The Insight Interface is the port that provides data plane access for Third-Party Virtual Machine (TPVM) applications.
TPVM is a server that resides on Extreme SLX-OS devices, connected through the Insight Interface. It may be used in one of the following modes:
Support for TPVM is through a front-panel port (SLX 9540 and SLX 9640), shared with the Insight Interface using a hardware switch configured through a CLI command. The SLX 9150 and SLX 9250 have a dedicated Insight port. Physically, it may be a direct or indirect ethernet point-to-point connection between the device fast forwarding Data Plane ASIC Chip port to the TPVM. In order to use TVPM, each endpoint must be set up individually on the appropriate OS (the SLX-OS and the TVPM OS). The following table details access to the Insight Interface on Extreme SLX platforms.
| Extreme SLX device | Support for Insight Interface |
|---|---|
| SLX 9540 | On port 0/48 (Insight Interface 0/125 is created) |
| SLX-9640 | On port 0/24 (Insight Interface 0/125 is created) |
| SLX-9250 | Dedicated Insight port |
| SLX-9150-48XT | Dedicated Insight port |
| SLX-9150-48Y | Dedicated Insight port |
The Insight Interface endpoint is configured from the command line as a Port Channel with Insight enabled. There can only be one such Port Channel on the device; you cannot add any new members to this Port channel. However, a port channel with existing members cannot have Insight enabled.
On the TPVM, the Insight Interface endpoint shows as Linux Network Interface eth1, and is configured statically. For DHCP-based configuration, refer to the section below
The following section addresses the management details of using the Insight Interface port on supported Extreme SLX devices. For the details of TPVM applications supported on all Extreme SLX devices, refer to "TPVM" later in this chapter.