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Dell Networking SmartFabric Services Deployment with VxRail 7.0.400
Introduction
Introduction
Purpose of this guide
Dell Technologies
VxRail
SmartFabric Services
SFS UI
OpenManage Network Integration
SFS with VxRail 7.0.400
Typographical conventions
Hardware used in this guide Topology Deployment Planning Configure the First Leaf Switch Pair Deploy First VxRail Cluster Expand to Multirack Add a second VxRail cluster Deploy and Configure OMNI Validated Components CLI Commands Cisco Nexus External Switch Configuration Example Support and Feedback

SmartFabric Services

SmartFabric Services

  • Dell SmartFabric OS10 includes SmartFabric Services (SFS). With SFS, customers can quickly and easily deploy and automate data center networking fabrics.

    There are two types of SFS:

    • SFS for Leaf and Spine — supported on selected Dell PowerSwitch S and Z series switches
    • SFS for PowerEdge MX — supported on selected modular switches, not applicable to this guide

    SFS for Leaf and Spine has two personalities:

    • VxRail Layer 2 (L2) Single Rack personality — This is the original (deprecated) SFS personality that automates configuration of a single pair of ToR (or leaf) switches for VxRail clusters.
    • Layer 3 (L3) Fabric personality — This is the new SFS personality available as of OS10.5.0.5 that automates configuration of a leaf-spine fabric.
    VxRail L2 Single Rack personality
    Note: For new single rack and multirack SFS deployments, Dell requires using the L3 Fabric personality instead of the VxRail L2 Single Rack personality.

    The VxRail L2 Single Rack personality is the original SFS personality. It is enabled by running a Python script in the OS10 Linux shell.

    This personality is limited to a single rack and cannot be expanded to a multirack deployment. If switches with this personality enabled are upgraded, they will continue to operate with the VxRail L2 Single Rack personality.

    Note: The VxRail L2 Single Rack personality is not covered in this deployment guide.

    L3 Fabric personality
    Note: Dell requires using the L3 Fabric personality for new SFS deployments. All examples in this guide use this personality. Unless otherwise specified, statements in this guide regarding SmartFabric behavior and features are applicable to the L3 Fabric personality only.

    Note: The L3 personality provides the option of deploying a VxRail cluster in a single rack or multirack environment.

    The L3 Fabric Personality allows users to deploy SmartFabric Services in a single rack and expand to multirack as business needs evolve.

    The SFS L3 Fabric personality automatically builds an L3 leaf-spine fabric. This enables faster time to production for hyperconverged and private cloud environments while being fully interoperable with existing data center infrastructure.

    Figure 1. From a network of boxes to a networked fabric. From a network of boxes to a networked fabric
    From a network of boxes to a networked fabric

    The SFS L3 fabric build process is as follows:

    1. Rack and cable leaf and spine switches.
    2. Enable SFS from the OS10 CLI with the smartfabric l3fabric enable role [options] command.
      1. Specify the role (leaf or spine).
      2. Specify Virtual Link Trunking interconnect (VLTi) ports on leafs.
    3. Switches boot in SmartFabric mode.
    4. Switches discover each other using LLDP.
    5. Switches elect one of the leaf nodes as the SmartFabric leader.
    6. Leaf and spine connections are established using private IP addresses and external Border Gateway Protocol (eBGP).
    7. Leaf Nodes are configured as hardware VTEPs for the infrastructure network overlay using BGP EVPN.
    Figure 2. SFS Layer 3 leaf-spine fabric. SFS Layer 3 leaf-spine fabric
    SFS Layer 3 leaf-spine fabric