The Assisted-Replication feature for IPv4 VXLAN tunnels (both Leaf and Replicator functions) is supported in compliance with the non-selective mode described in IETF Draft draft-ietf-bess-evpn-optimized-ir.
The Assisted-Replication feature is a Layer 2 multicast optimization feature that helps software-based PE and NVEs with low-performance replication capabilities to deliver broadcast and multicast Layer 2 traffic to remote VTEPs in the VPLS service.
The EVPN and proxy-ARP/ND capabilities can reduce the amount of broadcast and unknown unicast in the VPLS service; ingress replication is sufficient for most use cases in this scenario. However, when multicast applications require a significant amount of replication at the ingress node, software-based nodes struggle because of their limited replication performance. By enabling the Assisted-Replication Leaf function on the software-based SR-series router, all the broadcast and multicast packets are sent to a 7x50 router configured as a Replicator, which replicates the traffic to all the VTEPs in the VPLS service on behalf of the Leaf. This guarantees that the broadcast or multicast traffic is delivered to all the VPLS participants without any packet loss caused by performance issues.
The Leaf or Replicator function is enabled per VPLS service by the configure service vpls vxlan assisted-replication {replicator | leaf} command. In addition, the Replicator requires the configuration of an Assisted-Replication IP (AR-IP) address. The AR-IP loopback address indicates whether the received VXLAN packets have to be replicated to the remote VTEPs. The AR-IP address is configured using the configure service system vxlan assisted-replication-ip <ip-address> command.
Based on the assisted-replication {replicator | leaf} configuration, the SR-series router can behave as a Replicator (AR-R), Leaf (AR-L), or Regular Network Virtualization Edge (RNVE) router. An RNVE router does not support the Assisted-Replication feature. Because it is configured with no assisted replication, the RNVE router ignores the AR-R and AR-L information and replicates to its flooding list where VTEPs are added based on the regular ingress replication routes.