Spectrum-X and ONES: End-to-End Observability for GPU Networks

 

The latest release of Open Networking Enterprise Suite (ONES) marks a significant milestone in network observability, introducing comprehensive telemetry support for Spectrum-X switches. This update extends the robust monitoring capabilities of ONES to Cumulus Linux, providing deep visibility into network performance, health, and traffic patterns.In today’s rapidly evolving networking landscape, achieving end-to-end visibility is paramount for maintaining optimal network performance and swiftly addressing potential issues. With ONES, Aviz Networks ensures that organizations leveraging Cumulus Linux 5.9, 5.10, and 5.11 can achieve end-to-end network visibility, enabling efficient troubleshooting, enhanced security, and performance optimization.

Why End-to-End Visibility Matters for Cumulus Networks

End-to-end visibility refers to the comprehensive monitoring and analysis of data as it traverses the entire network infrastructure. This holistic perspective is essential for:

• Proactive Issue Detection: Identifying and resolving potential problems before they escalate.
• Performance Optimization: Ensuring data flows efficiently, minimizing latency and packet loss.
• Security Enhancement: Detecting anomalies and potential security threats in real-time.
• Informed Decision-Making: Providing actionable insights for network planning and scaling.

Without such visibility, network administrators often find themselves reacting to issues after they impact operations, leading to increased downtime and reduced efficiency.

As modern data centers become increasingly complex, ensuring seamless monitoring across all network components is critical. Lack of visibility can lead to:

• Delayed Issue Resolution — Troubleshooting network problems becomes reactive rather than proactive.
• Performance Bottlenecks — Poor visibility can result in increased latency, packet loss, and inefficiencies.
• Security Risks — Without continuous monitoring, network vulnerabilities may go undetected.

To address these challenges, ONES supports agentless telemetry for Cumulus, delivering real-time insights into device health, interfaces, traffic statistics, and protocol performance.

Comprehensive Integration with Spectrum-X

Agentless Telemetry Collection

ONES supports Cumulus Linux in an agentless manner, leveraging NVUE (NVIDIA User Experience Daemon) and NGINX for telemetry data collection. NVUE exposes telemetry data through REST APIs, and NGINX acts as a web server to serve these API requests. This enables seamless integration and eliminates the need for additional agents.

Real-World Insights

• Live Dashboard View: Real-time visibility into device performance and health metrics.
• RoCE Telemetry: Detailed tracking of PFC packets and queue performance, crucial for optimizing RDMA traffic.

• Unified Monitoring Experience: A consistent monitoring platform for both SONiC and Cumulus Linux devices, simplifying network management.

Advanced Rule Engine for Proactive Monitoring

ONES 3.1 integrates an advanced Rule Engine that enhances network management by providing automated alerts and notifications. This feature allows administrators to:

• Define Custom Rules for monitoring critical Cumulus device metrics.

• Receive Real-Time Alerts via Slack, Zendesk, and other integrations.

AI/ML Topology Visualization

ONES provides comprehensive topology visualization with full support for Cumulus devices. Users can:

• Monitor AI/ML Fabric for performance optimization.

• Visualize and manage network connections in data center environments.

Benefits of Deploying ONES with Cumulus Devices

Implementing ONES within a Cumulus-powered network infrastructure offers several advantages:

• Unified Monitoring Platform: Organisations can now monitor both SONiC and Cumulus devices through a single pane of glass, streamlining operations and reducing complexity.
• Enhanced Troubleshooting Capabilities: Detailed telemetry data accelerates the identification and resolution of network issues, minimizing downtime and improving service reliability.
• Scalability: ONES is designed to handle the demands of large-scale networks, ensuring that as your infrastructure grows, your monitoring capabilities scale accordingly.
• Security and Compliance: Comprehensive monitoring aids in maintaining security postures and ensuring compliance with industry standards by providing visibility into all network activities.
• Enhanced Security by detecting anomalies and ensuring compliance.
• Optimized Performance through RoCE visibility and advanced traffic analysis.

Conclusion

ONES sets a new standard for network observability, delivering end-to-end visibility for Spectrum-X platforms. With agentless telemetry, extensive metrics coverage, and unified monitoring, it empowers organizations to optimize network performance, security, and operational efficiency.

FAQ’s

1. What is end-to-end observability in Spectrum-X networks and why is it important?
A. End-to-end observability refers to the ability to monitor data flow and network health from source to destination across the entire infrastructure. In Spectrum-X environments, this ensures reduced latency, faster troubleshooting, and better performance tuning — especially vital for AI/ML workloads and RDMA (RoCE) traffic.

2. How does ONES enable agentless telemetry for Cumulus Linux-based Spectrum-X switches?
A. ONES collects telemetry using NVUE (NVIDIA User Experience Daemon) via REST APIs and serves it through NGINX, eliminating the need for extra agents. This streamlines deployment while ensuring real-time visibility into Cumulus devices running versions 5.9, 5.10, and 5.11.

3. Can ONES monitor both SONiC and Cumulus devices from a single dashboard?
A. Yes. ONES 3.1 offers unified observability across SONiC and Cumulus Linux devices through a single interface — simplifying network monitoring in hybrid, multi-vendor environments and enabling consistent rule-based alerts and insights.

4. How does ONES support RoCE traffic visibility for optimizing GPU clusters?
A. ONES provides detailed metrics on Priority Flow Control (PFC) and queue-level performance, enabling visibility into RoCE packet flows. This is critical for achieving lossless communication in GPU-driven AI clusters and fine-tuning fabric behavior.

5. What are the key benefits of integrating ONES with NVIDIA Spectrum-X for enterprise networks?
A.
   . Unified network monitoring across vendors

• Real-time alerts with an advanced Rule Engine
• Visual topology for AI/ML fabrics
• Better compliance through complete traffic visibility
• Scalability to support growing data center demands