Thursday 5 December 2019

Juniper broadens SD-Branch management, switch options

Juniper has taken the wraps off new software and switches that are designed to broaden user options in deploying software-defined branch offices and enterprise networks.
The company bolstered its Contrail SD-WAN cloud package to include support for SD-LAN-specific operations, such as provisioning of new devices and managing branch office LANs.
"From one cloud portal, customers can now provision Juniper EX Series switches to manage LAN fabrics and configure LAN virtualization and security policies in the same way they operate their SD-WAN environments," wrote Manoj Leelanivas, chief product officer at Juniper, in a blog about the enhancements. "This automated functionality simplifies operations to reduce costs, streamline workflows and leverage the WAN and LAN network for connected security. In addition to the cloud-managed SD-WAN solution, these features will also be in the downloadable controller software for optional on-premises deployment."


The Contrail SD-WAN cloud offering, announced earlier this year, expanded on the company’s existing on-premise (SRX-based) and virtual (NFX-based) SD-WAN offerings to include greater expansion possibilities – up to 10,000 spoke-attached sites and support for more variants of passive redundant hybrid WAN links – and topologies such as hub and spoke, partial, and dynamic full mesh, Juniper stated.


The service brings with it Juniper’s Contrail Service Orchestration package, which secures, automates, and runs the service lifecycle across NFX Series Network Services Platforms, EX Series Ethernet Switches, SRX Series next-generation firewalls, and MX Series 5G Universal Routing Platforms. Ultimately it lets customers manage and set up SD-WANs, and now LANs, all from a single portal.


That same portal can be used to show Mist wireless access points and launch the Mist cloud for WLAN provisioning, troubleshooting, management and other day-to-day operations, including Juniper's wired/wireless assurance capabilities, Leelanivas stated. Juniper in April closed the agreement to buy wireless-gear-maker Mist for $405 million and has been incorporating the Mist technology with its own.


Mist is known for its cloud-managed, AI-based wireless service called WiFi Assurance, which measures performance and service-level metrics to make wireless networks more predictable and reliable, according to the company. Mist's cloud-based system features an AI-driven technology, called Marvis, that brings dynamic packet-capture and machine-learning technology to automatically identify, adapt and fix network issues.


Juniper recently announced Mist is expanding its cloud-based Assurance program to include wired platforms. Wired Assurance can tap into Juniper’s core network operating system, Junos, and gather telemetry data that will measure network performance for connected endpoints, including IoT devices, the company said. It also features anomaly detection to alert when there is a deviation in switch performance from baseline metrics before users know issues exist.
On the hardware side, Juniper expanded its branch switching options to include:
  • NFX350: The NFX350 family features eight 10G and eight 1G interfaces and, depending on the configuration, up to 2TB of storage, 128GB of RAM and 32 vCPUs. The fully loaded NFX350 will support up to 40Gbps of NG-firewalling and up to 8Gbps of IPSec.
  • SRX380: The SRX380 comes with several key performance features, including 1Gbps IPsec performance, four 10G ports, 16 PoE+ ports for greater wattage and density, AES256 MACsec encryption and four mini-card slots for expanded connectivity.
  • A new Wi-Fi card for branch SRX boxes that lets customers deploy Wi-Fi with zero-touch configuration alongside LTE, Ethernet and other traditional network transport options.
This story, "Juniper broadens SD-Branch management, switch options" was originally published by Network World.

Sunday 6 October 2019

JTAC Recommended Junos Software Versions

Summary:

JTAC recommended versions of Junos software are listed to assist with determining which version of software to download and install.
This article applies to the following devices:
  • EX Series
  • M, T, and MX Series
  • ACX Series
  • QFX Series
  • SRX Series

For other Junos devices, refer to the Release Notes and the Alerts column on the Download Software pages.
Note: To be automatically notified of updates to this document, use the Subscribe link in the toolbox on the right of the page. If you do not see the Subscribe link, log in with your user account.
Important Software Upgrade Notification
Before loading a software release, Juniper recommends that you read the associated Release Notes to understand how features, functionality, fixes and any known outstanding issues will apply to your specific network and applications. A second sensible recommendation is for you to test the release in your lab whereby you emulate your topology and traffic flows where possible to further understand how your network will perform with the new release in your unique environment.
 Juniper offers optional services to aide customers in selecting and testing software releases. If interested in more information, please contact your Juniper Sales Representative to discuss offerings and pricing.

Symptoms:
For customers planning an upgrade or initial installation, JTAC recommends the Junos software versions in this article. These versions are selected using input from Juniper Engineering, customers, and analysis of field usage data.
Exceptions to this include:
  • JTAC has specifically recommended that customers use a version of Junos software that is different from what is listed.
  • You require specific features (Feature Explorer) that are available only in another version of Junos software. In this case, be sure to download the latest maintenance release.
  • Your currently installed version of Junos is working well.
  • If you use NSM, refer to the NSM & Junos Compatibility Matrix to make sure the recommended Junos software version can be managed by NSM.
     
To see the list​ of End of Engineering (EOE) and EOS (End of Support) dates for specific Junos versions, please go to the Junos Dates & Milestones page: https://support.juniper.net/support/eol/software/junos/
To see features supported per specific Junos versions, please go the Juniper Pathfinder page and navigate to "Feature Explorer": https://apps.juniper.net/home/

Solution:
To download Junos Software, go to the Software Download site and find your product.
The JTAC Recommended Junos Releases are in the tables below.
NOTE: To locate a Junos release containing an 'S' (i.e. Junos 17.3R3-S3), on the Software Download product page change the OS drop-down from Junos to Junos SR
 
Select to jump to a platform series:
 

EX Series Ethernet Switches

Platform JTAC Recommended Junos Software by Platform Last
Updated
EX2200 (See Note 3) Junos 12.3R12-S12 12 Feb 2019
EX2200-C ( See Note 3) Junos 12.3R12-S12 12 Feb 2019
EX2300 Junos 15.1X53-D591 / 18.2R3-S1 24 Sep 2019
EX2300-C Junos 15.1X53-D591 / 18.2R3-S1 24 Sep 2019
EX3200 Junos 12.3R12-S12 / 14.1X53-D40 12 Feb 2019
EX3300 ( See Note 4) Junos 12.3R12-S12 12 Feb 2019
EX3400 Junos 15.1X53-D591 / 18.2R3-S1 24 Sep 2019
EX4200  Junos 12.3R12-S12 / 15.1R7 12 Feb 2019
EX4300 Junos 18.1R3-S6 26 Jul 2019
EX4300-MP Junos 18.4R1-S3 26 Jul 2019
EX4500  Junos 12.3R12-S12 / 15.1R7 12 Feb 2019
EX4550  Junos 12.3R12-S12 / 15.1R7 12 Feb 2019
EX4600 Junos 18.1R3-S6 26 Jul 2019
EX4650 Junos 18.4R1-S3 26 Jul 2019
EX6200 Junos 12.3R12-S12 / 15.1R7 12 Feb 2019
EX8200 (See Note 2) Junos 12.3R12-S12 / 15.1R7 12 Feb 2019
EX8200-VC (XRE200) (See Note 2 ) Junos 12.3R12-S12 / 15.1R7 12 Feb 2019
EX9200  Junos 17.3R3-S5 26 Jul 2019
EX9251 Junos 18.4R1-S3 26 Jul 2019
EX9253 Junos 18.4R1-S3 26 Jul 2019
Junos Fusion Enterprise (JFE) Junos 17.4R2-S6 26 Jul 2019
Notes:
  1. It is highly recommended to refer to the Release Notes, Technical Documentation, and KB articles for any outstanding and resolved issues before making the upgrade decision. Contact JTAC if there are any queries.
  2. Please refer to TSB16758 for minimum software requirements for newer revision EX8200 linecards.
  3. Please refer TSB17138  for more details.
  4. Please refer TSB17329 .
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ACX Series Service Routers

Platform JTAC Recommended Junos Software by Platform Release Type Last
Updated
ACX500 Junos 17.4R2-Sx (where x=latest on download page) Standard 9 April 2019
ACX1000 Junos 17.4R2-Sx (where x=latest on download page) Standard 9 April 2019
ACX1100 Junos 17.4R2-Sx (where x=latest on download page) Standard 9 April 2019
ACX2000 Junos 17.4R2-Sx (where x=latest on download page) Standard 9 April 2019
ACX2100 Junos 17.4R2-Sx (where x=latest on download page) Standard 9 April 2019
ACX2200 Junos 17.4R2-Sx (where x=latest on download page) Standard 9 April 2019
ACX4000 Junos 17.4R2-Sx (where x=latest on download page) Standard 9 April 2019
ACX5448 Junos 18.3R1-Sx (where x=latest on download page) Standard 9 April 2019
ACX5048 / ACX5096 Junos 17.4R2-Sx (where x=latest on download page) Standard 9 April 2019

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M, T, PTX, and MX Series Routers

Platform JTAC Recommended Junos Software by Platform Release Type Last
Updated
M Series Junos 15.1R7/16.1R7 Standard 19 Mar 2019
T Series (all including TX, TXP, TXP-3D) Junos 15.1R7/16.1R7 Standard 19 Mar 2019
PTX Series
(except PTX10002, and 10016)
Junos 17.3R3-S1/17.4R2 Service/Standard 18 Oct 2018
PTX10002 Junos 18.2R1 Standard 18 Oct 2018
PTX10016 Junos 17.4R2 Standard 18 Oct 2018
MX Series Junos 15.1F6-S10/15.1R7
Junos 17.3R3-S2
Standard/Service 29 Nov 2018
MX 2010/2020 with MPC6/7/8/9 Junos 15.1F6-S10
Junos 17.3R3-S2
Service/Standard 29 Nov 2018
MX 2008 Series Junos 15.1F7
Junos 17.3R3-S2
Service/Standard 29 Nov 2018
MX5, MX10, MX40, MX80, MX104 Series Junos 15.1R7
Junos 17.3R3-S2
  29 Nov 2018
MX150, MX204, MX10003 Series Junos 17.4R2 Standard 18 Oct 2018
MX10008 Series Junos 18.2R1 Standard 18 Oct 2018
MX Subscriber Management(*3) Junos 18.2R3
Junos 18.4R2
Standard 23 July 2019
MX Services on MS-DPC Junos 17.3R3-S5 Standard 23 July  2019
MX Services on MS-MPC/MIC(*4) Junos 17.3R3-S5 Standard 23 July 2019
MX Virtual Chassis Junos 17.3R3-S5 Standard 23 July 2019
Virtual Route Reflector Junos 17.3R3-S5 Standard 23 July 2019
vMX / vBNG(*2) Junos 17.3R3-S5 Standard 23 July 2018
  Notes:
  1. Junos 12.3R3 and 12.3R4 are not recommended for deployment on MX5, MX10, MX40, MX80, and all MX-3D FPC. See PR896592 or contact JTAC for additional information.
  2. To obtain the specified Service Release, please contact JTAC.
  3. This includes subscriber management deployments that incorporate services such as CGNAT, etc.
  4. This release is also recommended for deployments that include both MS-MPC/MIC and MS-DPC modules within the same chassis.
  5. See KB33938 for detail information and directly downloadable links to software for M/MX/PTX/T-Series JUNOS Software
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QFX Series

Platform JTAC Recommended Junos Software by Platform Last
Updated
QFX3500 / QFX3600          Junos 14.1X53-D47 26 Jul 2019
QFX5100  Junos 18.1R3-S6 26 Jul 2019
QFX5200 Junos 18.1R3-S6 26 Jul 2019
QFX5110 Junos 18.1R3-S6 26 Jul 2019
QFX5120-48Y Junos 18.4R1-S3 26 Jul 2019
QFX5210 Junos 18.1R3-S6 26 Jul 2019
QFX10002 / QFX10008 / QFX10016 Junos 17.3R3-S5 26 Jul 2019
QFX10002-60C Junos 18.1R3-S6 26 Jul 2019
EVPN-VXLAN Fabric CRB (Centrally Routed Bridging) Junos 17.3R3-S5 26 Jul 2019
EVPN-VXLAN Fabric ERB ( Edge Routed Bridging)  Junos 18.1R3-S6 26 Jul 2019
Junos Fusion Datacenter (JFD) - MC-LAG Junos 17.3R3-S3 12 Feb 2019
Junos Fusion Datacenter(JFD) - EVPN Junos 18.1R2-S2 28 Feb 2019
Qfabric (See Note 1) Junos 14.1X53-D130 30 Jul 2019

Note:

  1. Qfabric NSSU upgrade from Junos 12.2X50 to later releases is NOT recommended. Please see TSB16842 for more details.

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SRX Series Services Gateways

Platform JTAC Recommended Junos Software by Platform Release Type Last
Updated
vSRX Junos 15.1X49-D170(*5) Standard 16 Apr 2019
vSRX 3.0 Junos 18.4R2 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX100B/H Junos 12.1X46-D86 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX100H2 Junos 12.3X48-D85 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX110H Junos 12.1X46-D86 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX110H2 Junos 12.3X48-D85 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX210BE/HE Junos 12.1X46-D86 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX210HE2 Junos 12.3X48-D85 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX220H Junos 12.1X46-D86 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX220H2 Junos 12.3X48-D85 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX240B/H/B2 Junos 12.1X46-D86 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX240H2 Junos 12.3X48-D85 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX300 / SRX320 / SRX340 / SRX345 Junos 18.2R3-S1(*5) Service 30 Sep 2019
SRX550 Junos 12.3X48-D85 Standard 30 Sep 2018
SRX550HM Junos 18.2R3-S1(*5) Service 30 Sep 2019
SRX650 Junos 12.3X48-D85 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX1400 (*3) Junos 12.3X48-D85 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX1500 Junos 15.1X49-D170(*5) Standard 16 Apr 2019
SRX3400 / SRX3600 (*3) Junos 12.3X48-D85 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX4100 / SRX4200 Junos 15.1X49-D170(*5) Standard 16 Apr 2019
SRX4600 Junos 18.2R3-S1(*5) Service 30 Sep 2019
SRX5400 / SRX5600 / SRX5800
with SRX5K-RE3-128G, SRX5K-SCB4, SRX5K-IOC4-10G or SRX5K-IOC4-MRAT (*2)
Junos 19.3R1 Standard 30 Sep 2019
SRX5400 / SRX5600 / SRX5800
with RE-1800X4 and SRX5K-SPC3 (*2)
Junos 18.2R3-S1(*5) Service 30 Sep 2019
SRX5400 / SRX5600 / SRX5800
with RE-1800X4 (*2)
Junos 15.1X49-D170(*5) Standard 16 Apr 2019
SRX5400 / SRX5600 / SRX5800
with SRX5K-RE-13-20 (*2)(*3)
Junos 12.3X48-D75 (*1)(*4) Standard 26 Sep 2018
Notes:

  1. KB29651 - Unable to upgrade from Junos OS 12.1X46 to subsequent releases of Junos OS on SRX5400/5600/5800 platforms due to "The /cf filesystem is low on free disk space" on SRX5k RE-13-20.
  2. KB30446 - SRX Junos SRX5K Hardware / Software compatibility matrix.
  3. TSB16905 - On SRX High-End platforms, when NAT is configured, ISSU upgrade from 12.1X46-D40 to any higher releases results in loss of security policies.
  4. PR1458501 - On SRX5000 series with SRX5k RE-13-20 a software upgrade to Junos 12.3X48-D80 and higher releases may fail the pre-check due to insufficient space available on the compact flash. Workaround is to use the USB install-media or first downgrade to 12.3X48-D10 and then upgrade to the target release.
  5. Notes for upgrading from Junos 15.1X49 releases to 18.2R3 or 18.2R3 based Service Releases:
    • Junos OS upgrade from 15.1X49 directly to 18.2R3 or 18.2R3 based Service Releases is supported for all SRX platforms, except vSRX. To upgrade vSRX from 15.1X49 to higher versions, deploy a new vSRX VM.
    • ISSU is not supported when upgrading from Junos 15.1X49 to higher versions.
    • KB34945 - When Junos Space Security Director is used for managing the SRX configuration and the AppFW, IDP or UTM features are used, then when upgrading to Junos 18.2R1 or higher, the SRX configuration needs to be migrated to the new Unified Policies style and Security Director version 19.3 or higher is required.
    • When upgrading from Junos 15.1X49-D170 to Junos 18.2 releases, the following features will not be available after the upgrade:
      • GTP Inspection - GTP tunnel enhancements (SRX1500, SRX4100, SRX4200, SRX5400, SRX5600, SRX5800, and vSRX instances). This feature was introduced in 15.1X49-D140 and 18.3R1 and higher releases.
      • The following CSO / SD-WAN related features:
        • Application-based multipath support (SRX Series and vSRX)
        • Application quality of experience scaling support (SRX4100, SRX4200)
        • AppQoE support in high availability mode (SRX4100, SRX4200)
        • Application path selection based on link preference and priority (SRX300, SRX320, SRX340, SRX345, SRX550M, SRX1500, SRX4100 SRX4200, and vSRX)
        • Virtual routing and forwarding instances security features support (SRX300, SRX320, SRX340, SRX345, SRX550M, SRX1500, SRX4100, SRX4200, and vSRX)
        • VRF group in L3VPN traffic (SRX Series and vSRX)


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Modification History:
2019-09-30: Updated SRX4600, SRX5k-SPC3, SRX200, 300, 550(M), 650 series and SRX1k/3k, added new entries for the vSRX 3.0 and SRX5k RE3/IOC4/SCB4
2019-07-25: Updated MX Subscriber and MX Services information
2019-07-21: Adding "Important Software Upgrade Notification" in the beginning
2019-06-25: Add a link to KB33938 for details of M-Series, MX-Series, PTX-Series, and T-Series
2019-04-25: Corrected SRX download links
2019-04-16: Updated SRX releases
2019-04-10: Fixed QFabric and EX6200 links.
2019-03-19: Removing EOL released from M-series, and T-series
2019-03-01: Added note on how to locate Junos release versions containing an 's'
2019-02-28: Updated for several SRX platforms; added link to Feature Explorer.
2019-01-30: Fixed broken links for MX and vMX.
2018-12-19: Updated JRR for SRX5k with SPC3
2018-10-15: Updated SRX JRR versions and removed SRX210B and SRX210H platforms due to EOS reached.
2018-10-05: SRX: Move direct link to JRR version to the middle column that references JRR version
2018-10-03: SRX: Added direct link to JRR version per platform
2018-09-26: Removed J-Series platforms, due to EOS reached.
2018-06-25: Updated releases for ACX, MX and vMX platforms.
2018-05-17: Corrected link to SRX4600's software download page.
2018-05-15: Updated the recommended release for ACX5048 / ACX5096
2017-11-16: Updated VRR to 16.2
2017-04-18: Added jump links for quick access to platform series sections

Monday 9 September 2019

5 Tips for Designing a Successful Cloud Migration Strategy

Migrating your data to the cloud can be a daunting task if your enterprise doesn’t adequately prepare for it. Cloud migration can be a lengthy process, and it requires a large time and financial investment from your company to fulfill. Without a well thought-out migration strategy in place, your business will have a tough time adopting the cloud into your infrastructure.
How do you design a successful cloud migration strategy? What are the key factors of cloud migration that this strategy should address? Most importantly, how does your business achieve the cloud migration goals you’ve set out? Below, we list several tips for creating and executing a successful cloud migration strategy.

Understand why you want to migrate to the cloud

First things first: why do you want to move your enterprise’s data and workflows to the cloud? The cloud is an exciting technology that businesses want to take advantage of. However, without a clear reason behind adopting the cloud into your infrastructure, your cloud migration is destined to crash and burn. Your enterprise needs to understand what it seeks to accomplish by moving to the cloud. Whether it be to reduce costs or to take advantage of cloud-based services, your cloud goals allow you to design your migration strategy around your specific business needs.

Know what data should be included in your migration strategy

Your business doesn’t necessarily need to move all of its data onto the cloud. If you want to take advantage of the computing power the cloud provides to build powerful applications and solutions, for example, you won’t need to migrate your legacy business data over. Alternatively, businesses that want to use the cloud for data storage must consider which bits of data should remain on-premise and which should be exclusively in the cloud.

Plan your cloud migration in stages

Fully migrating your data to the cloud can take a long time, especially for enterprises that store a ton of data in their infrastructure. Because it takes so long to move this data, your migration strategy should move data onto the cloud in stages. Non-essential data should be migrated first because you’ll likely be unfamiliar with the cloud environment you’re migrating to. If you attempt to migrate mission-critical or sensitive data first and something goes wrong (such as accidentally leaking your data), it can be costly to your business.

Evaluate your migration strategy after a while

After you’ve started migrating data over, it’s a good idea to look at your migration strategy and see if it’s working for your company. This evaluation can include how much of the migration is complete and when you expect it to be finished if you work at your current pace. Examining your cloud migration strategy can help your enterprise understand how well your company is achieving its cloud goals.

Keep your employees up to speed

When you move to the cloud, you’ll need to train your workforce on an entirely new deployment. It’s fair to assume that many of your staff do not use cloud solutions and environments. They can be a roadblock for successful cloud operation, especially if they aren’t familiar with your cloud migration plan. Make sure that your employees are familiar with your cloud migration strategy and what your short-term and long-term goals are.

Saturday 10 August 2019

Junos Evolves for the Cloud Era

Juniper Networks has a distinguished record as a disruptor and a change leader in the networking industry. 

Juniper technologies helped fuel the rapid growth of the internet in the early 2000s by decoupling the data-plane of an IP router from its control plane and creating routers that moved IP traffic many times faster and more economically than before. Junos OS, the software brain of Juniper routers, switches and security appliances, integrated market-leading innovation into an open-source Unix OS, namely FreeBSD. Among other things, Junos introduced innovative ways of managing network devices, leading to standardized modeling languages and protocols, such as YANG and NETCONF, laying the foundation for programmability and automation that the industry has broadly adopted today.

More recent innovations include virtualization, node slicing and the ability to support 3rd-party white box hardware, to name a few. Furthermore, Juniper consistently maintains a strong presence in standards bodies evangelizing open programmability to ensure freedom of choice for the entire networking industry.

Junos-Evolved-Blog.png  

The networking industry is in transition again with cloud, 5G and SDN creating new challenges, as well as opportunities. These, in turn, require new network architecture approaches. Juniper’s engineering team has been busy designing software infrastructure to enable new paradigms such as scale-out architectures, disaggregated and cloud-native functions, lean and open-source compliant OS stacks, as well as the ability to offer much greater availability, programmability, visibility, feature development and deployment agility for operational efficiencies in traditional deployment models. This effort has produced a new generation of infrastructure evolution within Junos, sometimes referred to as “Junos OS Evolved,” that imbues powerful capabilities to the overall Junos operating system while maintaining One Junos experience. 

New Capabilities
The latest Junos release incorporates the following capabilities:
  • Linux OS and Linux native application components enable the user to leverage the integrated tooling and operational mechanisms of the rich Linux open-source community
  • Logically centralized state database and a publish/subscribe state distribution system for advanced observability, troubleshooting and remediation
  • Model representation of the entire config and state, enabling machine-driven automation
  • Full software modularity with strong fault isolation boundaries for higher availability
  • Containerized OS components with patching and upgrade capability for availability and run-time upgrades of on-device software, as well as the ability to run software decoupled from hardware in cloud-native environments
  • Native support for 3rd-party software agents enabling easy customization
  • Next generation data-plane software sub-system with a programmable and open API
  • Powerful and intrinsic distributed system facility for enabling new paradigms such as distributed chassis and cloud-hosted control planes
As software evolves, especially when it is deployed on hundreds of thousands of devices around the globe, an ecosystem of operational experiences, best practices, management tools and trust also evolves around it. At Juniper, we realize the importance of preserving the One Junos experience by keeping the following aspects consistent across our releases:
  • System and application data models and interfaces via SNMP, CLI, NETCONF, Streaming Telemetry, etc.
  • Programmability via our Juniper Extension Toolkit (JET) Control Plane APIs
  • Forwarding plane API via Openflow, P4, Advanced Forwarding Toolkit (AFT)
  • Key control and management plane applications

Junos OS Evolved brings powerful and innovative new infrastructure capabilities. It enables the next generation of network architecture deployments with the goal of meeting and exceeding the needs and expectations of our customers well into the future.

Sunday 28 July 2019

Understanding Network Virtualization with VMware NSX

Understanding how physical networks and virtual networks come together to provide an end-to-end solution is critical to running a stable production environment. The physical and virtual networks interact with each other to provide different functionality. There are some additional layers with the introduction of overlay networks such as VMware NSX. This topic explains the following concepts:

VMware vSphere Architecture

The VMware vSphere architecture is very simple. There are two ESXi hosts in a cluster called “New Cluster.” Both of the hosts have a distributed virtual switch called “DSwitch” with a single port group “DPortGroup” as shown in Figure 1. The cluster is assigned to a data center called “Datacenter.”
Figure 1: VMware vSphere Architecture
VMware vSphere Architecture
All NSX appliance VMs are placed into the distributed virtual switch “DSwitch.” The local vSwitch0 is no longer used for any type of traffic; all underlay traffic will ingress and egress the distributed virtual switch.

VMware NSX

To enable SDN, there are many functions from management to packet forwarding that need to be performed. Each functional component is described next.

VMware NSX Manager

The VMware NSX Manager provides integration with VMware vCenter Server which allows you to manage the VMware NSX environment through VMware vCenter. All VMware NSX operations and configuration is done through VMware vCenter, which communicates with VMware NSX Manager through APIs to delegate tasks to the responsible owner.

VMware NSX Controller

All virtual network provisioning and MAC address learning is handled through the VMware NSX Controller. You can think of the VMware NSX Controller as the virtualized control plane of the SDN network.

VMware NSX Logical Distributed Router

The VMware NSX Logical Distributed Router (LDR) is responsible for forwarding and routing all packets through the virtualized SDN networks. It provides the following functionality:
  • Default gateway for all VMs
  • MAC address learning and flooding
  • Bridging and routing all packets between different virtual networks
  • Peers with the VMware NSX Edge to progress egress traffic outside of the virtual networks
  • Virtual tunnel end-point (VTEP) termination
  • Security policies and enforcement
  • Multi-tenancy
The NSX LDR is a great tool for coarse or fine-grained virtual network segmentation. Multiple VMware NSX LDRs can be created to enable multi-tenancy or a completely separate security zone for regularity requirements such as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Each VMware NSX LDR can create virtual switches, which are just VXLAN Network Identifiers (VNIs). You can treat virtual switches just like you used to use VLANs in a physical network. Virtual switches are an easy way to create multi-tiered networks for applications.
The VMware NSX LDR is split into two components: a control plane and data plane. The control plane is responsible for the management and provisioning of changes. The VMware NSX LDR is also installed into each VMware ESXi host to handle the traffic forwarding and routing as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: VMware NSX LDR Control Plane and Data Plane
VMware NSX LDR Control Plane and Data
Plane
Each VMware host has a copy of the VMware NSX LDR running in the hypervisor. All of the gateway interfaces and IP addresses are distributed throughout the VMware cluster. This allows VMs to directly access their default gateway at the local hypervisor. VMware NSX supports three methods for MAC address learning:
  • Unicast—Each VMware host has a TCP connection to the VMware NSX Controller for MAC address learning.
  • Multicast—The physical network – in this case, the Virtual Chassis Fabric – uses multicast to replicate broadcast, unknown unicast, and multicast traffic between all VMware hosts participating in the same VNI.
  • Hybrid—Each VMware host has a TCP connection to the VMware NSX Controller for MAC address learning, but uses the physical network for local process of broadcast, unknown unicast, and multicast traffic for performance.
If your environment is 100 percent virtualized, we recommend that you use either unicast or hybrid mode. If you need to integrate physical servers – such as mainframes – into the VMware NSX virtual environment, you need to use multicast mode for MAC address learning. Virtual Chassis Fabric allows you to configure multicast with a single IGMP command and not have to worry about designing and maintaining multicast protocols such as PIM.
All of the VMware NSX virtual switches are associated with a VNI. Depending on the traffic profile, the LDR can either locally forward or route the traffic. If the destination is on another host or outside of the virtual NSX networks, the VMware NSX LDR can route the traffic out to the VMware NSX Edge Gateway.
Each hypervisor has a virtual tunnel end-point (VTEP) that is responsible for encapsulating VM traffic inside of a VXLAN header and routing the packet to a destination VTEP for further processing. Traffic can be routed to another VTEP on a different host or the VMware NSX Edge Gateway to access the physical network.
In Table 1, you can see all of the possible traffic patterns and how the VMware NSX LDR handles them.
Table 1: Traffic Patterns Handled by VMWare LDR
Source
Destination
Action
Local VM
Local VM, same network
Locally switch traffic
Local VM
Local VM, different network
Locally route traffic
Local VM
Remote VM, same network
Encapsulate traffic with VXLAN header and route to destination VTEP
Local VM
Remote VM, different network
Encapsulate traffic with VXLAN header and route to destination VTEP
Local VM
Internet
Encapsulate traffic with VXLAN header and route to VMware NSX Edge Gateway
Local VM
Physical server outside of NSX virtual networks
Encapsulate traffic with VXLAN header and route to VMware NSX Edge Gateway

VMware NSX Edge Gateway

The VMware NSX Edge Gateway is responsible for bridging the virtual networks with the outside world. It acts as a virtual WAN router that is able to peer with physical networking equipment so that all of the internal virtual networks can access the Internet, WAN, or any other physical resources in the network. The VMware NSX Edge Gateway can also provide centralized security policy enforcement between the physical network and the virtualized networks.
The VMware NSX Edge Gateway and LDR have a full mesh of VXLAN tunnels as shown in Figure 3. This enables any VMware ESXi host to communicate directly through the VXLAN tunnels when they need to switch or route traffic. If traffic needs to enter or exit the VMware NSX environment, the VMware NSX Edge Gateway removes the VXLAN header and routes the traffic through its “Uplink” interface and into the Virtual Chassis Fabric.
Figure 3: VXLAN Tunnels
VXLAN Tunnels
Each virtual switch on the VMware NSX LDR needs to be mapped to a VNI and multicast group to enable the data plane and control plane. It is as simple as choosing a different VNI and multicast group per virtual switch as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Overlay Tunnels and Multicast Groups
Overlay Tunnels and Multicast Groups
As VM traffic from esxi-01 needs to reach esxi-02, it simply passes through the VXLAN tunnels. Depending on the type of traffic, there are different actions that can take place as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Traffic Types and Actions
Traffic Type
Action
Unicast
Route directly to the remote VTEP through the Virtual Chassis Fabric
Unknown Unicast
Flood through multicast in the Virtual Chassis Fabric
Multicast
Flood through multicast in the Virtual Chassis Fabric
It is possible to associate multiple VNIs with the same multicast group; however, in the MetaFabric Architecture 2.0 lab, we assigned each VNI a separate multicast group for simplicity.

Overlay Architecture

The term “underlay” refers to the physical networking equipment; in this case, it is the Virtual Chassis Fabric. The term “overlay” refers to any virtual networks created by VMware NSX. Virtual networks are created with a MAC-over-IP encapsulation called VXLAN. This encapsulation allows two VMs on the same network to talk to each other, even if the path between the VMs needs to be routed as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Overlay Architecture
Overlay Architecture
All VM-to-VM traffic is encapsulated in VXLAN and transmitted over a routed network to the destination host. Once the destination host receives the VXLAN encapsulated traffic, it can remove the VXLAN header and forward the original Ethernet packet to the destination VM. The same traffic pattern occurs when a VM talks to a bare metal server. The exception is that the top-of-rack switch handles the VXLAN encapsulation on behalf of the physical server, as opposed to the hypervisor.
The advantage of VXLAN encapsulation is that it allows you to build a network that is based on Layer 3. The most common underlay architecture for SDN is the IP fabric. All switches communicate with each other through a typical routing protocol such as BGP. There is no requirement for Layer 2 protocols such as Spanning Tree Protocol (STP).
One of the drawbacks to building an IP fabric is that it requires more network administration. Each switch needs to be managed separately. Another drawback is that to allow the integration of bare metal servers with VMware NSX for vSphere, multicast is required for the integration of VXLAN and MAC address learning. This means that in addition to building an IP fabric with BGP, you also need to design and manage a multicast infrastructure with Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) protocols.
The advantage of Virtual Chassis Fabric is that you can build an IP fabric and multicast infrastructure without having to worry about BGP and PIM. Because the Virtual Chassis Fabric behaves like a single, logical switch, you simply create integrated routing and bridging (IRB) interfaces and all traffic is automatically routed between all networks because each network appears as a directly connected network. To enable multicast on a Virtual Chassis Fabric, you simply enable Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) on any interfaces requiring multicast. There is no need to design and configure PIM or any other multicast protocols.

Thursday 18 July 2019

Juniper Networks: A 2019 Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Data Center Networking

Juniper Networks is thrilled to again be named a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Data Center Networking.


gmq2019.png


The concept of something happening “again” seems pretty simple. But when dealing with industry-wide transformations, it’s an important phenomenon. The journeys our customers take will not play out over the course of a few months or even quarters. Change of the magnitude we are seeing with multicloud and artificial intelligence will take time.

And that means that sustained execution in pursuit of a compelling vision is important. It means doing things right. And then doing them right…again.

Outside and Inside
For Juniper, having world-renowned analysts validate the direction and execution of the company matters. These teams are seeing the difference experienced by our customers and how the company is innovating in the market with new choices to simplify operational models across the data center and into public clouds.

We believe that analyst assessments provide only part of the story. If you want to get a fuller picture, you need to combine it with a view from our customers.

We are equally proud of being recognized as a April 2019 Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for Data Center Networking.  Based on real feedback from 250 customers, Juniper has a 4.7 out of 5 average rating for that market, as of 17 July 2019. To us, this means that it isn’t just the observations of analysts, but the experiences of practitioners that is garnering attention.

Growth in the Enterprise
In many ways, this recognition is merely a reflection of things that we have known at Juniper for years. Our commitment to improving networking for enterprises has resulted in more and more customers each year. With Juniper, enterprises are delivering the outcomes that matter most to their businesses. Our commitment to enterprise goes well beyond repackaging products and moving into adjacent markets. It’s a big reason we have grown our enterprise business to more than $1.5B in 2018, representing roughly a third of our total business.

With Contrail Enterprise Multicloud, we have purpose-built an orchestration platform ideal for operating in the era of multicloud. Combined with our full line of enterprise data center switches and routers—from top-of-rack to data center edge—and our security solutions—from micro-segmentation to threat prevention to firewall—we have the full end-to-end solution required to service everything an enterprise may need. Our solutions simplify operations across heterogeneous environments, focusing on infrastructure orchestration, automation, programmability, ease of management, visibility and analytics.

And with our recent acquisition of the wireless visionary company, Mist Systems, we have brought Wi-Fi and artificial intelligence into the solution mix. The future of enterprise IT will be AI-driven and we have complete reach from data center to wireless access. Our solutions, such as AI-driven enterprises and SD-WAN, can improve user-experience by simplifying on-boarding processes, ensuring business-critical application performance and automating security across the entire network.

Getting from Here to There
Of course, helping enterprises navigate transitions is more than just a technology discussion. Ultimately, it requires robust services, education, training and support.

Our vision for multicloud and AI-driven operations recognizes that the path each enterprise will take will be somewhat unique, based on where they start, where they want to go and the real-life constraints that stand in between. Juniper has spent time aligning our solutions and services around migration models and designed explicitly to support enterprises with a vendor-neutral view of how to plan and stage these technology transitions.

Minimally, it means we can help enterprises even where Juniper solutions might not be the right fit. Ideally, it means we will be a partner on the path to multicloud and AI-driven operations. Either way, enterprise customers win.

Customers First Ultimately, everything comes down to customers. We know that Juniper is the best choice for anyone who cares about being multicloud-ready in order to manage their infrastructure resources as a single, cohesive entity without being unnecessarily boxed in.

We encourage you to check out some of our customer success stories to see for yourself.

Every company has weighty imperatives to deliver tangible results within their digital transformation initiatives. Potential consequences - IT is being asked by the business for many new things and that means IT has to rethink much of why it does something and how it does it.

Sunday 7 April 2019

Junos Genius

The Junos Genius continuous learning platform helps you learn Juniper technologies and prepare for Juniper certification exams on your schedule. An app for iOS and Android devices, along with laptops and desktops, Junos Genius provides certification preparation resources, practice exams, and e-learning courses developed by experts in Juniper technology. Courses cover automation, routing, switching, security, and more.
Features and Benefits
  • 65-item practice tests written by subject matter experts
  • Access the platform at your convenience, anytime and anywhere
  • Use any device—Junos Genius runs on your smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device, as well as your desktop or laptop
  • Receive ongoing training opportunities as new content is regularly added
  • The 65-item practice tests will help you prepare for multiple associate, specialist, and professional-level JNCP certification exams
  • Juniper Learning Bytes will help you to become more proficient at managing your network of Juniper hardware and software
  • Take on-demand training courses (purchased separately) and receive the same level of knowledge, skills transfer, and hands-on lab experience as you would in a traditional classroom environment
  • Unlimited access to all hardware overview and deployment courses
  • Resume courses where you left off with no interruptions
  • View content offline…simply download and view when it is convenient

Wednesday 6 March 2019

JTAC Recommended Junos Software Versions

SRX (*4) Junos 15.1X49-D160 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX100B/H Junos 12.1X46-D82 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX100H2 Junos 12.3X48-D75 Standard 26 Sep 2018
SRX110H Junos 12.1X46-D82 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX110H2 Junos 12.3X48-D75 Standard 26 Sep 2018
SRX210BE/HE Junos 12.1X46-D82 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX210HE2 Junos 12.3X48-D75 Standard 26 Sep 2018
SRX220H Junos 12.1X46-D82 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX220H2 Junos 12.3X48-D75 Standard 26 Sep 2018
SRX240B/H/B2 Junos 12.1X46-D82 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX240H2 Junos 12.3X48-D75 Standard 26 Sep 2018
SRX300 / SRX320 / SRX340 / SRX345 Junos 15.1X49-D160 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX550 Junos 12.3X48-D75 Standard 26 Sep 2018
SRX550HM Junos 15.1X49-D160 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX650 Junos 12.3X48-D75 Standard 26 Sep 2018
SRX1400 (*3) Junos 12.3X48-D75 Standard 26 Sep 2018
SRX1500 Junos 15.1X49-D150 Standard 15 Oct 2018
SRX3400 / SRX3600 (*3) Junos 12.3X48-D75 Standard 26 Sep 2018
SRX4100 / SRX4200 Junos 15.1X49-D160 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX4600 Junos 18.2R2 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX5400 / SRX5600 / SRX5800
with RE-1800X4 and SRX5K-SPC3
Junos 18.2R2-S1 Service 28 Feb 2019
SRX5400 / SRX5600 / SRX5800
with RE-1800X4 (*2)
Junos 15.1X49-D160 Standard 28 Feb 2019
SRX5400 / SRX5600 / SRX5800
with SRX5K-RE-13-20 (*2)(*3)
Junos 12.3X48-D75 (*1) Standard 26 Sep 2018

Friday 1 February 2019

Transfer license keys to an RMA replacement device

Summary:

This article provides self-service instructions on how to transfer a license activation key from a defective device to an RMA replacement device. The Juniper End User License Agreement (EULA) states that RMA license keys may be transferred where the following criteria are met:
  • The defective hardware product has an active support contract
  • JTAC has confirmed the hardware as defective via a Technical Service Request.
  • The replacement device is the same series/platform as the defective device.*
*The replacement device may be one provided by Juniper Networks or a spare of the same model provided from a partner's/customer's stock.

Symptoms:
My Juniper product has faced a hardware failure, and I require to transfer the software license keys from the defective device to a replacement device.

 
Solution:

Important Notes:
  • Self-service RMA license transfer is available only where a Juniper RMA has been initiated by JTAC.
     
  • There is no option for self-service license transfer for the following conditions:
    • Customer/Partner Self-Sparing where no Juniper RMA # has been created
    • Juniper Advanced Thread Protection (JATP) appliance
    • EX-XRE200 Virtual Chassis license transfer
If your request falls into one of these conditions, contact Customer Care.



Follow the relevant self-service instructions below for your product, which depends on whether it is running Junos or non-Junos:


Junos OS Enabled Products (e.g. SRX Series, QFX Series, Ex Series)


Note: For MX Series, no license transfer is required following RMA. You may continue to use the same license unlocking key or trust-based Software 'Right to Use' on your replacement product. If you have misplaced your MX Series unlocking key or Software 'Right to Use' document, then contact Customer Care with your Purchase Order details.

Step 1: Gather the RMA number and device serial numbers:

  • RMA Number (e.g. R299218954)
  • Defective Device Serial Number
  • Replacement Device Serial Number*
Tip: This information is located via the Technical Service Request or the RMA's module in MyJuniper Service Request Manager (MYJ-SRM).
*The Replacement Device Serial Number may be one provided by Juniper Networks or a product of the same model provided from either a Juniper Partner or spare stock. When deploying your own spare, please ensure that you contact Customer Care so that support entitlement and product registration information may also be updated!

Step 2: Activate the replacement licenses using the RMA Tool:

  1. Enter the Juniper Agile Licensing Portal (JAL).
  2. Click the RMA Tool button in the right-hand side of the screen.
  3. Enter the RMA details gathered in Step 1.
  4. Click the Submit button.
  5. Validate that the product information is correct and complete the RMA license transfer.
  6. The completion screen will be displayed where you may download/email the license keys.
If an error message is received or you are unable to transfer the license keys via self-service, contact Customer Care.
Tip: For additional instructions on RMA license transfer for Junos OS enabled products, refer to Juniper Agile Licensing Portal FAQ.

 

Step 3: Install the activated licenses on the replacement Juniper device.

For detailed instructions on Junos OS license key installation, consult: Adding New Licenses (CLI Procedure).

 

Non-Junos OS Products (e.g. SSG Series, JSA Series, Junos Space)


Note: As specified in the important note above, for RMA license key transfer on Juniper Advanced Threat Protection (JATP Series), contact Customer Care.


Step 1: Gather the RMA number and Device Serial Numbers:

  • RMA Number (e.g. R299218954)
  • Defective Device Serial Number
  • Replacement Device Serial Number*
* The Replacement Device Serial Number may be one provided by Juniper Networks or a product of the same model provided from either a Juniper Partner or spare stock. When deploying your own spare, please ensure that you contact Customer Care so that support entitlement and product registration information may also be updated!

Step 2: Generate replacement licenses using the RMA Tool.

  1. Access the License Management System (LMS).
  2. Select Generate Replacement Licenses for RMA devices (below the drop-down list on the Generate Licenses tab).
  3. Select your product series from the list.
  4. Enter the RMA details gathered in Step 1.
  5. Click the Generate button.
  6. Confirm the RMA license transfer details and click Generate License.
  7. The completion screen will be displayed where you may download/email the license keys.
If an error message is received or you are unable to transfer the license keys via self-service, contact Customer Care.

Step 3: Install the generated licenses on the Juniper device.

Saturday 5 January 2019

Integration tactics to ease hybrid, multi-cloud environments

Hybrid and multi-cloud are increasingly common deployment models, which makes integration a priority. Review three specific approaches to connect on-premises and cloud-based systems.

The reality is: Many multi-cloud environments still include some on-premises components. These include OSes, databases and application servers that both vendors and IT teams have retooled for years to reach out to public cloud. But, though they are starting to improve, public cloud providers haven't traditionally done a great job ensuring their technology can reach back into on-premises systems. Enterprises, as a result, struggle to provide core integrations between on-premises and cloud systems.
Here are three integration approaches admins can take to effectively fold their on-premises resources into multi-cloud environments.

Data integration

Data integration -- the most straightforward of the three approaches outlined here -- refers to the movement of data from on-premises applications and data stores to their analogs in the public cloud. There are numerous on-premises and cloud-hosted data integration tools, such as Dell Boomi, SnapLogic and MuleSoft, from which enterprises can choose. These tools are sometimes referred to as integration PaaS.
Enterprises need an interface that exists between the data integration server and the on-premises and public cloud-based systems being integrated. These are typically APIs that can interface with ERP systems, databases and other custom or proprietary resources. Data is consumed from the source system, either on premises or in the cloud, and then sent to the data integration server, where it's transformed and then sent to the target system.

Security integration

Security integration is the ultimate objective for enterprises in multi-cloud environments. IT teams want a single security layer that can work across on-premises and public cloud platforms, which typically means they need a single and centralized directory system, such as Active Directory or other LDAP-compliant options.
These shared directories are the jumping off point for an identity and access management (IAM) strategy that works well across on-premises and cloud-based systems. Once an IAM tool verifies a user's identity, it authenticates that user for most resources across a hybrid or multi-cloud environment, without the need to reauthenticate for each individual database or application. Admins can set up roles for users and themselves, as well as provide and control access to local and cloud-based resources through customizable configurations based on their specific security needs.

Service integration

Service integration is perhaps the least known on this list. It deals with specific APIs, services or microservices that enable systems to share both behavioral information and data. It's not enough to just stand up these services, though; enterprises need to secure, govern and track them across multi-cloud environments. To do this, use API managers and service repositories to enable the discovery of services and also enforce policies that dictate how those services are used.
Service integration is joined at the hip with server integration and service orchestration tools. These tools help developers bind services together to create more complex processes or applications. For instance, an application that cleans up data once a month would call upon several other services, such as those for data security, verification and validation, to complete that task.

 

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