Juniper: Data Center Evolution

WHITE PAPER

Copyright © 2011, Juniper Networks, Inc. 1

DIffERENTIATED ARCHITECTuREs foR THE DATA CENTER Key factors Driving the Need to Change Architecture in Today’s Data Center

2 Copyright © 2011, Juniper Networks, Inc.

WHITE PAPER - Differentiated Architectures for the Data Center

TableofContents

Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Making Best use of All Resources and Becoming Cloud-Ready . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Cost Centers or Profit Centers—Different solutions for Different Data Center Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

faster, simpler, and Cost Effective – The Juniper Data Center Advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Juniper’s 3-2-1 Data Center Network Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The IT Data Center Becomes simpler and More Cost Effective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The New Network Is Reduced to Two Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Production Data Center Is faster and More scalable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Conclusion—Differentiation for the Data Center with Qfabric—It’s one Big switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

About Juniper Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

TableofFigures

figure 1: Juniper’s 3-2-1 data center vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

figure 2: Legacy three-tier network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

figure 3: simplified two-tier network architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

figure 4: Juniper’s fabric-based production data center network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7



ExecutiveSummary

A number of recent trends—including mobility, new application architectures, and evolving types of applications—are driving

divergence between campus and data center architectures. Evolving needs require different architectures, making the same

network does all design a thing of the past. The data center network now requires a very different architecture from the

campus network in order to successfully deliver applications.

The situation within the data center is similar. Evolving application requirements, the emergence of storage convergence and

virtualization, cloud security threats, and the growing need to interconnect data centers all demand different designs and

architectures to achieve different goals for different types of data centers.

At the center of these changing requirements are the applications themselves. It starts with service-oriented architectures

(soAs), which require conversations between multiple servers and storage devices in order to complete a task, completely

changing the way traffic has typically traversed the data center. These changes have reoriented traffic flows within the

data center, moving from predominantly north-south (client-server) to east-west (server to server). unfortunately, existing

multitiered network architectures in the data center, which were created to enhance security and scale for north-south traffic

patterns, have become inhibitors of effective application activity in the new east-west model. soA requirements in turn drive

the need for changes in storage, Layer 2 domain scale, and server utilization.

Recognizing these requirements for change, Juniper delivers a complete product set to implement the best possible

architectures for today’s evolving data center, centered around a simplified, cost-effective 3-2-1 network architecture and its

revolutionary Juniper Networks® Qfabric™ technology.

Introduction

MakingBestUseofAllResourcesandBecomingCloud-Ready

The promise of the cloud for data centers is that it converts all of the compute and storage capacity into pools of resources

which can be dynamically allocated and shared. shared resources are more efficient than resources in silos. With cloud

computing, applications can be added quickly and they function more efficiently.

Juniper has developed a vision for the evolution of the data center that takes these changes into account, delivering a

strategy for making all data centers cloud-ready. By following the Juniper vision, all types and scales of data centers can

enjoy the advantages of virtualization, storage optimization, ubiquitous security, and secure, WAN-extended L2 domains—all

orchestrated from a central point of management.

CostCentersorProfitCenters—DifferentSolutionsforDifferentDataCenterNeeds

Whether CIos are managing a data center which runs the operational side of the business (IT data center) or a data center

which produces revenue (production data center), Juniper has a vision for evolving these entities to a cloud-ready state.

IT data centers, which provide connectivity and business application support, are cost centers that require control and

stability. Production data centers, on the other hand, are profit centers and require state-of-the-art technology and the

highest possible performance.

IT data centers almost exclusively use 100-400 1GbE servers. They have separate storage Area Networks (sANs) which

provide fibre Channel (fC) storage. Production data centers typically have 10GbE servers and are actively pursuing strategies

for integrating their storage with their compute resources through the same Ethernet network. Choices of simplified network

architectures from Juniper enable both the IT and production data centers to become cloud-ready.



Faster,Simpler,andCostEffective–TheJuniperDataCenterAdvantage

Every data center begins its evolution to a cloud-ready state from a different place. The vast majority of customers currently

have three-tier data center network architectures, compliments of vendors who have a vested interest in selling as many

switches as possible. The Juniper 3-2-1 data center network architecture, on the other hand, enables customers to migrate

from this highly inefficient three-tier network architecture to a more streamlined two-tier or even one-tier network, depending

upon requirements for scale and 10GbE.

Figure1:Juniper’s3-2-1datacentervision

Juniper’s3-2-1DataCenterNetworkArchitecture

Juniper’s prescription for building a cloud-ready data center network requires three steps:

• Simplify the network with a 3-2-1 data center architecture: By consolidating siloed systems and collapsing or eliminating

inefficient tiers using a single network fabric running a single network operating system, users can reduce the number of

devices, shrink their operational footprint, reduce complexity, simplify management operations, and improve application

performance.

• Share the resources: Virtualize network resources to segment the network into simple, logical, and scalable partitions

for various applications and services, while using fabric technology to ensure seamless connectivity to those resources

regardless of their location. Privacy, flexibility, high performance, and quality of service (Qos) remain primary goals. such

sharing results in greater agility for multiple users, applications, and services.

• Secure the data flows: Integrate dynamic security services into the network to provide security scale, threat visibility,

and enforcement. These comprehensive services secure data flows across both physical and virtual environments, while

leveraging centralized orchestration to dramatically simplify the enforcement of dynamic, application-aware, and identity-

aware policies, ultimately ensuring better application availability and network performance.

It is also important to automate network operations at each step with an open, extensible software platform. This reduces

operational costs and complexity, enables rapid scaling, minimizes operator errors, and increases reliability through a single

network operating system. A powerful network application platform with innovative applications enables network operators

to leverage Juniper or other third-party applications that simplify operations and scale application infrastructure to improve

operational efficiency.

Juniper’s datacenter fabric1.

W Up to 75% of tra�c E

Legacy three-tierdata center3. Juniper two-tier

data center2.

W Up to 75% of tra�c E



TheITDataCenterBecomesSimplerandMoreCostEffective

The existing three-tier network architecture presents several problems—replication of security at every aggregation point,

increasing latencies due to multiple aggregation switches separating servers, using protocols to prevent loops, and increasing

the number of IP addresses to manage. This architecture does not scale gracefully, and it is costly to maintain.

using technologies such as virtual private LAN service (VPLs) network virtualization on Juniper Networks® MX series 3D

universal Edge Routers, and Virtual Chassis technology on Juniper Networks EX series Ethernet switches, Juniper flattens

data center networks by reducing them from three layers to two. EX series switches help collapse this three-tier architecture

into two layers using Virtual Chassis technology at the access and core layers. The intermediate, aggregation layer can be

removed, with tremendous cost savings.

Figure2:Legacythree-tiernetwork

NAS

FC

FCStorage

Aggregation Layer

Access Layer

Core LayerEthernet

Servers

FC SAN

3 2 1 The legacy network, 3 tiers.



TheNewNetworkIsReducedtoTwoLayers

By following the Juniper strategy of simplify, share, and secure, it is possible to transform this legacy architecture into a much

more efficient system, at a much lower cost. This section will discuss the methods used to accomplish this by examining

each element of the approach.

Figure3:Simplifiedtwo-tiernetworkarchitecture

SimplerSwitchingInfrastructure

The switching infrastructure can be greatly simplified by creating a two-tier network fabric using Juniper’s Virtual Chassis

technology, available on its EX series Ethernet switches. Virtual Chassis technology allows multiple interconnected switches

to operate as a single, logical device, providing a scalable solution that eliminates the need for three switching tiers and

removing the barriers to rapid east-west traffic required by modern applications. At the L2 edge where servers attach to the

network, Virtual Chassis technology creates an access layer fabric by joining multiple individual devices as a single switch

sharing a single configuration file and operating system, thus removing the need to manage each individual switch and

replacing all of them with one management object. At the L3 aggregation layer, Virtual Chassis technology provides a highly

resilient fabric for the core by condensing multiple switches into one managed entity, eliminating loop-related issues in the

access network.

EfficientlyConnectedAcrosstheWAN

At the data center’s edge where connections to other data centers and networks occur over the WAN, the Internet, or a

partner’s network, the number of deployed devices can be consolidated into fewer, more agile, and more scalable devices

with Juniper solutions. This consolidation simplifies the management and control of network connections while lowering

operational costs. Juniper Networks M series Multiservice Edge Routers and MX series 3D universal Edge Routers are

powerful, reliable, and the industry’s most scalable solutions for intelligent edge and inter-data center mobility. Multiple data

centers can be connected via L2 extensions over VPLs, a standards-based interface for long reach connectivity.

NAS

FC

FCStorage

MX Series

SRX5800

EX8200/MX Series

QFX3500

10GbEGbE

Core Layer

Servers

FC SAN

EX4200/EX4500Virtual ChassisConfiguration

3 2 1 Today, move to 2 tiers.



ConsolidatedSecurity

Network-based security services—intrusion detection and prevention, encryption, and application monitoring—can be

consolidated into highly scalable dynamic security platforms to reduce security sprawl. The Juniper Networks sRX series

services Gateways can reduce previously siloed security platforms by a ratio of 5:1, enabling rapid provisioning and simplified

operation of multiple security controls for dynamic scaling of security services across physical and logical platforms. The

sRX series meets the network and security requirements of data center hyper-consolidation, rapid managed services

deployments, and aggregated security solutions by providing a unified and scalable platform with a smaller footprint.

TheProductionDataCenterIsFasterandMoreScalable

Figure4:Juniper’sfabric-basedproductiondatacenternetwork

Production data centers are faced with the challenge of having to increase performance while increasing scale. since the

most efficient way for resources to interact is to reduce the number of hops between them, the ideal next-generation network

architecture would directly connect all processing and storage elements in a flat, any-to-any connectivity-based network

fabric. optimized for performance and simplicity, this next-generation architecture would address the latency requirements

of today’s applications, eliminate the complexity of legacy hierarchical architectures, scale elegantly, and support

virtualization, cloud computing, convergence, and other requirements for the next-generation data center.

Juniper Networks Qfabric™ technology delivers this revolutionary design by creating a single tier network that operates—and

is managed—like a single, logical, distributed switch. Consisting of edge, interconnect, and control devices—all running the

Juniper Networks Junos® operating system—Qfabric technology combines the low latency, flat architecture, and operational

simplicity of a single switch with the scalability and resiliency of a fabric. The result is an innovative approach that unleashes

the exponential power of the data center, delivering any-to-any connectivity that reduces complexity and lowers capital,

management, and operational expenses. In addition, by optimizing application performance and supporting virtualization,

convergence, cloud computing, and other key technologies, Qfabric technology makes the entire data center more efficient.

since the Qfabric solution behaves like a single switch, it operates with the MX series solutions to share and the sRX series

solutions to secure in the same efficient fashion as the two-tier data center.

NAS

Access Layer

FC Storage

MX Series

SRX Series

Servers

3 2 1 QFabric



Switching

By giving organizations high performance, simplicity, and scalability while lowering capital and operational expenses, a

fabric-based data center architecture eliminates the need for IT to trade off one capability for another. Whether a company is

looking to re-architect its data center to sell cloud services, streamline service delivery, or bring new products to market more

quickly, a fabric-based network architecture can help them get the most from their investments in virtualization, soA, and

other data center technologies.

Routing

Data center fabrics must connect to the WAN and to other parts of the corporate network in order to connect users with

applications. Juniper routing platforms deliver the efficiency and scale to create data center to data center links across the

private or public wide area network. The ability to add new links efficiently to existing platforms provides the fastest possible

time to bring up new services from multiple, distributed data centers.

Security

By consolidating multiple functions into a small footprint, Juniper security platforms can provide tremendous cost savings

over traditional security models. services such as application-aware denial of service (Dos), stateful firewall, and intrusion

detection and prevention systems (IPs) are consolidated on a security platform and can be enforced from the physical

network to the virtual machine hypervisor for the widest possible range of coverage.

Automation

Juniper is the only major networking systems company to offer the same operating system on all of its platforms. This

improves the speed at which new devices can be added, while reducing the overall complexity and cost of management.

Table1:SummaryofJuniperTechnologiesandBenefits

PRoDUCTTyPE TEChNoLogy BENEFIT

switching fabric

• Virtual Chassis

• Qfabric technology

• Easier to manage, improves reliability, reduces cost

• speed of applications, fastest scale of server farms

Routing • MPLs/VPLs

• Virtual Chassis

• scale and efficiency

• Easier to manage, improves reliability

security • Consolidated security services

• Hypervisor firewall

• space and cost savings with more services

• Comprehensive virtual security

Automation • Junos os

• Juniper Networks Junos space

• Reduces time to deploy and manage, decreases

operations costs

• Provides a single control point for all platforms

Conclusion—DifferentiationfortheDataCenterwithQFabric—It’soneBigSwitch

To create a simple single-tiered data center network, Juniper drew inspiration from existing switch designs, determining that

the best way to address data center complexity was to make the network itself behave like a single distributed switch.

Inside every switch is a fabric—a mesh that is completely flat (not hierarchical, like a multitiered tree network) and provides

any-to-any connectivity between ports. Qfabric technology extends this concept of a switch fabric and scales it beyond a

single device to the entire data center network. When this fabric design is applied, it retains a level of simplicity by allowing

multiple physical switches to behave as, and be managed like, a single logical device. Management and operational expenses

are an order of magnitude lower than with traditional network architectures.



Printed on recycled paper2000424-001-EN July 2011

Copyright 2011 Juniper Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Junos, Netscreen, and screenos are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. in the united states and other countries. All other trademarks, service marks, registered marks, or registered service marks are the property of their respective owners. Juniper Networks assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies in this document. Juniper Networks reserves the right to change, modify, transfer, or otherwise revise this publication without notice.

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A network fabric design enables any-to-any connectivity, where every device is a single hop away from every other device.

Qfabric technology also greatly simplifies the network architecture by eliminating unnecessary switch layers and the

corresponding switch-to-switch interactions. In addition, because the Qfabric solution functions as a single device, there

is no need for shared network protocols like spanning Tree, since the configuration and management of the network fabric

does not need to be exposed to the customer. Consequently, network management and operations are greatly simplified,

and performance improves even if the network scales from tens of ports to tens of thousands of ports. servers, storage, and

other data center devices can be connected to the fabric seamlessly because of the fabric design’s high degree of scalability.

optimized for performance and simplicity, Juniper Networks Qfabric technology addresses the latency requirements

of today’s applications, eliminates the complexity of legacy hierarchical architectures, scales elegantly, and supports

virtualization, cloud computing, convergence, and other requirements for the next-generation data center.

AboutJuniperNetworks

Juniper Networks is in the business of network innovation. from devices to data centers, from consumers to cloud providers,

Juniper Networks delivers the software, silicon and systems that transform the experience and economics of networking.

The company serves customers and partners worldwide. Additional information can be found at www.juniper.net.

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