Ideal configuration for networking

[b7698]

I am running vCenter 6.0.  Currently I have my Distributed Switch configured to include DS port groups for Management, VM, vMotion, and Storage networks.  To get my virtual machines talking to the rest of the my network, I configured my Cisco Nexus 3K switches to switchport mode trunk basic configuration.  Essentially I am allowing all VLANS through on the interface.  Right now everything is working but I believe there is a better configuration.

I had a VMware PSO explain that dot1q encapsulation was the way to go.  But I was wondering what everyone else is doing to connect their virtual infrastructure to their physical network.

[rkleijwegt]

When using switchport mode trunk you are essentially using dot1q. The Nexus 3K even states that dot1q is the only supported encapsulation protocol.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus3000/sw/layer2/503_U2_1/b_Cisco_n3k_l...

It is recommended you use seperate VLANs for management, vMotion, storage and VM traffic for security reasons. And if you use the Nexus 3K you will probably want to configure VPC. Take a look at the NetApp FlexPod Express deployment guide for a good example of how to implement these techniques (having a FlexPod is not required).

https://www.netapp.com/us/media/nva-0017-flexpod-express.pdf