wiki:GENIRacksHome

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GENI Racks

GENI racks are being implemented to meet the goals specified by the GPO GENI Rack Requirements. The first class of racks were "GENI Starter Racks." The GPO has discontinued the deployment of these racks. However, documentation for this project exists for the edification for prospective rack builders and can be found here. Current rack projects can be characterized as follows:

  • ExoGENI A higher cost, flexible virtual networking topologies solution including OpenFlow, that also delivers a powerful platform for multi-site cloud applications. These racks are typically deployed as an integrated part of a campus network.
  • InstaGENI - A mid-range cost, expandable GENI Racks solution that can will be deployed at a large number of campuses, delivering Internet cloud applications support, along with OpenFlow and VLAN networking. These racks are normally deployed outside a site firewall.

All GENI Racks have layer 3 connections to the Internet and layer 2 connections to the GENI core networks (curently NLR and Internet2). The racks use commodity Internet for control access to rack resources, and shared VLANS for the application and experiment data connections. The racks may also use layer 3 Internet connections for some experiments, particularly IP cloud experiments. This diagram illustrates logical connections for all the GENI Rack types:

Note: InstaGENI Racks additionally allow layer 3 connections on the Data Plane connections

Additional GENI racks information is available for various aspects of GENI Racks:

ExoGENI Racks

The ExoGENI project is an effort to implement high-performance GENI Racks via a partnership between RENaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), Duke and IBM. ExoGENI racks are assembled and tested by IBM and shipped directly to sites, where they are managed by the RENCI team. ExoGENI racks deliver support for multi-domain cloud structure with flexible virtual networking topologies that allow combining ExoGENI, Meso-scale OpenFlow and WiMAX resources. An overview of this project was presented at the GEC12 ExoGENI Presentation. Also available are an ExoGENI Design document and an ExoGENI white paper. For a more details see the ExoGENI Rack Project overview page. The up-to-date technical information about ExoGENI Racks is located on ExoGENI Wiki.

ExoGENI Components

IMPORTANT: For the most up-to-date information about GENI Racks configurations and features please visit http://wiki.exogeni.net

An ExoGENI Rack delivers the following types of systems:

  • Management Switch - An IBM G8052R switched is delivered to allow access to/from the local network provider.
  • VPN appliance - A Juniper SSG5 provides backup access to manage nodes.
  • OpenFlow-enabled switch - An IBM G8264R switch to carry experimental traffic via layer2 to GENI backbone (I2, NLR) and to local OF campus.
  • Management Node - An IBM x3650 host running Elastic Compute Cloud(EC2) with OpenStack to provision VMs and running xCat to provision bare-metal nodes. Also runs monitoring functions.
  • Worker Nodes - Ten IBM 3650 M3 Worker nodes provide both OpenStack virtualized instances and Bare-metal Xcat nodes
  • Monitoring Host - None, Monitoring is through Nagios from GMOC.

The ExoGENI resources have the following connections:

ExoGENI Specifications

IMPORTANT: For the most up-to-date information about GENI Racks configurations and features please visit http://wiki.exogeni.net

An initial inventory of the ExoGENI Rack hardware components is found here, which is superseded by the following:

Compute Resources A total of 12 hosts are in the rack to provide the Resources, Monitoring, Storage and Application functions:

  • Management node: 1 IBM x3650 M3, 2x146GB 10K SAS hard drives, 12G RAM, dual-socket 4-core Intel X5650 2.66Ghz CPU, Quad-port 1Gbps adapter
  • Worker/Bare-Metal nodes: 10 IBM x3650 M3, 1x146GB 10K SAS hard drive +1x500+GB secondary drive, 48G RAM, dual-socket 6-core Intel X5650 2.66Ghz CPU, dual 1Gbps adapter, 10G dual-port Chelseo adapter
  • Sliverable Storage: 1 IBM DS3512 storage NAS 6x1TB 7200RPM drives

Network Components

  • Management Switch: IBM BNT G8052R 1G client/10G uplink ports - Access to commodity internet.
  • OpenFlow Switch: IBM BNT G8264R 10G client/40G uplink ports - Access to GENI backbone.
  • VPN Appliance: Juniper SSG5 - Backup management access.

Misc. Components General purpose hardware included:

  • IBM PDU based on site power requirements, (GPO=IBM 5897 PDU; RENCI=DPI 5900 PDU)
  • No UPS included
  • IBM Local 2x16 Console Manager (LCM16)
  • IBM 1U 17-inch Flat Panel Console Kit (PN 172317X)

Up-to-date details about the configuration and setup of ExoGENI racks can be found in ExoGENI wiki.

ExoGENI Implementation

Any configuration or run-time requirements for the ExoGENI rack systems will be documented here, when available.

Each ExoGENI Rack systems requires a specific setup, which is to captured for each of the rack components: OpenFlow Switch, Management node, Worker Nodes, etc.. See the ExoGENI Component Setup for details about the required configuration. For help about the configuration settings, please contact help@geni.net. Some examples are available to get insight into ExoGENI Racks Administration tasks.

ExoGENI Monitoring

Monitoring data for the ExoGENI rack is collected on the management node by a Nagios aggregator and then forwarded to the GMOC. The type of data that will be available is currently being defined. ExoGENI Racks meet the GENI monitoring requirements. ExoGENI Monitoring data will be available at the GMOC SNAPP Home.

ExoGENI Site Requirements

ExoGENI racks have the following site requirements:

  • Network Setup - Define how the rack will connect to the Internet and to the GENI backbones. Ex Regional connections, connection speed, VLANs to be used, etc.
  • Site Security Requirements- Determine changes required for rack connectivity, such as FV rules, IP filters, etc.
  • Address assignment for rack components - Define which address, subnet mask, routing is to be configured for the rack components.
  • Power requirements - based on site requirements
  • Administrative accounts - Setup of site administrator account that will be created on the management/head node.
  • Delivery logistics - Details for where the rack is to be delivered, who will accept the delivers, and when the delivery will take place. Also covers any physical restrictions for the rack delivery.

If you are interested in becoming an ExoGENI deployment site, please contact us at Ilia Baldine.


InstaGENI Racks

The InstaGENI project is an effort to deploy low-end, expandable GENI Racks at large number of campuses and is typically found outside the site firewall, more details are to be added as defined. An overview of the project is available from the GEC12 InstaGENI Racks presentation. An InstaGENI Design document is available. For more details see the InstaGENI Rack Project overview page.

InstaGENI Components

Each InstaGENI racks delivers a small ProtoGENI cluster with OpenFlow networking and FOAM aggregate management. This rack includes the following types of systems:

  • Control Node - Xen Server that runs 3 VMS to provide:
    • PG boss node, web server, monitoring, and GENI API Server
    • Local File Server node
    • FOAM Controller
  • Experiment Nodes - Five nodes managed by ProtoGENI software stack, which provides boot services, account creation, experimental management, etc.
  • OpenFlow Switch - Provides internal routing and data plane connectivity to the GENI backbone (layer 2 and layer 3)
  • Management Switch - Provides control plane connectivity to the Internet (layer 3)

Following are the network connections for an InstaGENI rack:

InstaGENI Specifications

The current hardware components specification for the InstaGENI Racks includes:

Compute Resources 5 HP ProLiant DL360 G7 Server series hosts to provide the VM Server, Monitoring, Storage, and Application functions:

  • Control Node - 1 HP ProLiant DL360 G7 Server, quad-core, single-socket, 12 GB Ram, 4 TB Disk (RAID), and dual NIC
  • Experiment Nodes - 5 HP ProLiant DL360 G7 Server, six-core, dual-socket,48GB Ram, 1TB Disk, and dual NIC
  • Bare Metal Node

Network Components 2 network components to provide access to GENI core networks and commodity Internet:

  • HP ProCurve 2620 Switch (J9623A), 24 10/100/100 Mb/s ports, 2 1 Gb/s ports
  • HP ProCurve 5406zl Switch (J8697A) 48 1 Gb/s ports, 4 10 Gb/s ports

Misc. Components_ General purpose hardware also included:

  • 1 or more HP Intelignt Mod PDU
  • HP Dedicated iLO Management Port Option
  • HP TFT7600 KVM Console US Kit

InstaGENI Implementation

Configuration and run-time requirements for InstaGENI rack systems are documented here. Following are a list of available configuration details for the rack setup:

For help or questions about configuration settings or run-time requirements, please contact help@geni.net. Some examples are available to get insight into InstaGENIRacks Administration tasks.

InstaGENI Monitoring

InstaGENI Racks meet the following monitoring requirements. InstaGENI Monitoring data is currently being defined and will be available at the GMOC SNAPP home.

InstaGENI Site Requirements

InstaGENI racks have the following site requirements:

  • Network Setup - Define how the rack will connect to the Internet and to the GENI backbones. Ex Regional connections, connection speed, VLANs to be used, etc.
  • Address assignment for rack components - Define which address, subnet mask, routing is to be configured for the rack components.
  • Power requirements - based on site requirements
  • Administrative accounts - Setup of site administrator account that will be created on the management/head node.
  • Delivery logistics - Details for where the rack is to be delivered, who will accept the delivers, and when the delivery will take place. Also covers any physical restrictions for the rack delivery.

If you are interested in becoming an InstaGENI deployment site, please contact us at Rick McGeer.


Past Project

Starter Racks: No longer deployed by the GPO, this project delivered an early low-end solution for GENI Racks.

The Starter Racks project was an effort to get US Ignite cities connected to the GENI Network to facilitate experimental network and compute research, and city application development. The Starter Racks jump started the delivery of fully integrated network and compute resources to selected sites. During this period, the Starter racks did not deliver GENI software features such as an Aggregate Manager. In any case, it was possible to use a Starter Rack as a Meso-scale OpenFlow Site, but required GPO Infrastructure support for implementation. Furthermore, details were provided in the section below to build your own Starter Rack.

Starter Racks Components

A Starter Rack delivered software and hardware components that enabled a site to be a GENI site. Each GENI Starter Rack delivered the following types of systems:

  • Router - Cisco IOS router is delivered to set up standard routed IP to the local network provider.
  • OpenFlow switch - HP Procurve 6600 switch to carry experimental traffic via layer2 to GENI backbone (I2, NLR) and to carry Eucalyptus communication between local VMs.
  • Eucalyptus Head Host - Host running Eucalyptus service to manage Eucalyptus hosts and provides public interface to access Site VMs via NAT.
  • Eucalyptus Worker Hosts - Two Eucalyptus Worker hosts to provide VMs. The number of VMs allowed is based on address space available at each site.
  • Application Host (aka Bare-metal node) - A High performance host to provide experimenters a real network interfaces to be provisioned manually.
  • Monitoring Host - Monitors both compute and network resources for the GENI site.

The Rack resource above were connected as follows:

No image "GENI-StarterRacks-components.jpg" attached to GENIRacksHome

Note: The data plane connection from the Euca Head host to the Cisco router is used to provide public access Euca Worker VMs via NAT.

Starter Racks Specifications

Compute Resources

  • 5 Dell™ PowerEdge™ R510 - 1 for Eucalyptus Head, 2 for Worker hosts, 1 for Monitoring, and 1 for bare-metal node.

Network Components

  • 1 Cisco 2901 Integrated Services Router - Access to commodity internet.
  • 1 HP ProCurve 6600-48G-4Xg - Access to GENI backbone.

Misc. Components General purpose hardware included in the Starter Racks:

  • 1 APC Swiched Rack PDU - Load monitoring, remote power cycle.
  • 1 APC Smart-UPS - Network power protection
  • IOGEAR 8-port KVM switch - Console access
  • Lantronix SecureLinx Spider Compact Remote - One port for KVM over IP access

Starter Racks Implementation

Each GENI Starter Rack systems required a specific setup, which was captured for each of the rack components: Router, OpenFlow Switch, IPKVM, Eucalyptus Head Host, Eucalyptus Worker Hosts, and Monitor Node. See the Starter Component Setup for details about the required configuration. Some examples are available to get insight into Starter Racks Administration tasks.

Starter Racks Monitoring

Starter Racks met the following monitoring requirements. Monitoring data for the 3 deployed Starter Racks, GPO, Chattanooga and Cleveland was available at the GPOLab Monitor portal, where the user selected a location and received monitoring detail for System load, CPU load, Memory usage, and Network usage. In addition, Services Health was monitored on each of the GENI Starter Racks and alert notifications were available upon request. Access to the Service Health details was provided via the Service Status Details page for all Starter Rack sites.

Starter Rack Site Requirements

Starter Racks contained the following site requirements:

  • Network Setup - Define how the rack will connect to the Internet and to the GENI backbones. Ex Regional connections, connection speed, VLANs to be used, etc.
  • Site Security Requirements- Determine changes required for rack connectivity, such as FV rules, IP filters, etc.
  • Address assignment for rack components - Define which address, subnet mask, routing is to be configured for the rack components.
  • Power requirements - based on site requirements
  • Administrative accounts - Setup of site administrator account that will be created on the management/head node.
  • Delivery logistics - Details for where the rack is to be delivered, who will accept the delivers, and when the delivery will take place. Also covers any physical restrictions for the rack delivery.

Get Your Own GENI Rack

Below were some of the guidelines provided by the GPO to build your own GENI Starter Rack:

  • Develop specification for GENI racks, defining storage, compute, network resources, etc.
  • Evaluate, integrate and manage new software and configurations for rack solution.
  • Test and integrate early rack hardware and software.
  • Define acceptance criteria to demonstrate successful rack deployment.

If you would like to make your own InstaGENI or ExoGENI rack, or to be considered as a potential site for the next phase of funded deployments, contact the project PI:

  • ExoGENI PI contact: Ilia Baldine
  • InstaGENI PI contact: Rick McGeer

Email help@geni.net for GENI support or email me with feedback on this page!

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