switching

802.3az Energy-Efficient Ethernet on Juniper EX3300 Switches

Brent juniper, switching ,

Unlike Cisco 2960-X switches, 802.3az does not come enabled by default on Juniper EX3300 models. Use ether-options ieee-802-3az under the interface-range tree to enable this energy saving protocol.

interfaces {
    interface-range WIRED_PORTS {
        member-range ge-0/0/0 to ge-0/0/47;
        ether-options {
            ieee-802-3az-eee;
        }
    }
}

When committing this option, we noticed around 8 seconds of connectivity loss for 96 wired connected hosts. Be careful when enabling this in a production setting.

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Operating Innovative Networks (OIN) Workshop

Brent switching , , ,

I had the opportunity to attend a OIN workshop in Berkeley, California this past month. The workshop was hosted onsite at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory so I didn’t even need to commute to attend the event.

IMG_20140313_093336

The first day of the program was on Science DMZ architecture, security, and performance using perfSONAR presented by ESnet. Later in the day we discussed Data Transfer Nodes (DTNs) and how Globus helps to enable end-users with big data transfers. The second day focused on 100G Networking, SDN, and OpenFlow followed by hands-on and troubleshooting exercises using HP Procurve switches that supported the OpenFlow 1.0 protocol.

The type of network traffic that I have been working with over the past eight years before starting at Berkeley Lab has been mainly general-purpose business traffic for remote access, site-to-site connectivity, and Internet access. As my entry to the Big Data world is rather new, this was an excellent workshop that help to solidify the design principals of high volume data transfers. The idea of taking a stateful firewall out of the network architecture was a foreign concept to me a few months ago and enabling 10 Gigabit speeds truly requires a different mindset when it comes to design.

Modifying the PoE Budget on Juniper EX2200-C Switches

Brent juniper, switching ,

While bringing up a number of Aruba 135 APs attached to a Juniper EX2200-C PoE+ switch, we noticed that only three out of the seven APs were coming online. Given that the EX2200-C switch has a maximum on paper PoE budget of 100W and our Aruba 135’s are rated at drawing 12.5W, we were confused as to why only three were coming online and not the expected seven as seven would total 87.5W and be within the PoE budget.

The show poe interface command was showing a max power value of 30W per port, which is why we were seeing only three APs power on given the maximum allotment of 100W. The behavior on Juniper PoE switches we saw was that devices on the lowest ports get power first so only the three APs on ge-0/0/0, ge-0/0/1, and ge-0/0/2 power up.

user@ex2200> show poe interface
Interface    Admin       Oper    Max        Priority       Power          Class
             status      status  power                     consumption
ge-0/0/0    Enabled      ON     30W      Low            7.5W            4
ge-0/0/1    Enabled      ON     30W      Low            7.5W            4
...

You can change the maximum-power value assigned to each port under the poe tree. Our solution was to set the poe value to static and define a maxium-power value for our interface group as seen here:

poe {
    management static;
    interface WIRELESS_ACCESS_PORTS {
        maximum-power 14.2;
    }
}

Confirming PoE allocation changes with the show poe interface command:

user@ex2200> show poe interface
Interface    Admin       Oper    Max        Priority       Power          Class
             status      status  power                     consumption
ge-0/0/0    Enabled      ON     14.2W      Low            7.5W            4
ge-0/0/1    Enabled      ON     14.2W      Low            7.5W            4
...

The Aruba datasheet states a maximum draw of 12.5W, but given power loss in the cables, we set the value to a maximum of 14.2W, which is the the maximum we can assign and power seven devices. Typically in this building we only see a 7-10W draw, but we wanted to maximize the allotment.

Juniper JNCIA Training

Brent juniper, switching , , ,

This month I have begun my JNCIA training and hope to take the exam this Spring to further my professional development. I passed the CCNA in September of 2013 and started working with Juniper devices in October of 2013 so the Juniper world is relatively new to me.

I currently work with EX2200, 3300, and 4200 switches on a daily basis so I hope that the majority of the material in the Juniper Enterprise Switching book will be review and improving my proficiency with JuneOS. A few months ago I even added a EX2200-C to my home setup so I can have more experience with the OS.

IMG_20131106_122218 IMG_20131029_125629

So far I am amazed at the design of the JuneOS platform. The candidate configuration, roll-back, and processor isolation of switching and routing processes is very different than a Cisco device where you are locked into the Cisco shell. I am beginning to see the power of the Juniper world.