JUNOS High Availability

Chapter 15. Transitioning Routing and Switching to a Multivendor Environment

While most networks begin as single-vendor efforts, very few stay that way. Mature networks, whether owned by an enterprise or by a service provider, are a reflection of the need to reduce costs or expand functionality by taking advantage of products from multiple vendors. Often the transition from a single-vendor network to a multivendor network is painful, involving frustration during the testing, implementation, and support cycles. In this chapter, we give examples, advice, and recommendations for a safe transition to a multivendor network that has no visible impact/effect on the operation of the network.

This chapter starts by explaining, at a high level, how transitioning to (and in some cases through) a multivendor network can be accomplished in the context of two common architectural models. Later sections show some of the configuration elements needed to implement these high-level concepts and describe a few of the more common problems encountered while doing so.