Distributed Vlan for Provisioning in a distributed Layer 3 environment

spraycj · ‎09-17-2009

I was curious to know if anyone had any ideas on the best way to go about this..

We have moved to a layer 3 core and distribution layer in our datacenter, with layer 2 out to the access layer. We are now considering building a provisioning network for kickstarting linux boxes.

I would need the vlan for the provisioning network to live on pretty much every switch in the environment. In a pure layer 2 design, obviously this is quite easy to do. With the distributed layer 3 design, there is no layer 2 connectivity currently between different networks. Everything hits the distribution, then goes layer 3 to the core.

Obviously I could link all the distribution switches in a layer 2 ring setup, and trunk this vlan to all of them. I don't really like that idea. I would also like to keep layer 2 out of the core if possible.

I was curious if any one had designed such a setup..

Thanks!

Giuseppe Larosa · ‎09-19-2009

Hello Cristopher,

I would do the following:

I would use the VRF lite concept to create a L3 separated routing table

I suppose that the requirement for a L2 vlan comes from the desire to keep these new boxes separarated.

VRF lite or MPLS VPN with the distribution nodes acting as PE nodes can be a good solution.

Hope to help

Giuseppe