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Dell Networking Layer 3 Leaf-Spine Deployment and Best Practices with OS10 release 10.5.3.0.44
Introduction Hardware overview Leaf-spine overview
Leaf-spine overview
Layer 3 leaf-spine topology
Protocols in the leaf-spine example Layer 3 configuration planning Layer 3 with Dell leaf and spine switches OSPF and eBGP Alternate use case scenario Demonstration Appendix A

Layer 3 leaf-spine topology

Home > Networking Solutions > Enterprise/Data Center Networking Solutions > SmartFabric OS10 Networking Solutions > Guides > Dell Networking Layer 3 Leaf-Spine Deployment and Best Practices with OS10 release 10.5.3.0.44 > Layer 3 leaf-spine topology

Layer 3 leaf-spine topology

  • Spine switches are never connected to each other in a Layer 3 topology. Equal cost multi-path routing (ECMP) is used to load balance traffic across the Layer 3 network. Connections within racks from hosts to leaf switches are Layer 2. Connections to external networks are made from a pair of edge or border leaf switches. Connections from the data center core can also be made directly to the spines. The following list includes an overview for Layer 2 and Layer 3.

    Layer 2 features

    • Virtual link trunking (VLT)
    • Virtual router redundancy protocols (VRRP)
    • Rapid Spanning Tree protocol (RSTP)
    • Uplink failure detection (UFD)
    • Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP)- Port-channel
    • Delay-restore feature

    Layer 3 features

    • BGP/OSPFv3/OSPFv2 routing protocols
    • Equal cost multipath (ECMP)
    • Bi-directional forwarding detection

    Figure 5.   Layer 3 leaf-spine network