- Notes, cautions, and warnings
- Revision history
- Introduction
- VxRail network planning overview
- Plan the VxRail network
- VxRail cluster types
- VxRail hardware and switch selection decision points
- Prepare the data center to implement VxRail
- Decide on an IP address scheme
- Prepare external network connectivity for VxRail
- Prepare service connectivity for VxRail
- Prepare for VMware vSphere+ subscription licensing
- Prepare data center routing services
- Prepare for multirack VxRail cluster
- Prepare for VMware vSAN HCI mesh topology
- Prepare external FC storage for dynamic clusters
- Prepare for VxRail custom uplink assignments
- Prepare data center network MTU
- Prepare for LAG of VxRail networks
- Plan LAG on switch port pairs
- Prepare certificate authority server for VxRail
- Identify isolation IP addresses for VMware vSphere High Availability
- Plan the VxRail cluster implementation
- Decide on VxRail single point of management
- Decide on VxRail network traffic segmentation
- Decide on teaming and failover policies for VxRail networks
- Plan the VxRail logical network
- Plan network settings for VxRail management components
- Plan network settings for VMware vCenter Server management network
- Identify IP addresses for VxRail management components
- Select hostnames for VxRail management components
- Identify external applications and settings for VxRail
- Prepare the customer-managed VMware vCenter Server
- Prepare a customer-managed VMware VDS
- Reserve IP addresses for VxRail-managed VMware vSphere vMotion network
- Reserve IPv4/IPv6 addresses for VxRail vSAN network
- Decide on VxRail logging solution
- Assign passwords for VxRail management
- Plan VMware vSAN witness networking
- Plan networking for VxRail Satellite Nodes
- Configure the Network for VxRail
- Prepare to build the VxRail cluster
- VxRail network considerations after implementation
- Appendix A: VxRail Network Configuration Table
- Appendix B: VxRail Passwords
- Appendix C: VxRail cluster setup checklist
- Appendix D: VxRail Open Ports Requirements
- Appendix E: VMware VDS port group default settings
- Appendix F: Physical Network Switch Examples
- Pre-defined network profile: 2x10gb or 2x25gb from a single NDC/OCP
- Predefined network profile: 4x10gb or 4x25gb NDC/OCP
- Predefined network profile: 2 x 10/25 GB NDC/OCP and 2 x 10/25 GB PCIe
- Custom option: Any NDC/OCP ports paired with PCIe ports
- Custom option: Two NDC/OCP ports paired with PCIe ports other than the first slot
- Custom option: PCIe ports only
- Custom option: Six ports
- Custom option: Eight ports
- Custom option: Eight ports connected to four Ethernet switches
Dell VxRail Network Planning Guide
Prepare a customer-managed VMware VDS
Skip this section if the VxRail version is not 7.0.010 or later, or if you do not plan to deploy VxRail against one or more customer-managed VMware VDS.
Before VxRail 7.0.010, if you deployed the VxRail cluster on an external, customer-managed VMware vCenter Server, a VMware VDS was configured on the VMware vCenter Server instance as part of the initial cluster build process. The automated initial build process deployed the VMware VDS adhering to VxRail requirements in the VMware vCenter Server instance, and then attached the VxRail networks to the port groups on the VMware VDS. Depending on the target version planned for your VxRail cluster, you can pre-configure one or two VMware VDS on your customer-managed VMware vCenter Server instance to support VxRail networking.
- From VxRail 7.0.010 and later, you have the choice of configuring a single virtual distributed switch to the customer-managed VMware vCenter Server before the initial cluster build process.
- From VxRail 7.0.130 and later, you have the choice of configuring one or two VMware VDS to the customer-managed VMware vCenter Server instance before the initial cluster build process.
If you choose to manually configure the virtual switches and configure the network before the initial cluster build, you must perform the following prerequisites:
- Unless your data center already has a VMware vCenter Server instance compatible with VxRail, deploy a VMware vCenter Server instance that serves as the target for the VxRail cluster.
- You can deploy the VxRail cluster to an existing VMware VDS or a pair of VMware VDS on the target VMware vCenter Server instance.
- Configure a port group for each of the required VxRail networks. Use naming standards that clearly identify the VxRail network traffic type.
- Configure the VLAN assigned to each required VxRail network on the respective port group. The VLANs for each VxRail network traffic type are in the VxRail Networks section in Appendix A: VxRail Network Configuration Table.
- Configure at least two uplinks on the VMware VDS to support the VxRail cluster.
- Configure the teaming and failover policies for the distributed port groups. Each port group is assigned a teaming and failover policy. You can choose a simple strategy and configure a single policy that is applied to all port groups, or configure a set of policies to address requirements at the port group level.
- If you plan to enable load-balancing with LACP against any VxRail networks, configure the LACP policy on the VMware VDS, and apply the policy to the appropriate port group or port groups.
Refer the configuration settings that are applied to the VMware VDS by the automated VxRail initial build process as a baseline. This ensures a successful deployment of a VxRail cluster against the customer-managed VMware VDS. The settings that are used by the automated initial build process can be found in Appendix E: Virtual Distributed Switch Portgroup Default Settings.
| Network configuration table | Action |
|---|---|
| Row 55 | Enter the name of the VMware VDS to support the VxRail cluster networking. |
| Row 56 | If a decision is made to configure two VMware VDS, enter the name of the second VMware VDS. |
| Row 57 | Enter the name of the port group to enable connectivity for the VxRail external management network. |
| Row 58 | Enter the name of the port group to enable connectivity for the VxRail-managed VMware vCenter Server network. |
| Row 59 | Enter the name of the port group to enable connectivity for the VxRail internal management network. |
| Row 60 | Enter the name of the port group to enable connectivity for the VMware vSphere vMotion network. |
| Row 61 | Enter the name of the port group to enable connectivity for the vSAN network. |
If your plan is to have more than one VxRail cluster deployed against a single customer-managed VMware VDS, Follow a distinctive naming standard for the distributed port groups. This eases network management and help distinguish the individual VxRail networks among multiple VxRail clusters.
Configuring port groups on the virtual distributed switch for any guest networks you want is not required for the VxRail initial build process. These port groups can be configured after the VxRail initial build process is complete. Follow a distinctive naming standard for these distributed port groups.
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