Rack and Roll

[#1]

I recently met with a customer who explained a concept they called rack-and-roll that is made possible by Virtual Chassis technology for the EX4200 line of switches.

The customer has replaced most of the access switches in their data center with EX4200 switches and they are using Virtual Chassis technology to interconnect switches between racks in the same row.  By doing this, all servers and network-attached storage in the row are connected to a single logical switch.

In the past, uplinks were needed from the top-of-rack switch in every rack to connect to the aggregation switches.  The addition of a new rack meant a lot of change and administration.  First, a new IP is needed for the top-of-rack switch and it must be configured with a consistent set of network policies including ACLs, VLANs, default routes just to name a few.  This isn't too big a deal since the switch and the servers attached to it aren't yet operational. 

Next, the aggregation switch must be configured and it turns out that this is a bit more of a concern since all of the other access switches are currently connect to it and are in operation. This event needs to be schedule, people need to be informed, preparation is required, and there is still risk that the changes could have a negative impact due to human error.

Okay, so that's the way it was.

With the EX4200 Virtual Chassis technology, the new top-of-rack switch doesn't need a new IP address since it is going to be added to an existing Virtual Chassis configuration. The new top-of-rack switch will actually look like a new module in an existing chassis.  This "new module" can even be preconfigured to accept existing network security policies and new VLANs can be pre-configured using the EX4200 Virtual Chassis pre-provisioning feature.  

Next is the aggregation switch. Wait, there are no changes needed since the new top-of-rack switch is just being inserted into an "existing chassis," so no configuration changes are required. No event needs to be scheduled. No one needs to be informed. There is no potential interruption to applications and business processes.

The EX4200 Virtual Chassis technology with its pre-provisioning feature enables the "rack-and-roll" datacenter deployment practice because customers can roll out a new server rack and the top of rack switch in a fraction of the time previously required and with less risk.  The time they save is now spent on other projects aligned to their business.