Connecting multiple data centers at Layer 2 while minimizing the number of dark fiber connections required is a use case for deploying Ethernet Ring Protection Switching (ERPS). ERPS is a feature that provides loop prevention and fast convergence for Layer 2 networks that use ring topologies. ERPS can be used to connect multiple data centers at Layer 2 using fewer fiber connections than traditional mesh topologies1.

A layer 2 VLAN is a single broadcast domain that works on the data link layer1. It cannot be assigned an IP address or attached to a VRF. A VRF requires a layer 3 interface that works on the network layer and can perform routing between different VLANs2. A layer 2 VLAN can only communicate within itself, not with other VLANs or routing domains1.

A GRE tunnel interface is a virtual interface that can encapsulate different network layer protocols inside point-to-point or point-to-multipoint links over an IP network1. It can be assigned an IP address and attached to a VRF. A VRF allows multiple instances of a routing table to co-exist within the same router2. By attaching a GRE tunnel interface to a VRF, you can isolate the traffic of that tunnel from other tunnels and routing domains2.

Omit the device-specific settings from the configuration plan and include them in command scripts instead is not what you should do if you want to use NetEdit to manage ArubaOS-CX switches and deploy a standard config to the switches, but need the config to include a few device-specific settings such as hostname and IP address. This approach would require you to create separate command scripts for each switch, which can be tedious and error-prone. A better approach would be to use an auto config plan that uses scripts to customize the configuration for each switch based on variables such as serial number, MAC address, or user-defined parameters1.

ArubaOS-CX is a modern operating system for Aruba switches that provides automation, programmability, and analytics capabilities. The ArubaOS-CX Network Analytics Engine (NAE) is a built-in analytics framework for network assurance and remediation, that allows monitoring, troubleshooting, and proactive network management using scripts and agents1. The NAE does not help admins to manage multiple ArubaOS-CX switches together using familiar CLI commands. That is the function of the ArubaOS-CX Fabric Composer (AFC), which is a software-defined orchestration tool that simplifies data center fabric management. Therefore, this does not correctly describe the ArubaOS-CX architecture.