Day One: Using Ethernet VPNs for Data Center Interconnect

EVPN is a new standards-based technology that addresses the networking challenges presented by interconnected data centers. Follow the POC Labs topology for testing EVPN starting with all the configurations, moving on to verification procedures, and concluding with high availability testing. It’s all here for you to learn and duplicate.


Today’s virtualized data centers are typically deployed at geographically diverse sites in order to optimize the performance of application delivery to end users, and to maintain high availability of applications in the event of site disruption. Realizing these benefits requires the extension of Layer 2 connectivity across data centers, also known as Data Center Interconnect (DCI), so that virtual machines (VMs) can be dynamically migratwed between the different sites. To support DCI, the underlying network is also relied upon to ensure that traffic flows to and from the VMs are forwarded along the most direct path, before, as well as after migration; that bandwidth on all available links is efficiently utilized; and, that the network recovers quickly to minimize downtime in the event of a link or node failure.


EVPN is a new technology that has attributes specifically designed to address the net- working requirements of interconnected data centers. And Day One: Using Ethernet VPNs for Data Center Interconnect is a proof of concept straight from Juniper’s Proof of Concept Labs (POC Labs). It supplies a sample topology, all the configurations, and the validation testing, as well as some high availability tests.


“EVPN was recently published as a standard by IETF as RFC 7432, and a few days later it has its own Day One book! Victor Ganjian has written a useful book for anyone planning, deploying, or scaling out their data center business.” John E. Drake, Distinguished Engineer, Juniper Networks, Co-Author of RFC 7432: EVPN


“Ethernet VPN (EVPN) delivers a wide range of benefits that directly impact the bottom line of service providers and enterprises alike. However, adopting a new protocol is always a challenging task. This Day One book eases the adoption of EVPN technology by showing how EVPN’s advanced concepts work and then supplying validated configurations that can be downloaded to create a working network. This is a must read for all engineers looking to learn and deploy EVPN technologies.” Sachin Natu, Director, Product Management, Juniper Networks