Equipment needed to build vxlan evpn

[rkdgus2344]

I'm thinking of using Vxlan for my new data center configuration.

The question is are the vxlan evpn equipment rolls fixed?

For example leaf = N9300
spine = N9500

As far as I know, you can use it as a spine if you have the ibgp-rr function.

I think it will be possible with the n9300 as well.

spine = N9K-C93180YC-FX-24

leaf = N9K-C9348GC-FXP

Any problems when using the n9300 as a spine?

[Sergiu.Daniluk]

Hi @rkdgus2344 

First of all, thanks for being part of the community (first question)!

Second, to answer your question: yes, you can have Nexus 9300 familyboth as leaf and as spine, but (there is always a but) only some specific models can be used as leafs, only some specific models can be used as spines, and only some other specific models can be used both as leafs and spines.

To verify which Nexus switches can act as spines and which ones can act as leafs, you can have a look at the compare webpage:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/models-comparison.html

For example, the Nexus 9300-40G series , all models can be both spines and leafs, if they are running in NXOS mode.

Nexus 9364C	Nexus 9336C-FX2	Nexus 9336C-FX2-E	Nexus 9332C	Nexus 9364C-GX
Usage	ACI spine & NXOS(Leaf/spine), powered by Cloud Scale	ACI leaf & NXOS(Leaf/spine), powered by Cloud Scale	ACI leaf & NXOS(Leaf/spine), powered by Cloud Scale	ACI spine & NXOS(Leaf/spine), powered by Cloud Scale	ACI (leaf/spine) & NXOS(Leaf/spine),

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/nexus-9300-40GE-switches-comparison.html

Stay safe,

Sergiu

[rkdgus2344]

Can these be used only as leaf?

thanks

[Sergiu.Daniluk · Accepted solution]

Correct. Only as leafs.

Sergiu

[f00z]

Anything can be a spine, the spines only need L3 routing capability for ipv4, like OSPF for example is all the spines need.  The spines do not even need to run BGP or know anything about vxlan or EVPN.  A pair of route reflectors or use some leafs as route reflectors would be needed. Normally the spines act as the route reflectors but it's not necessary. 

Anything that supports EVPN should be able to be used as a leaf unless the vendor locks you out of certain things (like being able to make a VTEP) which would be silly. 

So for example one could use a nexus 3k as a spine, or even an old 6509, although the latter would be a waste to use.   

Above post is EVPN/vxlan only and not related to ACI at all, as that's a proprietary design and you ARE locked into it.