Using NPAR on NICs VMware

[MikeWright1971]

Hiya,

We may decide to use NPAR(network Partitioning) to save on Physical NICs in our VMware environment.

But how would I configure & connect up to my management network during setup. We were going to put the MGMT network on separate NICS, before NPAR was mentioned.

setup:

1.Plug a cable into a 10gb NIC that is partitioned.

2. On the VMware Direct Console try and select Management VLAN, will this work, as I wont have configured traffic separation at this point.

how do you do it!

or would you avoid NPAR for the management network?

cheers Mike

[MikeWright1971]

Hiya,

if I partitioned the one NIC into 4 then we would have 4 active vmnic on the Host

From the Direct Console, when setting up I would choose the VLAN for my management, this would be ok if had dedicated NIC.

But how would I connect to the HOST over the network would there be a connection?

During setup: When you have the 4 vmnic would the VLAN of the mgmt, be assigned to one of them and because I have a physical connection to all 4 vmnic, then there would be a connection.

cheers Mike

[MikeWright1971]

Hiya

Just to confirm

If I create a trunk to a physical port, with say 3 VLANs and then partition that port into 2 partitions.

Am I right in thinking all partitioned NICs could see all 3 VLANs., so I could tag them as normal.

The drawing below illustrates what I'm trying to do;

[bayupw]

Hi Mike,

Your diagram and understanding looks good.

Trunk all VLANs to your physical, then from your out of band network access the ESXi DCUI and tag the management network with VLAN 5.

The physical switch trunk all the required VLANs to the physical NICs but it's up to the vSwitch on which PortGroup should be in which VLAN.
Out of curiosity, what server vendor/brand are you using? Dell?

[MikeWright1971]

Hiya Bayu,

Yeah I think we will be using Dell, its what the business tend to purchase now, they used to purchase Fujitsu.

I found this article on how to configure NPAR on the Dell website: http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/b/techcenter/archive/2013/07/02/nic-partitioning-in-vmware-e...

Is it normal practice to mix NPAR with VST and Trunks, only there doesn't seem to be much about it?

I think its a good Idea.

cheers Mike

[bayupw]

Yes it is common.

If you are looking for sample around Dell config with VST, trunk, and NPAR there's an example in this blog post: VMSkills: Converged Network Architecture in Dell's DVS Enterprise - Active System 800v with View 5.1

There's also a blueprint/reference architecture from Dell here: http://en.community.dell.com/cfs-file/__key/telligent-evolution-components-attachments/13-4900-00-00...

Another sample from HP Virtual Connect FlexNIC/Flex-10 from this blog post: https://virtualisedreality.com/2010/03/07/vcflex10-vsphere/