Multi-area SPB

Table 1. Multi-area SPB

Feature

Product

Release introduced

Multi-area SPB Boundary Node

5420 Series

Not Supported

5520 Series

Not Supported

VSP 4450 Series

Not Supported

VSP 4900 Series

Not Supported

VSP 7200 Series

Not Supported

VSP 7400 Series

VOSS 8.4

VSP 8200 Series

Not Supported

VSP 8400 Series

Not Supported

VSP 8600 Series

Not Supported

XA1400 Series

Not Supported

The Multi-area SPB feature enables building a scalable Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) network, consisting of multiple Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) areas that connect to each other through the boundary nodes. The Multi-area SPB feature provides flexible network design through which you can group the nodes in the areas on a need basis.

Each area in the Multi-area SPB network contains the interior nodes and the boundary nodes.

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Boundary nodes in the Multi-area SPB network
Boundary Node in Multi-area SPB Network

Each boundary node runs two Intermediate-System-to-Intermediate-System (IS-IS) instances, representing the home area and the remote area. Each IS-IS instance runs the Shortest Path First (SFP) computation and uses its own Link State Database (LSDB). The boundary nodes support Backbone Edge Bridge (BEB) functionality in addition to the Backbone Control Bridge (BCB) configuration and the UNIs belong only to the home area. You can configure IS-IS interfaces on each instance.

Note

Note

The boundary nodes do not support Auto-sense, you must manually configure all network-to-network interfaces (NNI) on the boundary nodes.

The multiple areas in the Multi-area SPB network connect in various patterns, for example, the hub and spoke topology and the daisy chain topology.

Designated and Non-designated Boundary Nodes

Among the boundary nodes in the Multi-area SPB network, the system elects the designated boundary node on basis of the unique chassis MAC value of the node. The nodes in the SPB area advertise their chassis MAC value using the link state packet (LSP) and the system elects the node with the smallest chassis MAC value as the designated boundary node. Each node in the network detects the designated boundary node on basis of the LSDB information.

The functions of the boundary nodes in the Multi-area SPB network are:

For more information about the area virtual node, see Area Virtual Node.

Minimum Requirements

The minimum requirements for the Multi-area SPB to function are: