Aviz Networks details FTAS 2.3 SONiC tests for EVPN/VXLAN MCLAG and ECMP eBGP

Aviz Networks’ Fabric Test Automation Suite (FTAS) 2.3 adds new SONiC deployment-readiness test coverage focused on data center interconnect features, including EVPN/VXLAN scenarios, L2/L3 MCLAG tests, and ECMP scaling with eBGP. For enterprise IT and security leaders, the update targets pre-deployment validation and scale and fault-tolerance checks in network designs.

Research Overview

FTAS is described as a set of test cases for evaluating SONiC deployment readiness. The vendor states that FTAS 2.3 reflects work aligned with recent SONiC releases and customer feedback.

The blog frames FTAS 2.3 as a mechanism to refine SONiC assessment and streamline pre-deployment testing. It also emphasizes expanded test-case coverage based on customer deployments.

Key Findings

FTAS 2.3 introduces new EVPN with VXLAN test scenarios, plus additional MCLAG use cases for both L2 and L3 validation. The release also extends ECMP testing to include eBGP scalability scenarios.

For the EVPN/VXLAN section, the blog lists specific verification and traffic scenarios that include known unicast and BUM traffic handling under eBGP conditions. For MCLAG, the blog lists steady-state and failure-mode scenarios, including link down events and active or standby reboot events.

Technical Breakdown

The blog describes Data Center Interconnect (DCI) as involving EVPN, VXLAN, and MCLAG working together for control-plane operations and network virtualization. It associates EVPN with control-plane management, VXLAN with virtual network extension, and MCLAG with redundancy and load balancing.

For BGP-EVPN with VXLAN scenarios, the blog states coverage for EVPN VXLAN configuration and verification, plus known unicast and BUM traffic cases using eBGP with RIF or SVI. It also lists router failure and link event scenarios with RIF and SVI, including cases with RPCH.

EVPN/VXLAN scenarios listed in FTAS 2.3

The blog enumerates EVPN VXLAN traffic and verification scenarios, including known unicast and BUM traffic with eBGP using RIF or SVI. It also lists symmetric and asymmetric IRB scenarios using combinations of eBGP or iBGP, with RIF, SVI, or RPCH.

Among the listed items are EVPN VXLAN for known unicast traffic with link events and router failure under eBGP with RIF, plus similar cases under eBGP with SVI and RPCH. The blog further includes symmetric IRB cases using EVPN eBGP-RIF, iBGP-RIF, iBGP-SVI, eBGP-RPCH, and iBGP-RPCH, along with asymmetric IRB cases using EVPN eBGP and iBGP.

MCLAG use cases included in FTAS 2.3

The blog defines MCLAG as Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation intended to provide redundancy and prevent downtime during switch failure by transferring traffic to a backup switch. It presents FTAS 2.3 MCLAG test coverage as based on customer deployments.

For L2 MCLAG, the listed scenarios include steady state with port channel and VLAN on the peer link, port member link down, peer link down, and active or standby reboot. For L3 MCLAG, the blog lists MC-LAG L3 validation using port channel configuration, member link down events for Spine1, MC-LAG keepalive link down, and active or standby reboot.

ECMP scaling and eBGP scenarios in FTAS 2.3

The blog describes ECMP as distributing traffic across equal-cost paths and calls out load balancing, bandwidth utilization, and fault tolerance in data center environments. It states FTAS 2.3 introduces eBGP support to enhance ECMP scalability.

The listed ECMP eBGP scalability scenarios specify testing to 16 ECMP paths with 32K eBGP routes, 32 ECMP paths with 64K eBGP routes, 64 ECMP paths with 128K eBGP routes, and a case described as ECMP paths with 1K eBGP routes per path.

Operational Impact

FTAS 2.3 is positioned as a way to conduct pre-deployment testing for SONiC deployments with added coverage for DCI-related features. The additions cover configuration and verification for EVPN/VXLAN, operational resilience scenarios for MCLAG, and scaling scenarios for ECMP with eBGP.

The blog’s framing ties the new test cases to reducing gaps in assessment by expanding coverage for scenarios drawn from customer deployments. It also links ECMP eBGP scalability additions to validation for larger route and path counts.

FTAS 2.3 is presented as a release that expands SONiC assessment with added VXLAN EVPN scenarios, L2/L3 MCLAG test coverage, and ECMP scalability support with eBGP. It is relevant to enterprise decision-makers who need repeatable pre-deployment validation aligned to network scaling and fault-tolerance test cases. This “Blog Signals brief” is a fact-based summary of the vendor blog.