CFD20: Juniper Networks: Digging into Details and Demos of Apstra and AI Lab for AI Data Centers

This quick blog contains live blog notes of the next 3 presentations from Cloud Field Day 20. AI JVD’s (Juniper Validated Designs): build without all the research and details.

Part 1: Your Private AI Data Center, as Easy as Cloud (Nick Davey)?

The JVD’s start with documentation etc., but they can use Apstra to lab test then instantiate the actual datacenter. ?

Note: you can save versions off to GitHub or TerraForm Cloud. The latter is used to automate the automation, Juniper guided design: reduce the effort, automate Apstra workflows without API coding.

No hardware is needed (until you push “build“): Apstra uses virtual switches!

Juniper integrations “on top of” Apstra: Terraform, servicenow. Can make them talk to Apstra but also to each other. Order network infrastructure from high-level interface.

The Terraform providers for the Juniper AI JVD’s are posted on GitHub, etc. You can post to them to your Apstra instance without requiring hardware.

See the video for links for that plus other Terraform code.

Part 2: Demo How This Works

Watch the video when it's posted – screen captures can’t do it justice!

(So I’m not saying “RTFM” but “WTFV” – Watch The Fine Video!)?

Part 3: Design, Deploy, and Operate AI Clusters like a Pro (Jay Wilson)

Jay is a customer field team person. How to monitor and manage the environment.

Apstra does datacenters but is focused on fabrics, and can manage many fabrics and datacenters.

Jay reviewed the lab design diagram: GPU’s in middle, bottom. Top and right was storage. Left was management network.

“Think like a hyperscaler” with Apstra. It implements and validates INTENT. Apstra is the Source of Truth. Telemetry is also important for this. Apstra is used as used: no modification. ?

Jay then shared a QR code. And segued into a recorded demo (to avoid Murphy’s Law): Tailoring, Operating, and Developing and Instance.

Terse notes from that:

·????? Apstra GUI: 3 fabrics: Backend GPU, Storage, Frontend Management Fabric.

·????? This had customized telemetry added to it (since the OS in box doesn’t yet have Streaming gRPCs).

·????? A second aspect is that Apstra does fabrics but doesn’t adjust all the “nerd knobs”: so they added 41 configlets for focussed use situations.

·????? Custom dashboard for ECN’s, PFC’s, drops to monitor drops of interest. Across 152 interfaces.

·????? Widget: by leaf by interface reporting ECN’s, PFC’s. To understand where the congestion is, who is being told to back off.

·????? Real-time heatmap!

·????? Apstra tidbit: if there is an anomaly: you can’t acknowledge and hide it, you fix it or it continues to show up.

Discussion then added ?a lot of good Q&A and details: watch the recording!

#CFD20 #CloudFieldDay #JuniperNetworks #PeterWelcher #CCIE1773 #BlueAlly

?