Configuration Guide

Table Of Contents
©2021 Extreme Networks, Inc. All rights reserved
October 2021
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8.4 VSP 7000
The core of the Extreme VSP 7000 is a fifth generation Layer 3 Switching ASIC rated at 1,280Gbps. This
provides the Extreme VSP 7000 with incredible capacity to support wire speed I/O and Extreme FI (Fabric
Interconnect) Stacking concurrently.
The VSP 7000 delivers a new take on the traditional Top-of-Rack Switch requirement. For modest
scenarios, switches can be horizontally interconnected, creating a single logical system spanning eight
units/racks, or hundreds of VSP 7000s can be flexibly meshed for massive scale-out that uniquely delivers
multi-hop and low-latency. Forming a single-tier, Extreme’s Distributed ToR is a connectivity solution for
the Data Center’s primary requirement: high-performance, low- latency, Layer 2 east-west traffic. Utilizing
the high-speed virtual backplane capacity, and invoking Ethernet’s plug & play advantage, the VSP 7000
empowers simplified, one-touch, edge-only provisioning.
Fabric Interconnect can be used in two mutually exclusive modes:
Fabric Interconnect Stacking where the rear ports are set as Fabric Interconnect Stack-mode.
Up to 8 units create a vToR (virtual Top of Rack) or 16 units in a dToR (distributed Top of Rack)
delivering up to 10Tbps using two SMLT clusters of 8 switches. For Fabric Interconnect Stack, the
stack operates in the same manner as other Extreme stackable products and features many of the
associated benefits of stacking (single IP address for FI stack, hot swap unit replacement, and
distributed uplinks with distributed MLT and LAGs). By default, Fabric Interconnect (FI) ports on the
rear of the VSP 7000 are configured for Stack-mode.
Fabric Interconnect Mesh where the rear ports are configured as “rear-port” in either Standard
(Raw) or SPB modes in which the Fabric Interconnect ports operate as multiple high-speed
interconnects, allowing the creation of a fully flexible and scalable network mesh. Depending on
the software release, SPB and/or SMLT is supported on the rear-ports as highlighted in the chart
below. Standard is a Raw-mode that can support various port configurations and protocols, such
as Inter-Switch Trunking (IST) for Switch Clustering and SMLT. Please note that rear-port Standard
Mode does not support SPB on the rear ports.