Interfaces#

The Interfaces application provides two resources - Interface and Breakout.

Interface#

TOPOLOGY → IInterface

The Interface resource declaratively defines abstracted network interfaces for the range of supported network operating systems and supports three primary interface types:

• Standard Interface: Individual physical interfaces
• LAG (Link Aggregation Group): Bundled interfaces operating as a single logical link
• Loopback: Virtual interfaces for management and routing purposes

Basic Configuration Fields#

In the basic scenario of configuring a simple interface the following basic configuration fields are typically set:

• Type: An interface type - standard, lag or loopback.
• Members: A list of objects where each object is a reference to a node name and its associated physical interface name.
  The interface name is provided in the normalized way, non alphanumerical characters are replaced with - (dash). For example, original interface name ethernet-1/13 becomes ethernet-1-13.
• Enabled State: Interfaces are enabled by default but can be explicitly disabled
• Description: Optional text description of the interface
• MTU: Maximum Transmission Unit (range: 1450-9500)

Add the metadata blob that includes the Interface resource Name, Namespace and Labels, and you get a valid EDA resource that you can apply, for example to your Try EDA cluster.

When applied, the resource presented below will create a simple physical network interface configuration on the supported network OS with the user-provided values and the resource defaults.

apiVersion: interfaces.eda.nokia.com/v1alpha1
kind: Interface
metadata:
  name: leaf1-ethernet-1-13
  namespace: eda
  labels:
    eda.nokia.com/role: edge
spec:
  type: interface
  description: "Customer facing interface"
  enabled: true
  mtu: 9000
  members:
    - node: leaf1
      interface: ethernet-1-13

cat << 'EOF' | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: interfaces.eda.nokia.com/v1alpha1
kind: Interface
metadata:
  name: leaf1-ethernet-1-13
  namespace: eda
  labels:
    eda.nokia.com/role: edge
spec:
  type: interface
  description: "Customer facing interface"
  enabled: true
  mtu: 9000
  members:
    - node: leaf1
      interface: ethernet-1-13

EOF

Interface Naming and Normalization#

The Interface application employs a standardized, or normalized, format for interface names within its configurations. This approach ensures consistency when defining interfaces across diverse network operating systems (NOS). The system subsequently translates these normalized names into the specific format required by each target OS.

A key aspect of EDA's interface modeling is the use of normalized interface names. Typically, an OS-native interface name like ethernet-1/13 is represented as ethernet-1-13 in EDA configurations by replacing non-alphanumeric characters (like /) with a dash (-). This normalized name is then used by the system to derive the OS-specific interface identifier.

The following subsections detail how these normalized EDA interface names are translated for various supported operating systems, based on the underlying logic.

SR Linux#

• Native interface name ethernet-1/1 is normalized as ethernet-1-1.
• Breakout interfaces like ethernet-1/1/1 become ethernet-1-1-1.
• Loopback interfaces such as lo0 translate to loopback-0.
• LAG interfaces like lag10 translate to lag-10.

SR OS#

• Native port identifier 1/1/1 translates to ethernet-1-a-1 name, where "a" is the first MDA on a 1^st line card.
• The system supports more complex mappings for different hardware configurations:
  • Port 2/2/1 translates to ethernet-2-b-1 (representing linecard 2, MDA "b"², port 1).
  • Breakout (implicit MDA 1): 1/1/c1/1 translates to ethernet-1-1-1.
  • Breakout (explicit "a" for MDA 1): 1/1/c2/1 translates to ethernet-1-a-2-1 (where MDA "a" maps to 1, and "2-1" defines the port as c2/1).
  • XIOM MDA: 1/x1/1/1 translates to ethernet-1-1-a-1.
• Loopback interfaces like lo0 become loopback-0.
• LAG interfaces retain names like lag-10.

Ethernet Configuration#

The Interface application provides extensive Ethernet-specific configurations through the ethernet property, including:

• Speed: Interface speed (100G, 40G, 25G, 10G, 1G, etc.)
• Forward Error Correction (FEC): Various FEC modes (disabled, rs528, rs544, baser, rs108)
• Timers: Hold-up, hold-down, and reload delay timers
• Storm Control: Traffic rate limiting for broadcast, multicast, and unknown unicast
• L2CP Protocol Transparency: Configuration for tunneling various L2CP protocols

Storm Control Configuration#

Storm control helps protect the network from traffic storms by setting rate limits:

apiVersion: interfaces.eda.nokia.com/v1alpha1
kind: Interface
metadata:
  name: example-interface
  namespace: eda
  labels:
    eda.nokia.com/role: edge
spec:
  type: interface
  description: "Customer facing interface with storm control enabled"
  enabled: true
  mtu: 9000
  ethernet:
    stormControl:
      enabled: true
      units: kbps
      broadcastRate: 1000000
      multicastRate: 1000000
      unknownUnicastRate: 1000000
  members:
    - node: leaf-1
      interface: ethernet-1-1

cat << 'EOF' | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: interfaces.eda.nokia.com/v1alpha1
kind: Interface
metadata:
  name: example-interface
  namespace: eda
  labels:
    eda.nokia.com/role: edge
spec:
  type: interface
  description: "Customer facing interface with storm control enabled"
  enabled: true
  mtu: 9000
  ethernet:
    stormControl:
      enabled: true
      units: kbps
      broadcastRate: 1000000
      multicastRate: 1000000
      unknownUnicastRate: 1000000
  members:
    - node: leaf-1
      interface: ethernet-1-1
EOF

LAG Configuration#

Link Aggregation Groups (LAGs) provide link redundancy and increased bandwidth. The Interface application supports both regular/local LAGs (with static and LACP-based configurations) as well as ESI-based¹ multihoming LAGs.

The following set of Interface objects is relevant for the LAG interface configuration:

• Minimum Links: Minimum required number of active links in a LAG to be operational
• LACP Settings: Mode, interval, system priority, and admin key
• Multi-homing: ESI configuration for multi-chassis operation

Example LAG Configuration#

apiVersion: interfaces.eda.nokia.com/v1alpha1
kind: Interface
metadata:
  name: leaf1-simple-lag
  namespace: eda
  labels:
    eda.nokia.com/role: edge
spec:
  type: lag
  description: "Customer facing lag"
  enabled: true
  mtu: 9000
  lag:
    type: lacp
    minLinks: 2
    lacp:
      mode: active
      interval: fast
      systemPriority: 32768
  members:
    - node: leaf1
      interface: ethernet-1-14
    - node: leaf1
      interface: ethernet-1-15

cat << 'EOF' | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: interfaces.eda.nokia.com/v1alpha1
kind: Interface
metadata:
  name: leaf1-simple-lag
  namespace: eda
  labels:
    eda.nokia.com/role: edge
spec:
  type: lag
  description: "Customer facing lag"
  enabled: true
  mtu: 9000
  lag:
    type: lacp
    minLinks: 2
    lacp:
      mode: active
      interval: fast
      systemPriority: 32768
  members:
    - node: leaf1
      interface: ethernet-1-14
    - node: leaf1
      interface: ethernet-1-15

EOF

Multi-homing Support#

The Interface application supports sophisticated multi-homing configurations for LAGs based on EVPN standard, enabling high availability and load balancing:

• Modes: all-active, single-active, or port-active
• ESI: Ethernet Segment Identifier configuration
• Active Node Preference: Preferred node selection for single-active scenarios
• Revertive Behavior: Controls failback behavior

Multi-homing Configuration Example#

apiVersion: interfaces.eda.nokia.com/v1alpha1
kind: Interface
metadata:
  name: leaf1-leaf2-simple-mh-lag
  namespace: eda
  labels:
    eda.nokia.com/role: edge
spec:
  type: lag
  description: "Customer facing multihoming lag"
  enabled: true
  mtu: 9000
  lag:
    type: lacp
    minLinks: 2
    multihoming:
      mode: all-active
      preferredActiveNode: leaf1
      revertive: true
    lacp:
      mode: active
      interval: fast
      systemPriority: 32768
  members:
    - node: leaf1
      interface: ethernet-1-20
    - node: leaf2
      interface: ethernet-1-20

cat << 'EOF'  | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: interfaces.eda.nokia.com/v1alpha1
kind: Interface
metadata:
  name: leaf1-leaf2-simple-mh-lag
  namespace: eda
  labels:
    eda.nokia.com/role: edge
spec:
  type: lag
  description: "Customer facing multihoming lag"
  enabled: true
  mtu: 9000
  lag:
    type: lacp
    minLinks: 2
    multihoming:
      mode: all-active
      preferredActiveNode: leaf1
      revertive: true
    lacp:
      mode: active
      interval: fast
      systemPriority: 32768
  members:
    - node: leaf1
      interface: ethernet-1-20
    - node: leaf2
      interface: ethernet-1-20

EOF

Operational State#

The Interface application maintains detailed operational state information, including:

• Administrative and operational status
• Interface speed
• Last state change timestamp
• Member status and neighbor discovery
• LAG-specific operational details

You can verify the interface operational state using:

kubectl -A get interfaces

NAME               ENABLED   OPERATIONAL STATE   SPEED   LAST CHANGE   AGE
customer-facing    true      up                 100G    2m            10m

Breakout#

TOPOLOGY → BBreakout

The Breakout resource allows for the configuration of interface breakouts on specified Nodes. This resource specifies the Nodes, parent Interfaces, the number of breakout channels, and the speed of each channel.

Configuration Fields#

• node: A list of references to TopoNodes where the parent interfaces are to be broken out.
• interface: A list of normalized parent interface/port names to be broken out.
• channels: (Required) The number of breakout channels to create (integer, min: 1, max: 8).
• speed: (Required) The speed of each breakout channel. Supported speeds are: 800G, 400G, 200G, 100G, 50G, 40G, 25G, 10G.
• nodeSelector: An alternative way to specify the TopoNode(s) where the parent interfaces are to be broken out.

Example Breakout Configuration#

This example demonstrates how to configure a breakout port.

apiVersion: interfaces.eda.nokia.com/v1alpha1
kind: Breakout
metadata:
  name: breakout-example
  namespace: default
spec:
  node:
    - node-1 # Name of the TopoNode
  interface:
    - ethernet-1-1 # Name of the parent interface on node-1
  channels: 4
  speed: 100G

cat << 'EOF'  | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: interfaces.eda.nokia.com/v1alpha1
kind: Breakout
metadata:
  name: breakout-example
  namespace: default
spec:
  node:
    - node-1 # Name of the TopoNode
  interface:
    - ethernet-1-1 # Name of the parent interface on node-1
  channels: 4
  speed: 100G
EOF