Dell VxRail Network Planning Guide

Topology and connections

VxRail clusters support various network topologies. Complex production environments have multi-tier network topologies with clusters in multiple racks that span across data centers. Simpler workloads can be satisfied with the nodes and adjacent switches that are confined to a single rack, with routing services configured further upstream.

Before an initial build of the VxRail cluster, create a site diagram showing the proposed network components and connectivity.

Select the network architecture to support the VxRail cluster and the protocols to connect to data center services and end users. For VxRail clusters managing production workloads, VLANs are configured to support the VxRail networks. Determine which network tier the VxRail networking VLANs terminate and which tier to configure routing services.

VxRail cluster operations require several ports on each switch. To determine the number of ports, multiply the number of Ethernet ports on each VxRail node for VxRail networking by the number of nodes to be configured into the cluster. For a dual-switch configuration, reserve ports on each switch to form an interswitch link for network traffic passage. Reserve additional ports to pass VxRail network traffic upstream and one port on a switch to enable a laptop to perform initial build.

If the VxRail clusters at a data center cannot be accessed, set up an OOB management switch to facilitate direct communication with each node. To use OOB management, connect the iDRAC port to a separate switch to provide physical network separation. Default values, capabilities, and recommendations for OOB management are provided with server hardware information. Reserve an IP address for each iDRAC in your VxRail cluster (one per node).