Apstra is data center fabric management and automation software.

• Apstra delivers reliable data center operations and automation through intent-based networking (IBN).
• Apstra creates a single point of management from Day 0 through Day 2+ operations.
• It’s the only solution in the industry that supports multivendor data centers. It works with equipment and software from companies including Juniper, Cisco, Arista, and SONiC.
• With Apstra, you can validate the design, deployment, and operations of your data center network regardless of the vendor, protocol, and network design, from core to edge.
• Apstra accelerates everyday operations with a single source of truth, powerful analytics that identify and resolve issues before they happen, and root-cause identification for accelerated MTTR.

Apstra 4.1.1 introduces a new reference design called Freeform, which supports any topology, any protocol, and any network design, including custom designs. This feature is an addition to the existing Apstra data center reference designs and benefits those looking for a user-friendly and highly flexible solution to automate and manage Juniper-based data center networks. Read datasheet

• Any customer wishing to use Apstra in an environment that previously wasn’t an architectural fit for Apstra data center reference designs should consider deploying 4.1.1 to take advantage of the new Freeform capability.
• If you have a topology other than a 3/5-stage, spine-leaf, or collapsed fabric that previously precluded you from adopting Juniper Apstra, you can adopt the 4.1.1 version to gain Apstra capabilities.
• Existing Apstra customers can upgrade to gain additional new features, bug fixes, and updates to supported devices and network operating system versions; see Apstra 4.1.1 Release Notes for a complete list.

Apstra software runs in multivendor data centers with equipment from Juniper, Cisco, and Arista and those running SONiC open-source networking operating system software. See the full list of supported environments here.

Apstra empowers organizations to automate and manage their networks across virtually any data center location, vendor, and topology, from core to edge. 

Apstra provides 3/5-stage, spine-leaf, collapsed fabric, and Freeform reference designs. Apstra uses reference designs to address the composition challenge of creating a coherent data center network that’s bigger than the sum of its functioning components. A reference design defines how the business intent of the user is mapped to enforcement mechanisms and what expectations must be satisfied for the intent to be deemed fulfilled.

• Data center network lifecycle management. This use case is enabled by design tools, configuration management, and advanced troubleshooting capabilities that work across any network topology and a variety of vendor platforms.
• Data center network operational visualization and monitoring with intent-based analytics
• Data center network operating system upgrade management
• Protection from configuration and change management errors with data center configuration rollback tools
• Unified lifecycle management of data centers from a single centralized tool
• Data center network outage root-cause analysis for accelerated MTTR
• Data center interconnect (DCI) lifecycle management
• Data center security policy evaluation and assurance
• Configuration and event correlation between VMware environments and data center networks
• Data center network capacity planning and utilization monitoring

Juniper offers a three-tiered licensing subscription model, enabling you to choose the one that best suits your needs and unlocks the greatest value for your investment.

• Tier 1: Standard, which includes basic configurations and operation
• Tier 2: Advanced, which includes all the features in Standard and supports full operation, assurance, and advanced intent-based analytics (IBA)
• Tier 3: Premium, which includes all the features in Advanced and supports large-scale multivendor environments and policy control.

Contact your Juniper sales representative to discuss the appropriate license tier for your data center.

The Premium license tier includes support for both Juniper and non-Juniper devices. The Standard and Advanced tiers provide support for managing Juniper devices only.

Customers have a choice of hardware and virtual platform. View Apstra supported hypervisors, versions, and recommended VM resources here.

Juniper has a full slate of training and professional services available to meet your needs. Consult your Juniper Sales Representative for more information. 

Yes, and Juniper and partners can provide professional services to assist. 

Refer to the Apstra user guide for upgrade procedures. Note that since the Apstra platform is a management tool and does not operate in the network data plane, upgrades will not impact network traffic.

Apstra integrates with VMware NSX-T and VMware vCenter to provide visibility and configuration validation to both network operators and VMware operators. This integration speeds the resolution of any mismatches among port groups, fabric VLANs, and Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) configurations and also accelerates the troubleshooting of any virtual networking and VM traffic issues. Remediation workflows help resolve VLAN misconfigurations faster by automatically suggesting the correct network fabric changes.

Installation, user, and developer guides, implementation best practices, and additional support resources can be found here.