Users Guide

To design a fabric, use the following screens:
1. Fabric Name and Type — Select the fabric name, type, and description. Enable OpenStack Neutron
Management (Standard fabric only), LAN, LAN/SAN, and blade switch deployments, if required.
a. To design a Standard Fabric:
1. Bandwidth and Port Count — Configure the number of edge port uplinks to the WAN
connection and downlinks required (for example, to servers or ToRs) for deployment as
well as for future expansion.
2. Deployment Topology — Select a Layer 2 or Layer 3 solution from a list of all applicable
deployment topologies based on the fabric requirements entered on the Bandwidth and
Port Count and Fabric Name and Type screens. To configure VLTi links and fabric links,
use the Advanced options. For more information, refer to Deployment Topology Use
Cases.
3. Fabric Customization — Select the switch names, models, and switch roles (aggregation
or access) and modify the fabric link bandwidth for two-tier and three-tier fabrics.
b. To design an Advanced Fabric:
1. Aggregation Configuration — Select the aggregation switch names and aggregation
model (S6000, Z9000, S4810, or S4820T). Allocate the remaining bandwidth to the
appropriate link types (40G ⇨10G Split, 40G, or 10G [S4810 only]).
2. Access Configuration — Add, edit, or delete information for access switches.
3. Port Configuration — Configure the proposed port numbers for links.
2. Output — View future switches and links and the fabric in the following formats:
• graphical wiring plan
• tabular wiring plan
• graphical network topology
• tabular network topology
3. Summary — View a summary of the fabric design or export the design.
Fabric Design – Step 1: Fabric Name and Type
To simplify and automate the design process, AFM provides a fabric design wizard to design a Layer 2,
Layer 3, or Layer 3 with Resiliency (Routed VLT) fabric based on current and future data center capacity
requirements. Refer to Designing the Fabric and Using the Fabric Design Wizard.
To generate a physical wiring plan for the fabric during the design phase, enter the data center capacity
requirements. The wiring plan is typically given to the network operator, who uses it to build the physical
network. For information about designing a fabric, refer to Selecting Distributed Core and Selecting a
Layer 2 and Layer 3 with Resiliency (Routed VLT).
Designing the Fabric
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