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Configuring Pluribus Network Packet Broker

Note: The Pluribus Network Packet Broker (NPB) solution is available on all platforms except NSU, NRU01, NRU02, NRU03, and NRU-S0301 platforms.

The Pluribus Network Packet Broker solution enables users to deploy modular, scale-out, monitoring fabrics with a distributed architecture that allow sharing of visibility and security tools located anywhere in the network. Simple and global monitoring fabrics deployed as part of NPB solution feature centralized management capability and hence function as a 'distributed virtual chassis'. Built on top of Netvisor ONE Unified Cloud Fabric, NPB does not require specialized software or a proprietary fabric, and consequently provides a high degree of flexibility, resiliency, and operational simplicity.

Using network taps or mirrors, the NPB service copies traffic from a production network to the ingress ports of the adaptive monitoring fabric. The monitoring fabric, in turn, redirects the traffic arriving on the ingress ports to monitoring tools which can be located geographically apart. This implementation employs VXLAN overlay to transport packets from ingress ports to monitoring tools and features ECMP in the underlay to address link failures.

Figure 11-2: Network Packet Broker Architecture

The monitoring fabric can be of any physical topology including leaf-spine, ring, hub-and-spoke, mesh, tree, and others. Netvisor ONE allows you to club the ingress or source ports and the destination ports into virtual Port Groups (vPGs). The vPG construct permits you to flood the traffic that arrives at select source ports to multiple desired destination ports.

Figure 11-3: Monitoring Fabric Topology

Consider for example, a monitoring fabric with a leaf-spine topology as shown in Figure 11-3. Network taps copy traffic from the production network to the source port or trunk on Leaf1, Leaf2, Leaf3, and Leaf4. These ports constitute the source vPGs: TAP-GROUP-1, TAP-GROUP-2, and TAP-GROUP3. The switches Leaf5 and Leaf6 form a cluster. The monitoring tools are connected to ports on Leaf5 and Leaf6 which constitute the destination vPGs: TOOL-GROUP-1 and TOOL-GROUP-2. This topic describes the steps to configure vPGs and create a forwarding policy.

Before creating the vPGs, you must configure a VXLAN underlay network and VTEPs for the overlay. For details, refer to the sections, 'Configuring the VXLAN Underlay Network' and 'Configuring VTEP Objects with Automatic Fabric Connections'.

Also, to deploy the Packet Broker fabric that spreads across geographical locations, you must create a Fabric over Layer 3 configuration. For details, refer to the section, 'Configuring a Fabric over a Layer 3 Network'.

Follow the steps below to configure the port groups and to send traffic from a source port group to a destination port group:

1. Configuring Source vPGs

Create vPGs for the source ports of the monitoring fabric, by using the command vpg-create.

CLI (network-admin@switch1) > vpg-create

vpg-create	Creates a virtual Port Group (vPG)
vnet vnet-name	Specify the name of the vNET.
name name-string	Specify the name of the vPG.
type source\|destination\|bidirectional	Specify the type of the vPG as source, destination, or bidirectional.
ports port-list	Specify the ports assigned to the vPG.
port-desc port-desc-string	Specify a previously configured port description to add the ports with that description to the vPG.
monitor-ports port-list	Specify the monitoring ports for destination or bidirectional vPGs.

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vpg-create name TAP-GROUP-1 type source

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vpg-create name TAP-GROUP-2 type source

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vpg-create name TAP-GROUP-3 type source

Add the source ports to the vPGs by using the vpg-port-add command:

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vpg-port-add

vpg-port-add	Adds ports to a vPG.
vpg-name name-string	Specify the name of the vPG.
ports port-list	Specify the ports for the vPG.
port-desc port-desc-string	Specify a previously configured port description to add the ports with that description to the vPG.

The switches Leaf1, Leaf2, and Leaf3 form trunks (Link Aggregation Groups) with network taps, with trunk IDs 273, 274, and 275 as shown in Figure 11-3.

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vpg-port-add vpg-name TAP-GROUP-1 ports 273

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > switch Leaf2 vpg-port-add vpg-name TAP-GROUP-2 ports 274

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > switch Leaf3 vpg-port-add vpg-name TAP-GROUP-2 ports 22

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > switch Leaf3 vpg-port-add vpg-name TAP-GROUP-3 ports 25

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > switch Leaf4 vpg-port-add vpg-name TAP-GROUP-3 ports 275

Note: The source vPG can include ports from all the nodes in the fabric. However, this port group can only include at most one port or trunk from each node.

To view the vPG configuration, use the command vpg-show.

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vpg-show

vpg-show	Displays vPG configuration details.
scope	The scope of the vPG.
vnet vnet-name	The name of the vNET.
name name-string	The name of the vPG.
type source\|destination\|bidirectional	The type of vPG.
ports port-list	The ports assigned to the vPG.
port-desc port-desc-string	The port description.
vni 0..16777215	The VNI for VXLAN.
vlan 0..4095	The VLAN ID.
monitor-ports monitor-ports-list	The list of monitoring ports.

CLI (network-admin@leaf1) > vpg-show

switch scope name type ports vni vlan

------ ------ ----------- ------ ----- --- ----

Leaf1 fabric TAP-GROUP-3 source none 0 0

Leaf2 fabric TAP-GROUP-3 source 25 0 0

Leaf3 fabric TAP-GROUP-3 source 275 0 0

Leaf4 fabric TAP-GROUP-3 source none 0 0

Leaf5 fabric TAP-GROUP-3 source none 0 0

Leaf6 fabric TAP-GROUP-3 source none 0 0

Leaf1 fabric TAP-GROUP-2 source none 0 0

Leaf2 fabric TAP-GROUP-2 source 274 0 0

Leaf3 fabric TAP-GROUP-2 source 22 0 0

Leaf4 fabric TAP-GROUP-2 source none 0 0

Leaf5 fabric TAP-GROUP-2 source none 0 0

Leaf6 fabric TAP-GROUP-2 source none 0 0

Leaf1 fabric TAP-GROUP-1 source 273 0 0

Leaf2 fabric TAP-GROUP-1 source none 0 0

Leaf3 fabric TAP-GROUP-1 source none 0 0

Leaf4 fabric TAP-GROUP-1 source none 0 0

Leaf5 fabric TAP-GROUP-1 source none 0 0

Leaf6 fabric TAP-GROUP-1 source none 0 0

2. Configuring Destination vPGs

Create destination tool groups by using the following commands:

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > switch Leaf5 vpg-create name TOOL-GROUP-1 type destination

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > switch Leaf5 vpg-create name TOOL-GROUP-2 type destination

Note: For destination vPG creation to be successful, you must add at least one port to the vxlan-loopback-trunk on all the nodes of the NPB fabric, including spine switches. For more details, refer to 'Configuring the VXLAN Loopback Trunk' topic of the 'Configuring VXLAN' chapter.

Add the ports connected to the monitoring tools into the tool groups by using the command vpg-port-add:

For example:

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > switch Leaf5 vpg-port-add vpg-name TOOL-GROUP-1 ports 22,34,45

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > switch Leaf6 vpg-port-add vpg-name TOOL-GROUP-1 ports 47,50

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > switch Leaf5 vpg-port-add vpg-name TOOL-GROUP-2 ports 17,32

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > switch Leaf6 vpg-port-add vpg-name TOOL-GROUP-2 ports 48,55

Note: Starting from Netvisor ONE version 7.0.0, you can add the same port to multiple destination vPGs. This enhancement allows tool ports to receive partially overlapping traffic. For more information, see 'Use cases for Network Packet Broker' topic.

The vpg-port-add commands automatically create bridge domains for TOOL-GROUP1 and TOOL-GROUP-2. These bridge domains flood the arriving traffic to the ports in the respective tool groups.

Use the vpg-show command to view the configuration:

CLI (network-admin@leaf1) > vpg-show type destination

switch scope name type ports vni vlan

------ ------ ------------ ----------- ----- -------- ----

Leaf1 fabric TOOL-GROUP-2 destination none 12666666 2833

Leaf2 fabric TOOL-GROUP-2 destination none 12666666 2833

Leaf3 fabric TOOL-GROUP-2 destination none 12666666 2833

Leaf4 fabric TOOL-GROUP-2 destination none 12666666 2833

Leaf5 fabric TOOL-GROUP-2 destination 17,32 12666666 2833

Leaf6 fabric TOOL-GROUP-2 destination 48,55 12666666 2833

Leaf1 fabric TOOL-GROUP-1 destination none 12000000 2500

Leaf2 fabric TOOL-GROUP-1 destination none 12000000 2500

Leaf3 fabric TOOL-GROUP-1 destination none 12000000 2500

Leaf4 fabric TOOL-GROUP-1 destination none 12000000 2500

Leaf5 fabric TOOL-GROUP-1 destination 22,34,45 12000000 2500

Leaf6 fabric TOOL-GROUP-1 destination 47,70 12000000 2500

Note: Netvisor ONE auto-generates a VNI and reserved VLAN ID for the destination vPGs.

3. Configuring the vFlow Policy

As the final step of the configuration, create a vFlow to forward traffic from the desired source port group to a destination port group. For example, use the following command to send traffic from TAP-GROUP-1 to TOOL-GROUP-2 with protocol transparency enabled:

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vflow-create name TAP1-TOOL2 scope fabric src-vpg TAP-GROUP-1 dst-vpg TOOL-GROUP-2 transparency enable

This configuration floods the ingress traffic matching the vFlow to all the ports in TOOL-GROUP-2 over the VXLAN tunnel.

The above configuration also sends control plane traffic from source to destination as protocol transparency is enabled. In the absence of protocol transparency, the control plane traffic that originates from a switch is generally processed or dropped by the next hop switch. With protocol transparency, the traffic belonging to various Layer 2, Layer 3, and Layer 4 protocols can be sent to switches located anywhere within the fabric. These control plane protocols include:

Layer 2: LLDP, STP, LACP, and VLAN
Layer 3: IPv4 and IPv6
Layer 4: TCP, UDP, and ICMP
Layer 4 ports: HTTP, DNS, and DHCP

When you enable protocol transparency, Netvisor ONE automatically configures additional vFlows to ensure that the control traffic reaches the destination vPG. This auto-configuration is necessary as system vFlows generally consume the protocol traffic and therefore, there must be pathways for the control traffic to bypass system vFlows. Issue the vflow-show command to display the vFlow configuration:

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vflow-show format all layout vertical

id: b0022cd:1a9

scope: fabric

type: vflow

hidden: false

in-port: 275

burst-size: auto

precedence: 3

action-set-svp-value: 0x80000006

log-stats: no

stats-interval: 60

hw-stats: enabled

src-vpg: TAP-GROUP-1

dst-vpg: TOOL-GROUP-2

transparency: enable

enable: enable

table-name: System-VCAP-table-1-0

id: b0022cd:1a8

scope: fabric

type: vflow

precedence: 15

action: none

metadata: 1000

hw-stats: enabled

enable: enable

table-name: System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

Note that there is an auto-configured vFlow named npb-system-bypass-proto with a high precedence of 15 that bypasses system vFlow treatment for packets at the ingress side.

CLI (network-admin@Leaf6) > vflow-show format all layout vertical

id: b0022cf:16e

scope: local

type: vflow

precedence: 15

action: none

vxlan: 12666668

from-tunnel-decap: yes

hw-stats: enabled

enable: enable

table-name: System-L1-L4-Tun-1-0

The auto-configured vFlow on the destination switch bypasses system vFlow treatment for the decapsulated packets at the egress end of tunnels.

Note: The running configuration for the vflow-create command has parameters such as in-port and action-set-svp-value. However, while configuring a vFlow, you should not configure these parameters as these fields are auto-populated.

Additional CLI Commands

1. vpg-delete

Use this command to delete a vPG. You cannot delete a vPG that is associated with a vFlow. In such cases, you must delete the vFlow before you delete the vPG.

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vpg-delete

vpg-delete	Deletes a vPG.
name name-string	Specify the name of the vPG.

For example:

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vpg-delete name <vpg-name>

2. vpg-port-remove

Use this command to remove ports from a vPG.

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vpg-port-remove

vpg-port-remove	Removes ports from a vPG.
vpg-name name-string	Specify the name of the vPG.
ports port-list	Specify the ports to be removed from the vPG.
port-desc port-desc-string	Specify the port description to remove the ports with that description from the vPG.

For example:

CLI (network-admin@Leaf1) > vpg-port-remove vpg-name <vpg-name> ports <port-list>

Note: For a given switch, if you remove a port or trunk from a source vPG, the associated vFlow on that switch is disabled in hardware but it is retained by the software.

Guidelines and Limitations

If you configure a protocol transparent vFlow, you cannot use the set-metadata keyword while modifying the vFlow thereafter. Conversely, if set-metadata is configured for a vFlow, you cannot enable protocol transparency for that vFlow.

The metadata value of 1000 is reserved for protocol transparency and you cannot use this metadata value while configuring other vFlows.

All control plane protocols are tunnel transparent if no additional filters are enabled. However, if you specify a vFlow filter, only the control plane packets pertaining to that filter is copied between the vPGs. For example, if you specify a VLAN filter, only the control plane packets belonging to that VLAN are copied. This limitation applies to the global vNET and any user-defined vNET in which vFlows are created with a VLAN filter. As a consequence of this limitation, adjacency over LLDP or LACP fails to be established.