swXtchBridge Topologies

WHAT TO EXPECT

In this article, we will review the different swXtchBridge topologies available in order to understand what makes sense for your environment.

A Flexible Way to Bridge

One benefit of the swXtchBridge is how flexible it is with a user’s on-premises configuration. Depending on their performance or security needs, a user can designate a NIC for their multicast, data, and control plane traffic. This selection occurs when promoted by the swXtchBridge installer. Users can set their interfaces to share a NIC or have their own. 

We will review these different configurations, their drawbacks, and their benefits.

swXtchBridge with 2 NICS

In this configuration, users have two NICs for their swXtchBridge. One NIC (eth1) is used for multicast and data plane traffic, while the other (eth0) is used strictly for control. We recommend this setup because it requires the least amount of configuration and only requires two NICs. It is also deployed by a majority of our users.

Alternative 2 NIC Bridge Configuration

Alternatively, you can have data and control plane traffic share a single NIC. This would require users to configure their control traffic to tunnel through the data interface. Having the data and control plane share the same interface can introduce a few unknowns. It is recommended that you contact support@swXtch.io if you require this configuration.

swXtchBridge with 3 NICs

In this configuration, users will have three NICs for their SwXtchBridge. Each NIC will be assigned a different interface. While this also requires minimal setup, users may not have the infrastructure and resources to allot an individual hardware NIC for each interface. Users who require more control over their network and the ability to segregate network traffic efficiently without saturating their individual hardware NICs will benefit from this setup.

swXtchBridge with Single NIC

In this configuration, users will only have a single NIC for their swXtchBridge. This means that the multicast, data, and control plane will all share a single NIC for their respective traffic. While this requires the least amount of physical infrastructure, users will need to configure their control plane traffic to tunnel using the data plane. In addition, high-performance mode will not be available.

NOTE about High Performance mode and SSH access

When using High-Performance mode, the Data interface will be used by DPDK. If the system has only one NIC, you also have the Control and User interface on that NIC. But having only one NIC using DPDK will prevent the use for other tasks, like SSH connections, because DPDK bypasses the kernel.

So you will need an extra NON-DPDK NIC to log in.

If the swXtchBridge machine is bare metal, you can use one NIC, but you will have to log in using physical means.