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Solution Benefits

Juniper Networks has excelled in building and supporting AI networks with a scalable, robust, and automated approach for a range of cluster sizes. Unlike proprietary solutions that lock in enterprises and can stifle AI innovation, Juniper’s standards-based solution assures the fastest innovation, maximizes design flexibility, and prevents vendor lock-in on the Frontend, GPU Backend, and Storage Backend AI fabric networks.

The Juniper Validated Design for AI is a prescriptive approach to deploy high performing AI training and inference networks, that minimize job completion time and maximizes GPU performance. The design follows a 3-stage Clos IP fabric architecture based on Juniper QFX switches, and integrates NVDIA GPU, WEKA storage, along with Juniper Apstra software and Terraform for automation, and considers best practices and Juniper’s experience in building Data Center networks.

The integration with Juniper’s Apstra software and Terraform enables customers to orchestrate the network infrastructure systematically, without requiring in-depth knowledge of the products and technologies involved, and allows customers to easily build high-capacity, easy-to-operate network fabrics that deliver high performance, increased reliability, for optimal JCT (Job Completion Time) and maximized GPU utilization in the AI cluster.

The solution has been extensively tested and thoroughly documented by Juniper subject matter experts, resulting in a validated design that is easy to follow, guarantees successful implementation, and simplified management and troubleshooting tasks. This document provides comprehensive guidance on how to deploy this solution, with clear descriptions of its components and step by step instructions to connect, and configure them.

Juniper Validated Design Benefits

JVDs are prescriptive blueprints for building data center fabrics using repeatable, validated, predictable, and well documented network architecture solutions with guidelines for a successful deployment. Each solution has been designed, fully tested, and documented by Juniper Networks experts with all the necessary implementation details, including hardware components, software versions, connectivity, and configuration steps.

To become a validated solution (JVD) and be approved for release, a solution must pass rigorous testing with real-world workloads and applications, and all features must satisfy operational and performance criteria in real-world scenarios. Testing not only includes validating the design topology and configuration steps, but also that all products in the JVD work together as expected, thus mitigating potential risks while deploying the solution.

The core benefits of JVDs solutions can be summarized as:

  • Qualified Deployments—Qualified network design blueprints for data center fabrics, that follow best practices and meet the requirements of each specific use case, and make the solution deployment quicker, simpler, and more reliable.
  • Scalable—Solutions that can scale beyond the initial design and support the adoption of different hardware platforms based on customer requirements, and customers’ feedback can meet the needs of most Juniper’s data center customers.
  • Risk Mitigation— Prescriptive implementation guidelines guarantee that you have the right products, right software versions, optimal architecture, and deployment steps.
  • Systematically Verified—Tested solutions using a suite of automated testing tools validate the performance and reliability of all the components.
  • Predictability— Detailed testing and careful documentation of the solution, including the capabilities and limitations of its components, guarantees that the solution will operate as expected when implemented according to the JVD guidelines.
  • Repeatability— Unlocked value with repeatable network designs due to the prescriptive nature of JVD designs as well as their applicability to common use cases in the data center environment. All JVD customers benefit from lessons learned through lab testing and real-world deployments.
  • Reliability— Tested with real traffic, JVD solutions are qualified to operate as designed after deployment and with real-world traffic.
  • Accelerated Deployment— Ease installation with step-by-step guidance automation, and prebuilt integrations simplifies, and accelerates deployment, while reducing risks.
  • Accelerated Decision-Making— Predefined combination of products, software, and architecture removes the need to spend time comparing products, and deciding how the network should be built, allowing to bridge business and technology requirements faster and also reducing risks.
  • Best Practice Networks— Better outcomes for a better experience. Juniper Validated Designs have known characteristics and performance profiles to help you make informed decisions about your network.

Juniper Apstra Benefits

Juniper Validated Designs in the data center start with the Apstra software, a multi-vendor, intent-based networking system (IBNS) that provides closed-loop automation and assurance. Apstra translates vendor-agnostic business intent and technical objectives to essential policy and device-specific configurations. The system also validates user intent, as part of the initial deployment and continuously thereafter, to ensure that the network state does not deviate from the intended state. Any anomaly or deviation can be flagged, and remediation actions can be taken directly from Apstra.

The core benefits of Apstra are:

  • Intent-based networking—Apstra automates configuration creation to realize the intent, deploys the configuration to appropriate devices, and continuously validates the operating state against intended state.
  • Network Automation—Apstra is a multi-vendor network automation platform that is continuously updated to work with the latest hardware and is extensively tested using modern DevOps practices.
  • Recoverability—The Built-in rollback capability of Apstra allows to quickly restore the system to a known-working configuration if needed.
  • Day 2+ Management—Apstra’s rich data analysis capabilities, including Flow Data, reduce Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR).
  • Simplicity—Apstra simplifies network deployment and management. As an example, using Apstra to implement a Data Center Interconnection (DCI), reduces complexity and makes it easy to unify multiple data centers, while isolating failure domains for high availability and resilience.