Ethernet Ring Topology Integrated with FDDI

Architectural Description and Application Testing

By Dennis Majikas

Copyright 2005 Digital Networks. All Rights Reserved.

Ethernet Ring Topology Integrated with FDDI

Executive Summary
For well over a decade, many mission critical users have enjoyed the reliability and resiliency of FDDI networks. The fast failover that FDDI provides at
the physical connection level still remains a key requirement for many applications. With Ethernet technology evolving up to 10 Gigabits per second,
the high performance and low cost of Ethernet architecture has become extremely attractive. With the use of Ethernet ring technology in con-
junction with the FDDI to Fast Ethernet Gateway described in this document, users can now enjoy FDDI-like reliability along with the performance,
low cost, and scalability of Ethernet. Furthermore, the integration of these technologies can be achieved with extremely fast failover times and
without risk or disruption. This document describes the technologies used to integrate industry standard FDDI with “Next Generation” Ethernet
and the testing that was done with a real time streaming video application to validate these concepts.

Traditional Industry Standard Failover Mechanisms

Redundant network paths configured by creating deliberate physical network loops have long served as a viable method of achieving unattended
failover. The use of Layer 2 loop detection mechanisms such as 802.1d Spanning Tree and 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree to enable an active path and
disable an alternate path have proven to be reliable, predictable, failover techniques. Since these spanning tree technologies require real time map-
ping and activation of alternate paths, the failover time is increased by the overhead associated with calculating and activating the secondary path.

FDDI rings have enjoyed the architectural advantage of rapid (single digit millisecond) failover by "wrapping" the ring around a failed device. The token pass-
ing architecture associated with FDDI rings has proven to be fast, reliable, and deterministic. Therefore, the implementation of FDDI-like architecture with
Ethernet technology would carry all of the benefits of rapid deterministic failover along with the advantages of the low cost and high performance of
Ethernet. The Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching (EAPSTM) technology developed by Extreme Networks delivers all of these advantages.

EAPS - The “Next Generation” Ethernet Ring Technology

Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching (EAPS) architecture creates an Ethernet ring that is similar to FDDI. It combines standards-based
Ethernet technology and 802.1Q VLAN technology with a unique heartbeat monitoring mechanism that delivers extremely fast activation of the
secondary path in a ring. The reliability, practical value, and customer acceptance of EAPS technology has led to formation of an emerging
standard that is presently documented as RFC 3619. The applications that have historically required the fast failover and reliability of FDDI now
have need for greater bandwidth. These applications are perfect candidates for “next generation” Ethernet with EAPS.

"Heartbeat Monitoring" in EAPS Rings

EAPS architecture employs "health messages" that are continuously passed to its upstream and downstream neighbors. The health messages that
are used for real time monitoring of the ring topology are conveyed via a path that is isolated from other network traffic using industry standard
VLANs. Each EAPS capable switch that is a member of the EAPS ring predetermines, within itself, the alternate path that will be taken in the event
of a failure, e.g. if the health message is not received within a predetermined timeout value, the alternate path is activated. As the secondary path
is configured and completely predetermined rather than being calculated upon failure, the failover is nearly instantaneous.

The propagation of health messages through the FDDI Gateway is simply done using Layer 2 forwarding to the next EAPS capable switch.
Therefore, it is not necessary for the FDDI Gateway to be EAPS aware, nor to have VLANs configured. The health messages are simply forwarded
to the next EAPS capable node without any delay or intervention.

Network Overhead and VLANs on the EAPS ring

The EAPS architecture requires a certain level of "heartbeat monitoring" to be done among all members of the EAPS ring. This traffic, known as
health messages in EAPS architecture, is continuous and conveyed on a dedicated "control" VLAN in real time. The network utilization that is
consumed by this traffic was measured in our testing environment to be at a consistent level of less than 4-5%. Since the health messages are
confined to a dedicated VLAN, they never interfere with the performance or integrity of the application level traffic. In addition, there is a dedicated
DATA VLAN as part of the EAPS ring configuration that carries untagged Layer 2 packets.

Layer 2 Redundancy versus Layer 3 Redundancy

Redundant Layer 3 paths are quite common using established protocols such as VRRP, HSRP, etc. These failsafe methods are quite robust and
suitable for typical routed IP networks. Some applications, however may require hot standby Layer 2 paths for protocols that are not routable, such as
SCS protocol used in OpenVMS Clusters. EAPS architecture is perfectly suited for these applications as since it does not have any Layer 3 dependencies.

Copyright 2005 Digital Networks All Rights Reserved. Page 1

Ethernet Ring Topology Integrated with FDDI

Real Time Application Requirements

Low latency applications such as Voice over IP (VoIP) or streaming video cannot tolerate the slightest amount of disruption without noticeable
degradation of the audio/video quality. In the event of a media link or component failure, real time applications such as full motion video or VoIP
are adversely effected by long failover times. Failover must be rapid enough to prevent any noticeable drop out of audio or video frame loss. Also,
in the event of the failover to a secondary path, failback to the primary path is equally important once the failed link or component is repaired. This
rapid failback provides the ability to perform maintenance on a live network without disruption.

Failover/Failback
Upon failure of a network component or physical media, an alternate path must be activated. In the case of real time isochronous traffic, data
could be lost forever if the failover time exceeds the time to fill available buffers. Consequently, the pre-determined alternate path must be activated
immediately without data loss. Upon restoration of the failed component or physical connection, re-convergence of the original topology must also
occur without disruption or excessive delay. The real time video streaming application in our testing was an excellent way to see this capability.
The re-convergence time when a failure was induced in the data path of our test configuration was between 1-2 milliseconds. When a failure was
induced in a switch that was not in the application data path of the ring, there was absolutely no disruption to the application traffic performance.
When inducing a failure in the active data path of the EAPS ring (i.e. activating the secondary path), the failover time measured was typically in the
3-4 millisecond range, but it was never longer than 40 milliseconds.

Real Time Isochronous Application Testing

In the test scenario covered in this document, a video server was configured to broadcast to a video client using a full motion video application.
The network path for this application traversed both an FDDI path and an Ethernet EAPS ring between the video client and the video server. A
pair of FDDI Gateways were connected back-to-back via full duplex FDDI and the video client and server were connected via 100 Mbs full duplex
Ethernet ports. This configuration is shown in the illustration on the last page of this document.

Integrating FDDI with Extremely Fast Failover Ethernet Rings

When integrating applications that traverse a dual FDDI ring to an Ethernet ring there is an inherent expectation for fast failover on either technology.
FDDI has the intrinsic ability for fast failover due to the physical layer hardware architecture of a dual FDDI ring. EAPS achieves this same level of
“wrapped ring” failover by having the neighboring switches that are adjacent to a failed switch redirect the data packets and health messages to
the alternate path. Uniting a dual FDDI ring with an EAPS ring via an FDDI Gateway yields a resilient network design that achieves fast failover
with either technology, at any point in the network. This is especially desirable when the application traffic path traverses both the FDDI network
segment and the Ethernet network segment, as was the case in our testing.

Rings without Loops

Implementing a Layer 2 ring topology with industry standard networking equipment typically requires a loop prevention mechanism such as the
IEEE 802.1d Spanning Tree or 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree protocols. To prevent loops, these technologies will disable certain port(s) from a for-
warding state. Spanning tree also employs a closed loop awareness algorithm that determines and activates the alternate path that will be fol-
lowed in the event that the active path fails. Conversely, the EAPS architecture maintains a series of dedicated, active, closed loop, Layer 2 ports
in the forwarding state. These dedicated ports enable the propagation of health messages on a dedicated VLAN and the propagation of LAN data
packets on a separate, dedicated VLAN. The alternate path of the ring is activated immediately upon failure of an adjacent switch and will immedi-
ately forward the Layer 2 traffic and health messages.

Layer 2 Awareness of Alternate Path

EAPS technology relies on mapping of Layer 2 MAC addresses to identify a primary and secondary path within the ring. Each "EAPS aware"
device stores this information about the ring topology. An EAPS ring can also accommodate a single non-EAPS switch as a member of the ring,
without affecting failover time or functionality.

Integration with a Non-EAPS Layer 2 Network Switch

EAPS architecture permits the additional membership of a single Layer 2 Network Switch that is not EAPS capable. Hence the FDDI Gateway,
which is not EAPS capable nor EAPS aware, can be connected into an EAPS ring by utilizing the EAPS awareness capability of its adjacent neighbor

Copyright 2005 Digital Networks All Rights Reserved. Page 2

Ethernet Ring Topology Integrated with FDDI

switch. EAPS ports will only pass traffic over the active path of the ring, even though the alternate path of the ring remains physically connected
and in the forwarding state. This allows the 2 Fast Ethernet ports of the FDDI Gateway to remain active and physically connected to an EAPS ring,
with spanning tree disabled, without causing a loop. Since the Fast Ethernet ports on the FDDI Gateway are always active, they remain immedi-
ately available to forward to their EAPS neighbor port without the delay of a spanning tree reconfiguration. The decision to activate the alternate
path of the ring is made by the EAPS capable port completely independent of the non-EAPS neighbor port.

Cluster Configurations
Clusters of systems that utilize network connectivity as the "I/O subsystem" for system communication require a very robust Layer 2 data path
and fast failover to maintain system integrity. EAPS architecture is perfectly suited for this application and implementation in mission critical, real
time environments. Operating system software such as HP's OpenVMS Clusters and UNIX/Linux-based ServiceGuard clusters can fully utilize the
advantages of EAPS technology.

Summary
EAPS rings offer true Layer 2 path redundancy. Integrating FDDI rings with EAPS Ethernet rings provides an ideal method for evolving existing
FDDI networks to Ethernet based networks, while preserving the ability to have redundant paths and fast failover. Mission critical and time sensitive
applications can be handled without any risk or disruption.

Ethernet Rings Integrated with FDDI via "Gateway"

Video Video
Client Server

Extreme Extreme
Summit Summit
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 1x 2x 3 4x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 19
8 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48
FIBER FIBER
S ta ck MG MT
MG MT 1 5 FA N
FA N 2 0 P SU - I
MGMT P S U -I 3 7 P SU - E
FAN P S U -E 4 0
PSU S o l id
B lin k in g
CONSOLE
E xtreme Networks S ummit 200-48 E x tre me N e twork s S ummit 4 0 0 - 4 8 t
C ON S OLE

FDDI Dual, Active

DAS Gateway Full Duplex
FDDI Fast Ethernet TM
V Ns witch 900F X

Full Duplex FDDI V Ns witch 900F X

EAPS Ring
B

B
2
3

2
3
P

P
A

A
D

D
F

F
F

D
F
D

D
1

1
F

F
0

0
2

3
1

1
F

F
F

F
B
A

B
A

DAS VN900FX or FDDI Ring VN900FX (RFC 3619)

FDDI

POR TS 1 - 26 FIBER 1x 2x 3 4x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48
GR EEN = FIBER LINK SELECTED
GR EEN = LINK OK OFF
FLASHING = ACTIVITY = 1000BAS E-T LINK SELECTED
S ta ck MG MT
OFF = NO LINK OR DISABLE D
MG MT 1 5 FA N
25 25
STACK NO FA N 2 0 P SU - I
MGMT FIBER P S U -I 3 7 P SU - E
FAN 26 P S U -E 4 0
PSU S o l id
FIBER B lin k in g
26 CONSOLE
E xtreme Networks S ummit 200-24 E x tre me N e twork s S ummit 4 0 0 - 4 8 t
C ON S OLE

Extreme Extreme
Summit Summit

Digital Networks is your authorized reseller of Extreme Networks’ products.

Copyright 2005 Digital Networks All Rights Reserved. Page 3

Extreme Networks and EAPS are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Extreme Networks, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Digital Networks
US H.Q. DNPG LLC, 20 North Wentworth Avenue, Londonderry, NH 03053 USA.
Toll Free: (877) 341-9594 Telephone: (603) 216-6000 Web: www.digitalnetworks.net
European H.Q. Kestrel Court, Vyne Road, Sherborne St John, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG24 9HJ UK.
Telephone: +44 1256 855600 Facsimile: +44 1256 855616 Web: www.digitalnetworks.eu.com

Copyright 2005 Digital Networks All Rights Reserved.