A Pathway to Disaggregation via Juniper OS

While Juniper had numerous objectives associated with the disaggregation of Junos, 2 in particular stand out. Firstly, Juniper wanted to supply an architecture which totally decoupled platform software and network functionalities from the essential hardware. This clearly implies that, when you buy a QFX5200 switch, you?ll see that Junos is now a virtual control plane known as vJunos.

This separation permits Junos to concentrate singularly on control plane undertakings like OSPF, BGP and MPLS VPN minus concerns for platform-centric particulars or what packet forwarding engine is linked with the switch ASIC. This allows Juniper the capability to supply next-generation platforms with negligible modifications to the OS, returning a much quicker ?time to innovation? from a hardware viewpoint.

Another objective of disaggregation is to provide open, direct access to the hardware forwarding engine via standard, open APIs via a SDK. The focus here is on ?standard? and ?open?; at Juniper, supplying an open platform implies supplying direct hardware programming abilities via support for a Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) and direct control over the hardware through a set of famous APIs, irrespective of the hardware.

It is worth remembering that the QFX5200 switches are the earliest Juniper platforms to provide totally open and unparalleled container and VM support. The inside environment permits any application (3rd-party, native binaries, RPMs and VMs) to be assimilated into a root container, allowing the user a ?sandbox? area where deployed software is totally secluded from the innate host Linux OS.

This method is in divergence to other sellers who permit applications or RPMs to be deployed directly on their systems, revealing severe susceptibilities and generating the possibility for disastrous system failure should an application go crazy. That being said, the QFX5200 is the foremost Juniper platform to supply a totally open virtualized environment, opening a window of opportunity for anybody interested in NFV, Service-Chaining, SDN, or just wanting to run a 3rd-party application.

Disaggregated Junos and the Future

Although the QFX5200 is the initial Juniper platform providing a truly open architecture, as software abilities advance with each release, other products will embrace the same architecture and supply the same abilities. These consist of a total virtualization infrastructure adept at making a sandbox environment which permits any native binary, container, RPM or VM to be deployed devoid of needing code to be compiled or waiting for a 3rd party to incorporate new software.

The virtualization substructure interacts directly with the data plane, supplying a dedicated inside connection to the front-panel ports. This permits users to push probes straight from any 3rd-party VM into the data path and carry out analytical activities. This is just one instance; there are many more. Juniper also allows users who are aware of and like CLI the choice to continue using it; those who aren?t acquainted with the CLI have direct access to the Linux environment. Junos itself is now a virtual construct, running as a VM and fixated predominantly on the control plane, which is totally distant from the hardware and platform particulars.

On the API flank, a set of control plane, data plane and platform-centric APIs are supplied. This is indispensable to administering, monitoring, and crafting networks today. With all of these abilities at the vanguard, it implies only one thing: if you?re a network engineer, Junos hasn?t actually changed, but if you?re in DevOps, your life just got a lot better.

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Juniper OS Open Source Universal Telemetry Collector – Part 2

Additionally, no free tools are obtainable that supply a simple solution for mining Netconf data for network monitoring purpose. An easy, open solution for gathering, normalizing and envisioning all Junos KPIs would be a major step ahead for these clients. This is how the open-source universal collector (OpenNTI) was born.

Open-Source Collector

OpenNTI is bundled as a set of Docker containers, which are able to be run on any operational system supporting Docker.

Each container is constructed in a ?plug-and-play? manner. Everything has been preconfigured so that the user only has to initiate the container and stream data to it; collected information can then be shown in preconfigured user dashboards. Trivial information input is needed only if you want to collect information utilizing Netconf over SSH.

OpenNTI supports numerous streaming formats:

ÿÿ JTI: GPB/UDP (for the MX Series routing platforms)

ÿÿ AnalyticsD: JSON/UDP (for the QFX Series switching platforms)

Differentiated UDP ports are utilized to obtain streamed information from differentiated device types; each UDP port is related to a Fluentd input plugin. Normalized information is created once the information has been processed by the FluentD input plugin. A preconfigured FluentD output plugin writes structured information as a time-series into the InfluxDB database. This super flexible architecture permits users to simply interchange an output plugin if needed. For instance, a differentiated database can be replaced, as a substitute of InfluxDB.

KPI values, which are not obtainable through the JTI interface, can be demanded from time to time by utilizing Netconf over SSH.

The Grafana UI is preconfigured with dashboards for both the Data Streaming Collector and Data Collection Agent.

The same Docker container admits syslog happenings, which are saved to the same InfluxDB. This permits significant events (such as modifications in the configuration or error syslogs) to be overlaid on all graphs in a shared dashboard.

OpenNTI supplies a simple method to gather, normalize and envision every KPI obtainable in Junos. While not an endorsed Juniper product, Juniper is making this tool obtainable to the Juniper Networks user community as an open source project.

To help grow its utilization, Juniper has also created a sequence of short ?how to? videos which can assist with an overview of OpenNTI.

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Juniper OS Open Source Universal Telemetry Collector – Part 1

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)?established and simple to utilize?still is the principal monitoring protocol for networking equipment. Nevertheless, as technology advances, SNMP is presenting some restrictions in tackling today?s most persistent problems. For example:

ÿÿ Pull vs. push: SNMP utilizes a ?pull? model where servers begin data collection on a set schedule?for example every 2 minutes. Nevertheless, a lot can occur in 2 minutes, and a plethora of data?like traffic drops caused by bottlenecks?can be squandered if polling isn?t performed more regularly. A ?push? model which reports distinguished happenings or data, initiated by pre-set starting points, activities or happenings, is desirable.

ÿÿ Not all data is obtainable in SNMP: While fifteen years ago SNMP supplied the most perceptibility into and data about network equipment, that is no more the situation. Modern network operating systems incorporate feature rich APIs which allow users to organize their equipment to access all kinds of data in a programmatic manner. As an example, on Juniper equipment which is running the Junos OS, Netconf and Yang data models can be utilized to gather information at smaller intermissions, focused by happenings, and by using streaming technology ? which is not possible with old-style SNMP.

The capability to collect statistical information at scale is mainly due to Junos Telemetry Interface (JTI), a super scalable distributed collection engine developed to assist network operators stream statistics and event states to data collectors, network controllers, or comparable equipment for real-time or post investigation.

JTI utilizes a ?push? client which subscribes itself to key performance indicators or KPIs (like interface data) which are streamed straight from a device. The data format can be binary (e.g. Google Protobuf) or JSON based. In certain platforms, statistics streaming is performed completely in hardware to ensure the optimum general system performance.

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