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jacobsmith14
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Design Question - Edge Rack or Edge VLAN

I have Cisco UCS and Nexus 7k gear that I am designing for, so I am using this design guide:

https://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/products/nsx/vmware-nsx-on-cisco-n7kucs-design-guide.pdf

However, it is not totally clear on how the physical to virtual connections should be deployed.  From looking at this guide (page 11) it looks like 5 VLANs should be trunked to each host (including the Edge VLAN), and this would negate the need for a separate Edge cluster (or rack).  However, the same guide also talks about a mgmt and edge cluster and there is even a diagram (pg 13) that shows what looks to me like an edge host.  Since both the mgmt, edge and compute clusters are all sharing the same distributed switch, it seems like this design is stating there is no need for a seperate edge cluster.   Does this sound right to you? 

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larsonm
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While the document suggested the edge VLAN be trunked to all hosts, the Edge VLAN can simply be ignored and remain stagnant on the compute hosts, thus connecting only Edge components residing on the edge/management cluster to the edge VLAN.  This accomplishes the goal of the Edge cluster.  The edge vs no edge decision is not so much about what VLANs are connected, but more about how you plan to implement NSX and its components.

Brad Hedlund does a good job talking through some of the design decisions, specific to the N7K, that did not make it into the Cisco Design document here, and help you decide if you need/want an edge cluster:  http://bradhedlund.com/2015/02/06/going-over-the-edge-with-your-vmware-nsx-and-cisco-nexus/

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larsonm
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While the document suggested the edge VLAN be trunked to all hosts, the Edge VLAN can simply be ignored and remain stagnant on the compute hosts, thus connecting only Edge components residing on the edge/management cluster to the edge VLAN.  This accomplishes the goal of the Edge cluster.  The edge vs no edge decision is not so much about what VLANs are connected, but more about how you plan to implement NSX and its components.

Brad Hedlund does a good job talking through some of the design decisions, specific to the N7K, that did not make it into the Cisco Design document here, and help you decide if you need/want an edge cluster:  http://bradhedlund.com/2015/02/06/going-over-the-edge-with-your-vmware-nsx-and-cisco-nexus/

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jacobsmith14
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Yeah the blog post goes into way more detail and puts together the missing pieces from that Design Guide.  At least for me it does.

Thanks for your help.

-Jake

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