500 and QFX3600 devices)—Enables you to convert a QFX3500, QFX3600, or QFX5100 device into a Node device so it can be deployed within a QFabric system. By default, QFX3500, QFX3600, and QFX5100 devices operate in standalone mode. Before the devices can participate within a QFabric system environment, you must change the device mode for the switch to node-device mode. To convert a QFX3500, QFX3600, or QFX5100 device from standalone mode to Node device mode, connect to the console port of the device, issue the request chassis device-mode node-device command, verify the future device mode with the show chassis device-mode command, connect the management port of the device to the QFabric system control plane, and reboot the device.

    Note:

    • Before you convert the device mode, you must upgrade the software on your standalone device to a QFabric system Node and Interconnect device software package that matches the QFabric system complete software package used by your QFabric system. For example, if the complete software package for your QFabric system is named jinstall-qfabric-11.3X30.6.rpm, you need to install the jinstall-qfx-11.3X30.6-domestic-signed.tgz package on your standalone device. Matching the two software packages ensures a smooth and successful addition of the device to the QFabric system inventory.

    • Converting the device mode erases the switch configuration. We recommend that you save your configuration to an external server or USB flash drive before executing the device mode conversion commands and rebooting the switch.

  • QFabric system control plane Ethernet network (EX4200 or EX4300 switches to support the QFabric system)—Provides a separate control plane network within the QFabric system to handle management traffic. This design enables the data plane network to focus on efficient, low-latency delivery of data, voice, and video traffic.

    • The QFX3000-G QFabric system control plane uses two sets of four EX4200 or EX4300 switches each, configured as a pair of Virtual Chassis to connect all components within the QFabric system. The dual Virtual Chassis architecture provides redundancy and high availability to ensure reliable QFabric system operation for the Director group, the Interconnect devices, and the Node devices.

    • The QFX3000-M QFabric system control plane uses two EX4200 or EX4300 switches to connect all components within the QFabric system. The two EX4200 or EX4300 switches provide redundancy and high availability to ensure reliable QFabric system operation for the Director group, the Interconnect devices, and the Node devices.

    Because the level of detail necessary to fully understand the control plane connections, cabling, topology, and configuration is beyond the scope of this topic, see:

  • QFabric system data plane network—Provides a separate network to handle rapid delivery of data plane traffic. The data plane uses QSFP+ interfaces and fiber-optic cabling to connect QFabric system components at speeds of 40 Gbps. By creating a redundant set of connections between the Node devices and the backplane-like Interconnect devices, the data plane enables the Node devices to appear as if they are directly connected to one another in a single tier. To view the connection status of the QFabric system data plane, issue the show chassis fabric connectivity command.

  • Director group (QFX3100 Director devices within a QFabric system)—Provides a redundant, resilient platform that manages the QFabric system components. Two QFX3100 Director devices work together to ensure high availability of the system and load-balance system processes, such as the command-line interface (CLI) and shared storage. To configure the Director group for operation, install and cable two Director devices as a Director group, connect to the console port of one of the Director devices, and perform the initial setup. The setup script starts automatically the first time you power on the Director device. For more information, see Performing the QFabric System Initial Setup on a QFX3100 Director Group. To monitor the status of the Director group, log in to the QFabric system default partition and issue the show fabric administration inventory director-group status command.

  • Automatic detection and configuration of QFabric system components—Enables QFabric system components to join the QFabric system automatically. When you install the QFabric system, activate the control plane and Director group, and power on the Node and Interconnect devices, the Director group recognizes these devices, sends each device its own portion of the Junos OS configuration, and adds them to the QFabric system inventory. By default, each individual Node device is placed into a unique server Node group that contains only that single Node device. No configuration is required for the default assignments. The default settings can be overridden when you add Node devices into a redundant server Node group (containing a pair of Node devices) or a network Node group (that can contain up to eight Node devices, run routing protocols, and connect to external networks).

  • QFabric system Routing Engines—Support the QFabric system by providing virtual, redundant instances of Junos OS that run on the Director group. The Routing Engines perform fabric management tasks, maintain control of the fabric, and host the operation of routing protocols for network Node groups. Because they are generated in pairs, the Routing Engines provide additional high availability for the QFabric system. No configuration is required. To view the status of the QFabric system Routing Engines, issue the show fabric administration inventory infrastructure command.

  • QFabric system command-line interface—Enables you to configure all components of the QFabric system from a single location by using the Junos OS CLI. To access this central location, you need to log in to the QFabric system default partition (an IP address you specify during the initial setup of the Director group). For more information, see Performing the QFabric System Initial Setup on a QFX3100 Director Group.

    Most existing Junos OS configuration statements and operational mode commands are supported (for example, interfaces, VLANs, protocols, and firewall filters).

    To view QFabric system components and check connectivity of the system, issue the show fabric administration inventory commands.

  • Alias configuration for Director devices, Interconnect devices, and Node devices—Enables you to set user-defined aliases for QFabric system Director devices, Interconnect devices, and Node devices to facilitate usability of the QFabric system as it scales. Aliased names appear in the output of many QFabric system operational commands, such as show fabric administration inventory. To map the hardware serial number of a Director device, Interconnect device or Node device to a user-defined name, see Configuring Aliases for the QFabric System.

  • Node group configuration—Enables you to cluster several Node devices together to provide redundancy, resiliency, and high availability at the ingress and egress points of the QFabric system. There are two types of Node groups you can configure:

    • Redundant server Node group—Enables the grouped Node devices to connect the QFabric system to local servers and storage devices. A redundant server Node group can contain a maximum of two Node devices and supports LAG connections that can span both devices.

      Note:

      The Node devices in a redundant server Node group must be of the same type, such as a QFX3500 Node, a QFX3600 Node, or a QFX5100 Node. For example, you cannot add a QFX3500 and a QFX3600 Node device to the same redundant server Node group.

    • Network Node group—Enables the grouped Node devices to connect the QFabric system to external networks and run routing protocols such as BGP and OSPF. A network Node group can contain up to eight Node devices and supports LAG connections.

      Note:

      • The name of the network Node group in the default partition, NW-NG-0, is preset. You must use this name when adding Node devices to the network Node group. You cannot specify a different name.

      • When you configure routing protocols on the QFabric system, you must use interfaces from the Node devices assigned to the network Node group. If you try to configure routing protocols on interfaces from the Node devices assigned to server Node groups, the configuration commit operation fails.

    To configure a redundant server Node group, include two Node devices with the node-device node-device-name statement at the [edit fabric resources node-group node-group-name] hierarchy level.

    To configure a network Node group, include the network-domain statement at the [edit fabric resources node-group NW-NG-0] hierarchy level. In addition, include between two and eight Node devices with the node-device node-device-name statement at the [edit fabric resources node-group NW-NG-0] hierarchy level.

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