Let's automate
Fri, 07 Oct 2022 20:37:54 -0000
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While there are several networking automation techniques in the industry, this blog discusses bare metal provisioning (BMP). This is a solution that optimizes deployment by automatically provisioning the hardware (networking switches) using a pre-defined configuration and Dell networking operating system images with standard protocols, such as dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) and common file transfer mechanisms.
BMP aims to address the typical challenges to the traditional IT model, including the following:
- Compliance
- Compatibility
- Concern across difference version of firmware and hardware for new application or development
- Security vulnerabilities
- Support for lifecycle management of networking hardware
How does BMP work?
BMP consists of three components including:
- Bare metal (hardware – BIOS with POST)
- System bootloader
- Network operating system
Bare metal is hardware, bootloader is an (ONIE) that loads and starts the boot time task of a network operating system into working memory, the network operating system is the software component that acts as an interface between the dell switch hardware components and the end user. DHCP and file transfer service to provide OS image and pre-defined configuration (installer) to the Dell switches over the network.
The process of the BMP includes:
- When an ONIE-enable network switches boots for the first time, the boot loader launches the kernel and starts the ONIE discovery and execution (ODE) application.
- The ODE uses several methods (such as local file, DHCP, IPv6 neighbors, mDNS/DNS-SD) to locate and download (via HTTP/TFTP/FTP) an OS image and pre-defined configuration once the installer is found.
- The ODE starts the installer, which provisions the switches.
The reference of network operating system to bare metal provisioning includes the following:
- Dell SmartFabric OS10
- SONIC to Enterprise SONiC Distribution by Dell Technologies
- Third party applications
Figure 1. Components of bare metal provisioning process
With BMP, IT can adopt an open network hardware ecosystem that enables end users to choose different network operating systems without worrying about the proprietary requirement from a single vendor for scalable, cost-effective, application integration, and efficiency.
The following list provides an overview to benefit of adopting BMP:
- Reduces the time to install and configure the network device with pre- and post-configuration scripts for automation for mass deployment
- Helps eliminate configuration errors and ensure consistent configurations.
- Adopts open-source system, an open network operating system to diversify application ecosystem.
- Disaggregates software and hardware
Additional resources
Overview — Open Network Install Environment documentation (opencomputeproject.github.io)
Overview — Open Network Install Environment documentation (opencomputeproject.github.io)
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Dell Technologies Automates Your Infrastructure
Mon, 14 Nov 2022 18:07:42 -0000
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Overview
What is infrastructure automation all about? Today’s IT infrastructures, data centers, and Telco are continually challenged to evolve and grow to keep up with the demands of this digital world. To quickly and successfully bring high-quality products and services into production, you need a scalable approach.
Dell Technologies - Four pillars of automation
The Dell networking automation feature set integrates industry-standard open-source tools and open-source scripting APIs. These APIs allow your datacenter network fabric to ease configuration and automation of network devices and functions. With these improvements, you can transform your virtualized data center infrastructure to become more agile, flexible, and efficient even as you develop new ways to deliver applications and services.
For deployment, Dell network automation can help boost your IT infrastructure's ability to scale, help minimize configuration errors, reduce time to production, lower operational costs, avoid network downtime, and also enhance network resiliency. It allows speedy rollout of new services, devices, and applications based on established and reusable processes.
Dell networking automation feature set includes Zero Touch Deployment (ZTD), Ansible, Bare Metal Provisioning (BMP), and Fabric Design Center (FDC):
- Zero Touch Deployment (ZTD) is a Dell SmartFabric OS10 feature that greatly reduces the manual configuration task involved in setting up a PowerSwitch device out of the box.
- Ansible is a simple agentless automation framework that can configure Dell SmartFabric OS10 switches, deploy software, monitor network, and orchestrate DevOps/NetOps tasks.
- Bare Metal Provisioning (BMP) is another Open Automation framework which streamlines the network fabric’s ability to participate in automated, policy-driven, real-time workload allocation in response to changing application and service demands.
- Fabric Data Center( FDC) is an easy-to-use, hands-on, web-based tool that automates the network fabric design process.
Conclusion
Realizing a return on virtualization investments means deploying effective automation techniques that can simplify the deployment of virtualized environment and allow a policy-based fabric orchestration model.
While many network vendors have chosen a proprietary path to automation resulting in lock-in, Dell’s approach is to utilize open and industry-standard technologies based on an extensible and modular operating system across the range of the heterogeneous Dell switch portfolio.
Virtualization with Layer 2 over Layer 3
Tue, 28 Mar 2023 12:49:05 -0000
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IT organizations must transform to meet the increasingly complex challenges in data center networking. Virtualization and software-defined data center (SDDC) in hyperconverged services are key components for today's data centers.
IT organizations making this transformation must interconnect their data centers. Virtualization and other high-value services are creating the need for logically connected, geographically isolated data centers. Dell Technologies has the infrastructure architectures to facilitate these requirements.
With Dell SmartFabric OS10 operating system, Dell introduces a networking solution in virtualization with two popular VLAN tunneling technologies: virtual extensive LAN (VXLAN) and generic routing encapsulation (GRE).
The solution of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and Ethernet Virtual Private Network (EVPN) for VXLAN uses Dell PowerSwitches and PowerEdge servers. BGP EVPN for VXLAN serves as a network virtualization overlay to extend Layer 2 connectivity across the data centers, which simplifies the deployment of virtualization and provides benefits such as vMotion, vSAN, and overall efficient resource sharing.
Figure 1. BGP EVPN for VXLAN network diagram overview
GRE is an IP encapsulation protocol that transports IP packets over a network in a point-to-point interconnection between two branches by tunneling any Layer 3 protocol, including IP.
With BGP EVPN VXLAN and GRE, any organization can interconnect their data centers across public internet in a secure (encrypted) manner. For example, data centers can securely connect over a local connection network—even if they are geographically distant or in different countries. The following figure illustrates that changing the infrastructure to leverage the existing Dell products portfolio on the production environment (VxRail, PowerStore, and PowerFlex) does not impact performance.
Figure 2. Data center interconnection over public internet with BGP EVPN for VXLAN and GRE tunneling
BGP EVPN for VXLAN and GRE tunneling provides the following benefits:
- Increases scalability in virtualized cloud environments
- Optimizes existing infrastructure with virtualization, scalability, flexibility, and mobility across data centers
- Maintains the security of the data center
Contact Dell Technologies for more details on this solution. Dell Technologies is excited to partner with you to deliver high-value services for your business.
Resources
For more information, refer to the following sections of the VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRail Multirack Deployment Using BGP EVPN Configuration and Deployment Guide: