HP 12500 Series User manual

HP 12500 Routing Switch Series
IRF
Configuration Guide
Part number: 5998-3408
Document version: 6W710-20121130
Software version: 12500-CMW710-R7128

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© Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
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The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.
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additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained
herein.

i
Contents
IRF overview································································································································································································· 1
Hardware compatibility··············································································································································································1
IRF benefits ·····································································································································································································1
Application scenario····················································································································································································1
Network topologies·····················································································································································································2
Basic concepts ·······························································································································································································2
Operating mode ·················································································································································································4
IRF member roles ···············································································································································································4
IRF member ID·····················································································································································································5
MPU roles······························································································································································································5
IRF port···································································································································································································5
IRF domain ID ······················································································································································································6
IRF split ···································································································································································································7
IRF merge ······························································································································································································7
Member priority··················································································································································································7
Master election······························································································································································································7
IRF multi-active detection·········································································································································································8
Multi-active handling procedure ·················································································································································8
LACP MAD·····························································································································································································9
BFD MAD ·····························································································································································································10
ARP MAD·····························································································································································································11
Configuring IRF·························································································································································································13
General restrictions and configuration guidelines························································································································13
Software requirements···································································································································································13
IRF fabric size ·····················································································································································································13
MPU and IRF port restrictions·····················································································································································13
IRF link redundancy·········································································································································································13
Feature and IRF mode compatibility ········································································································································13
MAD·······································································································································································································14
Other configuration guidelines ··················································································································································14
Setup and configuration task list ·························································································································································14
Planning the IRF fabric setup·································································································································································15
Preconfiguring IRF member devices in standalone mode·········································································································16
Assigning a member ID to each IRF member device ········································································································16
Specifying a priority for each member device ·····················································································································16
Binding physical ports to IRF ports···········································································································································16
Enabling enhanced IRF mode in standalone mode······················································································································17
Saving configuration to the next-startup configuration file·····································································································18
Connecting IRF physical ports·······························································································································································18
Setting the operating mode to IRF mode ········································································································································19
Accessing the IRF fabric ···········································································································································································20
Configuring IRF member devices in IRF mode·······························································································································20
Assigning an IRF domain ID to the IRF fabric·······················································································································20
Changing the member ID of a device······································································································································21
Changing the priority of a member device ···························································································································22
Adding physical ports to an IRF port ·······································································································································22
Enabling enhanced IRF mode in IRF mode····························································································································24
Enabling auto reboot for IRF fabric merge····························································································································25

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Configuring a member device description ····························································································································25
Configuring IRF bridge MAC persistence·······························································································································25
Enabling software auto-update for system software image synchronization·························································26
Setting the IRF link down report delay····································································································································27
Enabling IRF link failure detection and auto-recovery······································································································28
Configuring MAD ·············································································································································································28
Fast-restoring IRF configuration for a one-MPU member ········································································································36
Displaying and maintaining an IRF fabric·········································································································································37
Configuration examples···········································································································································································38
LACP MAD-enabled IRF configuration example for a two-chassis IRF fabric ·························································38
BFD MAD-enabled IRF configuration example for a two-chassis IRF fabric····························································42
ARP MAD-enabled IRF configuration example for a two-chassis IRF fabric····························································45
Enhanced IRF mode configuration example ·························································································································47
Restoring standalone mode ························································································································································52
Index ·············································································································································································································55

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IRF overview
The HP Intelligent Resilient Framework (IRF) technology creates a large switching system called an
"IRF fabric" from multiple devices to provide data center class availability and scalability. IRF
virtualization technology offers processing power, interaction, unified management, and
uninterrupted maintenance of multiple devices.
This book describes IRF concepts and guides you through the IRF setup procedure.
Hardware compatibility
An HP 12500 switch can form an IRF fabric only with devices in the same series.
IRF benefits
IRF delivers the following benefits:
•Simplified topology and easy management—An IRF fabric appears as one node and is
accessible at a single IP address on the network. You can use this IP address to log in at any
member device to manage all the members of the IRF fabric. In addition, you do not need to
run the spanning tree feature among the IRF members.
•1:N redundancy—In an IRF fabric, one member works as the master to manage and control
the entire IRF fabric, and all other members process services while backing up the master.
When the master fails, all the other member devices elect a new master from among them to
take over without interrupting services.
•IRF link aggregation—You can assign several physical links between neighboring members to
their IRF ports to create a load-balanced aggregate IRF connection with redundancy.
•Multiple-chassis link aggregation—You can use the Ethernet link aggregation feature to
aggregate the physical links between the IRF fabric and its upstream or downstream devices
across the IRF members.
•Network scalability and resiliency—Processing capacity of an IRF fabric equals the total
processing capacities of all the members. You can increase ports, network bandwidth, and
processing capacity of an IRF fabric simply by adding member devices without changing the
network topology.
Application scenario
Figure 1 shows an IRF fabric that comprises two devices, which appear as a single node to the
upper and lower layer devices.

2
Figure 1 IRF application scenario
Network topologies
An IRF fabric can use a daisy chain topology or a ring topology. Full mesh topology is not
supported. For information about connecting IRF member devices, see "Connecting IRF physical
ports."
Basic concepts
This section uses Figure 2 to describe the basic concepts that you might encounter when working
with IRF.
IP network
IRF
IP network
IRF link Equal to
Master Standby

3
Figure 2 Two-chassis IRF fabric implementation schematic diagram
In this figure, Device A and Device B form a two-chassis IRF fabric that has four MPUs (one active
and three standbys) and two times the number of interface cards that a single device provides. The
IRF fabric manages the physical and software resources of Device A and Device B in a centralized
manner.
You can scale this two-chassis IRF fabric to a four-chassis IRF fabric for higher port density and
availability, as shown in Figure 3.

4
Figure 3 Four-chassis IRF fabric implementation schematic diagram
Operating mode
The device operates in one of the following modes:
•Standalone mode—The device cannot form an IRF fabric with other devices.
•IRF mode—The device can form an IRF fabric with other devices.
IRF member roles
IRF uses two member roles: master and standby.
When devices form an IRF fabric, they elect a master to manage and control the IRF fabric, and all
standby devices back up the master. When the master device fails, the standby devices

5
automatically elect a new master from among them to take over. For more information about
master election, see "Master election."
While backing up the master, all standby devices process and forward traffic independently.
IRF member ID
An IRF fabric uses member IDs to uniquely identify and manage its members. If two devices have
the same IRF member ID, they cannot form an IRF fabric. If the IRF member ID of a device has been
used in an IRF fabric, the device cannot join the fabric.
Member ID information is included as the first part of interface numbers and file paths to uniquely
identify interfaces and files in an IRF fabric. For example, after you assign a device with member ID
2 to an IRF fabric, the name of interface GigabitEthernet 3/0/1 changes to GigabitEthernet 2/3/0/1,
and the file path slot1#flash:/test.cfg changes to chassis2#slot1#flash:/test.cfg.
By default, the standby MPU of a device is automatically assigned the same ID as the active MPU.
You can change the standby MPU ID of one member device to quickly recover IRF configuration for
another member device that has only one MPU, as described in "Fast-restoring IRF configuration
for a one-MPU member."
MPU roles
Each IRF member device has one or two MPUs, which play different roles, as follows:
Role Description
Master MPU
Active MPU of the master device. It is also called the "global active MPU" in
Comware 5 documentation. You configure and manage the entire IRF fabric
at the CLI of the master MPU.
Active MPU
Active MPU on each member device. An active MPU has the following
responsibilities:
•Manages the local device, including synchronizing configuration with the
local standby MPU, processing protocol packets, and creating and
maintaining route entries.
•Handles IRF related events, such as master election and topology
collection.
Standby MPU
For the master MPU, all other MPUs, including active MPUs on standby
devices, are standby MPUs.
If a member device has two MPUs, the one backing up the local active MPU
is the local standby MPU from the perspective of the member device. A local
standby MPU does not process traffic.
IRF port
An IRF port is a logical interface for the connection between IRF member devices. Every IRF-capable
device supports two IRF ports. They forward IRF protocol packets and data packets that must travel
across IRF member devices.
In standalone mode, the IRF ports are named IRF-port 1 and IRF-port 2.

6
In IRF mode, the IRF ports are named IRF-port n/1 and IRF-port n/2, where nis the member ID of
the device. The two IRF ports are referred to as "IRF-port 1" and "IRF-port 2" in this book for
simplicity.
To use an IRF port, you must bind at least one physical port to it. These ports are called "IRF
physical ports."
The physical ports assigned to an IRF port automatically form an aggregate IRF link. An IRF port
goes down only if all its member physical ports are down.
For two neighboring devices, their IRF physical links must be bound to IRF-port 1 on one device
and to IRF-port 2 on the other.
IRF domain ID
One IRF fabric forms one IRF domain. IRF uses IRF domain IDs to uniquely identify IRF fabrics and
prevent IRF fabrics from interfering with one another.
As shown in Figure 4, Device A and Device B form IRF fabric 1, and Device C and Device D form IRF
fabric 2. Both fabrics use the LACP aggregate links between them for MAD. When a member device
in one IRF fabric receives an extended LACP packet for MAD, it looks at the domain ID in the packet
to see whether the packet is from the local IRF fabric or from a different IRF fabric. Then, the device
can handle the packet correctly.
Figure 4 A network that comprises two IRF domains