Product manual

AX Series Network Partition: Solution Guide [Basic] Second Edition

3.2.1 Important points in the configuration

(1) Assign the VRF configuration only to the L3 core device

Assign the VRF configuration only to the L3 core device. No VRF settings are needed for any peripherals (ring

nodes, etc.) consisting of L2 networks. VRF IDs, the identifiers for VRF instances, must be a number equal to or

greater than 2. The upper limit of the value is 64 if the ring protocol is used as the L2 protocol.

(2) Disable spanning trees

Using VRF requires the prohibition of spanning trees. You need to disable spanning trees (PVST+), which are

activated by default.

(3) Activate VRF in a mode using the ring protocol

Specify the ring protocol as the L2 protocol if the system is based on a ring network. This setting is performed

using the vrf mode command. When using the vrf mode command to change the operation mode, some of the

devices (the BSU in the AX6700S series and the PSP in the AX6300S series) must be restarted. (A confirmation

message will be displayed when the command is executed.) Parallel use of the ring protocol and STP or GSRP is

not permitted in VRF-enabled devices

#1 In VRF-disabled ring nodes (L3 and L2 switches other than the core device), parallel use with STP and

GSRP is permitted.

(4) Assign VLANs to partitions (VRF)

The vrf forwarding setting in the VLAN interfaces defines which partition is assigned to which VLAN. If this

setting is omitted, the VLAN is assigned to the global network.

(5) Match the VLAN mapping IDs with the VRF-IDs

When you specify a VLAN used as an IP interface in VRF for VLAN ring mapping, make sure that the VRF-ID

is identical to the VLAN mapping ID. Assign VLAN mapping ID 1 to the VLAN used for the global network

when specifying the VLAN for VLAN mapping.

(6) Routing protocols, if any, must be assigned to a partition (VRF) as an operating point

As with VLANs, routing protocols must be assigned to one of the partitions. However, the method for specifying

VRF is different according to the routing protocols used.

For OSPF, define VRF IDs using the router command, which specifies the use of OSPF. For RIP, define the

VRF instance as one of the ipv4 address families.

If there is no VRF setting, the protocol will operate in the global network.

(7) Remote control must be via the global network

If you want to remotely control VRF-enabled devices via telnet or FTP, you must use the global network.

Remote log collection (syslog) is available from any partition, starting from software ver.11.2.