Table of contents
Initializing the Network
The first step in deploying a data center involves the physical installation of the switches and compute hosts. Please verify the airflow configuration for the products to be installed to make sure they support the cooling design for the data center. If required, an optional air duct kit is available for Aruba data center top-of-rack (ToR) switches to redirect hot air away from the servers inside the rack.
Switch Installation
在安装之前的开关,下载the Aruba Installation Guide for the specific model being deployed. Review the Installation Guide prior to beginning to install the switches. Review requirements for power, cooling, and mounting, then ensure the required data center infrastructure is available.
Step 1Open a web browser and navigate to the Aruba Support Portal at https://asp.arubanetworks.com/.
Step 2From the Support Portal page, select theSoftware & Documentstab.
Step 3From the Software & Documents tab, selectSwitches.
Step 4Select filter options on the left.
File Type:Document
Product:Aruba Switches
File Category:Installation Guide
Step 5Download the Installation Guide version for the switch model being installed.
Step 6Complete the physical installation of switches into the racks.
Note:Leaf switches should be installed ToR in high-density environments or middle-of-row in low-density environments. Spine switches should be installed at middle-of-row or end-of-row locations depending on cabling requirements and space availability. The key consideration is cable distance and media types used between leaf and spine switches.
Physical Cabling
Consistent port selection across racks and in the spine switches will result in increased ease of configuration management, monitoring, reporting and troubleshooting tasks within the data center. Document all connections. Ensure distance limitations are observed for your preferred host connection media and between switches. Please refer to the Data Center Design for guidance related to cabling design options for your installation.
Top of Rack Cabling
The following picture illustrates the port configuration on an 8325 48-port ToR switch.
In a high-density, ToR configuration the first set of uplink ports (49-52) should be allocated for interconnecting to a redundant peer ToR switch while the second set of uplink ports (53-56) should be allocated for connecting to spine switches. The number of spine switches should match the number of leaf to spine links required on each ToR (providing a fully meshed, CLOS switch topology) and the number of inter-switch links required between ToR peers (providing sufficient bandwidth between peers to accommodate a complete uplink failure on one). This port allocation approach will also ensure consistent port selection in the event that an additional spine layer is added in the future to increase capacity within the fabric.
A similar approach can be followed when using lower density ToR designs. When deploying ToR configurations that require server connectivity at multiple speeds, review the switch guide to determine if doing so will effect adjacent ports. Configuration steps for changing port speeds are covered later in this guide. Please refer to the Data Center Design for design guidance regarding port speed groups across the different hardware platforms.
Spine to Leaf Cabling
The following picture illustrates the port configuration on an 8325 32-port spine switch.
In a dual ToR configuration, a spine switch needs to be connected to each switch in the redundant ToR pair in each rack. A 32-port spine switch will support up to 16 racks in this design. Using the same port number on each spine switch to connect to the same leaf switch (e.g. port 1 of each spine switch connects to leaf switch 1) results in simplified switch management and documentation.
Border Leaf Cabling
In a VXLAN spine and leaf design a pair of leaf switches is the single entry and exit point to the data center. This is called the border leaf but it is not required to be dedicated to that function. Cabling of the border leaf can vary between deployments as it is dependent on how the external network is connected to the data center and if the border leaf contains hosts or service nodes such as firewalls and load balancers.
Once all switches are physically installed with appropriate power and networking connections, continue to the next procedure.
Out-of-Band Management
The Aruba ESP Data Center spine and leaf design strongly recommends a dedicated management LAN for the data center. A dedicated management LAN on separate physical infrastructure ensures reliable connectivity to data center infrastructure for automation, orchestration, and traditional management access. The management LAN should also be the network to which Aruba Fabric Composer and Aruba NetEdit are connected. Ensure that the host infrastructure needed for those applications can also be connected to the management LAN.
Deploy management LAN switches at top-of-rack with switch and host management ports connected. Plan for an IP subnet with enough capacity to support all management ports in the data center. DNS and NTP services for the fabric should be reachable from the out-of-band management network.
Configuration steps for the management LAN are not covered in this guide. For design assistance, refer to the ESP Data Center Volume 1 Design Guide, as mentioned in the Purpose of this Guide section.
Switch Initialization
Using the Aruba Support Portal at https://asp.arubanetworks.com/ and following the same process as earlier, filter for the AOS-CX Fundamentals Guide which matches the version of the operating system you plan to run.
Note:The version decision is made easier by referring to the operating system release notes and consulting with an Aruba Networks SE or TAC team member.
Under the Initial Configuration section of the Fundamentals Guide, there are detailed instructions for connecting to the switch console port. After connecting to the console port, follow the steps below.
Step 1使权力connec的开关ting power cables to switch power supplies.
Step 2Monitor the console window and observe the boot messages. The console window should look similar to the one below.
Step 3Confirm that all switches in the fabric are running AOS-CX version 10.06 or later for compatibility with Aruba Fabric Composer.
Step 4Login with the usernameadminand an empty password.
Step 5Enter a new password for the admin account.
Note:As with the earlier step, under the Initial Configuration section of the Fundamentals Guide, you will find detailed instructions for logging into the switch for the first time.
Step 6If the switch has been previously configured, reset to factory config. Aruba Fabric Composer requires a factory default configuration for orchestration of the fabric configuration process.
8325# erase all zeroize This will securely erase all customer data and reset the switch to factory defaults. This will initiate a reboot and render the switch unavailable until the zeroization is complete. This should take several minutes to one hour to complete. Continue (y/n)? yStep 7Configure the switch hostname.
hostname 8325-DC1-L1Note:It is important to use a canonical naming scheme which makes it easier to identify each switch functionally. The above scheme uses
Step 8Configure the Switch Management Interface.
interface mgmt interface mgmt no shutdown ip static 172.16.20.232/24 default-gateway 172.16.20.1 nameserver 172.16.1.98
Note:According to your existing IP address management process, determine a subnet to be used for your management LAN. The management LAN is where out-of-band (OOB) management ports on your switches are configured. This is also the LAN on which you should install Aruba Fabric Composer and Aruba NetEdit. Under the Initial Configuration section of the Fundamentals Guide, you will find detailed instructions for configuring the management interface.
Download Aruba Fabric Composer
Step 1导航到https://asp.arubanetworks.com/.
Step 2From the menu at the top of the page, selectSoftware & Documents.
Step 3From the menu on the left under Product, selectShow All.
Step 4In the Product popup, select Aruba Fabric Composer, and then clickApply.
Step 5From the search results, choose the latest OVA version and download it to your computer.
Install Aruba Fabric Composer
On the second page of the Aruba Support Portal search results, find the Aruba Fabric Composer Install Guide. Review the installation considerations to ensure you have adequate host resources available.
Step 1Select the OVA file using theDeploy OVF Templateworkflow within vCenter.
Note:Refer to the Aruba Fabric Composer Release Notes available on the Aruba Support Portal for minimum host requirements.
Step 2Proceed through selection of appropriate vSphere resources for your environment and accept the license agreement.
Step 3Complete theCustomize templateform in the 2nd to last step of the pre-deployment. See below for the types of information you will need to have ready.
Step 4Verify all settings and power on the new virtual machine. Wait several minutes for the system to initialize and for the application to become available.
Step 5Open a web browser and connect to Aruba Fabric Composer at the IP address previously configured.
Note:The software version will not be displayed while the system is initializing and will not allow login during that time.
Step 6From the Fabric Composer page, enter the following default credentials, and then clickLOGIN.
Username:admin
Password:aruba
Step 7Change your password from the default, and then clickAPPLY.
Step 8Confirm that the Aruba Fabric Composer empty dashboard view is displayed.
Installing Aruba Fabric Composer for High Availability
Refer to the Aruba Fabric Composer Installation Guide available on the Aruba Support Portal. In the sectionDeploying High Availability for Aruba Fabric Composer, review the installation requirements described and ensure you have adequate host resources available. Follow the steps provided for deployment of the HA cluster.