What is Campus Fabric Architecture?
The Campus Fabric Architecture enables the use of routed-access network and build either layer2/layer3 overlay networks and provide segment (VLAN, virtual networks) based topologies to connect devices.
What are the benefits of Campus Fabric Architecture?
Flexible Connectivity: VXLAN overlay provides Layer2, Layer3 extension across campuses without any changes to the underlay network and avoiding Spanning-tree completely.
Reduced flooding and learning: Control plane based L2 and L3 learning with BUM(Broadcast, Unicast, Multicast) traffic suppression reduces the flood and learn issues associated with data plane learning.
Scalability: Campus Fabrics can easily scale to accommodate a growing number of devices and users. Eg: In a Campus Fabric, core switches only learn the access layer switches addresses instead of the device endpoint addresses.
Security: With group-based policy (GBP), you can enable micro segmentation with EVPN-VXLAN to provide traffic isolation within and between broadcast domains.
Simplified Management: A Fabric operates as a single entity, simplifying network administration and reducing operational complexity.
Consistency: A universal EVPN-VXLAN-based architecture across disparate campus and data center deployments enables a seamless end-to-end network for endpoints and applications.
Building Blocks of Campus Fabric Network
HPE Aruba Networking AOS-CX Switches:
Campus Core (Route Reflector), Campus Access(Edge), Wireless Aggregation (Stub), WAN Aggregation (Border) and WLAN Gateways are the fundamental hardware components that form the physical foundation of a campus fabric.
Network Fabrics:
VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) and EVPN (Ethernet VPN) are two common protocols used to create network overlays on top of the physical network. Virtual overlays logically separate network traffic on top of the physical network infrastructure. This enables you to create multiple virtual networks on a single physical network.
Management Tools:
Campus fabrics are typically managed by a centralized management tool. Aruba Central NetConductor provides a centralized platform for managing, configuring, and monitoring the entire campus fabric.
Networking & Security 