Backup COS and VMotion Networks

[JDLangdon]

I'm in the process of creating an additional vswif to act as a backup to vswif0 which is used for COS and VMotion traffic. Once the additional vswif is in place, if something happens to vswif0, such as cable pulls, does the traffic automatically route to vswif1 or does it use both vswifs at the same time?

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Jason D. Langdon

[Texiwill · Accepted solution]

Hello,

No you will not get redundancy the way you describe. A second vSwif will not suddenly take over for the primary vswif, routing will not automatically change. The redundancy is built into the vSwitch using NIC Teaming. You do not need 2 vSwifs, just 2 pNICs attached to the same vSwitch for the SC or available to the SC portgroup.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.

SearchVMware Blog: http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/

Blue Gears Blogs - http://www.itworld.com/ and http://www.networkworld.com/community/haletky

As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization

[Troy_Clavell]

also, if in an HA enviornment you can set the Advanced Options to das.AllowVmotionNetworks and value to 1

Here's a nice blog curtosy of our friendly moderator Duncan

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2008/08/01/update-ha-advanced-options/

[JDLangdon]

I've already got vswif0 configured using nic teams, so I do have that level of redundancy. Maybe I should be a little more clear on what it is I am attempting to do.

We (I) currently have vswif0 configured with two portgroups, one for the COS and one for VMotion. Both of these portgroups are on the same VLAN which is also opened to public access. What I would like to to is reconfigure vswif0 by implementing VLAN tagging so that the COS is on one VLAN and VMotion on the other. I thought the easiest way to make these modifications without downtime would be to add a new vswif, route all COS/Vmotion over that, modify vswif0, and then move the COS/VMotion traffic back.

The reason for the second vswif is because the last time we made modifications to the pswitch, we knocked out the wrong port which initiated HA. The upside is HA worked perfectly.

________________________________

Jason D. Langdon

[Texiwill]

Hello,

We (I) currently have vswif0 configured with two portgroups, one for the COS and one for VMotion. Both of these portgroups are on the same VLAN which is also opened to public access.

Okay to be clear you have 1 vSwitch with two portgroups. Portgroup0 is for the COS and portgroup1 is for VMotion. There is only 1 vSwif device involved at this time correct? Note, you do not use a vSwif for the VMotion vmkernel device. That vmkernel device is marked for VMotion. Is this correct?

What I would like to to is reconfigure vswif0 by implementing VLAN tagging so that the COS is on one VLAN and VMotion on the other. I thought the easiest way to make these modifications without downtime would be to add a new vswif, route all COS/Vmotion over that, modify vswif0, and then move the COS/VMotion traffic back.

If what I stated is correct, then all you need to do is setup the VLAN on the physical side and set the VLAN ID within the portgroups for the vSwitch. Then setup the portgroup pNIC failovers. There is no need for two vSwif devices.

The reason for the second vswif is because the last time we made modifications to the pswitch, we knocked out the wrong port which initiated HA. The upside is HA worked perfectly.

That is a NIC Teaming issue. You need two pNICs for the SC to prevent this. Not two vSwif's.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.

SearchVMware Blog: http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/

Blue Gears Blogs - http://www.itworld.com/ and http://www.networkworld.com/community/haletky

As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization