Top-of-rack switches managed with the same tools as servers With Cumulus Linux, top-of-rack switches can be managed with the same Linux tools as the servers. But until now, the out-of-band management switch was still separate, limited to traditional network switches and their unique tools. With the new Cumulus RMP (Rack Management Platform) operating system for out-of-band switches, Linux can now be used to manage the entire rack. That means the tools you use for servers and for switches running Cumulus Linux can also be used for the out-of-band switch starting with the Penguin Computing Arctica 4804ip. This presentation helps you to learn more about using Linux to manage the whole rack, including details on: Open development Consistent interface Access to local network data for operations Integrated tools Ease of automation

1. v
Cumulus Rack Management Platform (RMP)
Solution
David Sinn
May 27, 2015

2. Why Out of Band
§ Many situations call for Out-of-Band deployments
§ “Last line of access” post changes
§ Secure and customer independent access
§ KVM, IPMI, DRAC & others access to hosts
§ Highly variable deployments
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3. What Has Come in the Past
§ Whole spectrum of approaches
§ Parallel
§ Leveraging similar gear to production data path
§ Consistent interface, support and sparing
§ Pricy
§ “On the cheap”
§ Lower class of device then production data path
§ Different interface, sparing, and support
§ Inexpensive
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4. Out-of-Band Network Requirements
§ Highly Available Designs
§ Redundant uplinks
§ Small routing domains
§ “Finding” hosts easy at-least to a rack level
§ Best Effort Designs
§ Flat Layer-2 design
§ STP for loop avoidance, LAG in some newer
deployments
§ “Finding” hosts can be hard
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5. Subscription includes license, updates, and support | First line of support
Best of networking and Linux coming together
Cumulus®
Linux®
§ IPv4/IPv6 routing and bridging
§ Modern datacenter & network orchestration, unifying
common functions, scaling network specific ones
§ Open operations and troubleshooting
A multi-platform operating system for networking
hardware that makes building, managing and
automating massive-capacity, next-generation
datacenter networks simple.
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6. Cumulus
RMP
Cumulus Rack Management Platform (RMP)
§ Cumulus® RMP™ is a network operating system solution that enables
the out-of-band management network use case. It provides an open
platform for customers and system integrators to use as is or build rack
management applications on top.
§ Cumulus® RMP™ :
§ “Completes the Rack” leveraging a variant of Cumulus Linux
§ Provides an open platform on which typical Linux tool sets can be
placed
§ Extends the control of orchestration tools to the out-of-band
network
§ Provides an open deployment environment allowing the creation
of business specific tools
§ Uplifts the current OOB model by providing more visibility and
control over the management network and devices
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Cumulus
Linux

7. Cumulus RMP – The Benefits
§ RMP allows you to
§ Extend the power of native Linux networking to management switches
§ Maintain consistent operational interface, tools and deployment model
for all switches
§ Leverage variety of open source tools for rack/server management
§ Build customized rack management solutions that enable efficient
operations
§ RMP elevates the Out-of-Band (OOB) management switch into a
open development platform
§ Comes with ready-to-use rich Linux tools to manage the rack
§ Can be used as a platform to develop customized rack mgmt solution
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8. Automation
§ Being based on Cumulus Linux, all of the same
tools work across it
§ Features are limited by the underlying hardware
§ This allows you to leverage your existing
automation tools such as Puppet, Ansible, Chef,
Salt just as you can in your production network
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9. DHCP, & DNS
§ ISC-DHCP & dnsmasq included in the base image
§ Local DHCP & DNS
§ Less reliance on the wider network & external services
§ Great for kick-starting a new deployment
§ Reduces your wider network load
§ Leads to better failure isolation
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10. bootp, IPMI & local-cache
§ atftpd & dnsmasq pre-installed
§ Allowing for local PXE/ONIE booting
§ Less reliance on overall infrastructure
§ ipmitool pre-installed
§ Allowing for local server control
§ Install apache/nginx
§ Allows for local web cache for apt/yum file installs
§ Easy to script to keep in sync
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11. Summary
§ Based on Cumulus Linux, providing a proven OS
solution for your network
§ No longer does your OOB network need to be
closed or limited
§ Consistency of interface
§ Ease of automation
§ Open, accessible tools
§ Customization to your network needs
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12. § Penguin Computing is the first to offer a solution using
Cumulus RMP: Arctica 4804IP-RMP
§ Promotional Pricing: $995.00 through 6/30/2015
§ Includes 3-years of software & hardware support
§ Extendable
http://www.penguincomputing.com/products/network-switches/arctica-4804ip/
Where to Buy
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13. Questions
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14. © 2015 Cumulus Networks. Cumulus Networks, the Cumulus Networks Logo, and Cumulus Linux are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cumulus Networks, Inc. or its
affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. The registered trademark Linux® is used pursuant to a sublicense from LMI,
the exclusive licensee of Linus Torvalds, owner of the mark on a world-wide basis.
§ Thank You!
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Unleashing the Power of Open Networking