need some help regarding cisco Nexus 1000v implementation?

[mohsinkhan]

Dear all,

   i have 6 esxi host in my environment. 4 are in cluster and 2 are standalone. i install vsm at the standalone hosts for HA of vsm.

i have update manager and i update all esxi 6 esxi host from update manager. my question is that should i also add the standalone host in the nexus switch or not (standalone host on which vsm is installed). i add the 4 esxi cluster host in the nexus switch, but i am little bit confused about that will i also add the remaining 2 host on which vsm is installed add in the swtich or not?

   i also need help about that, i create 4 uplink port profile type Ethernet

1- management network

2-production network

3-dmz

4-vmotion these are the uplink profile.

5-iscsi

now i create vethernet port type vethernet and that are like this

1-vmanagement network

2-vproduction

3-vdmz

4-vmotion

5-vsm

6-viscsi

and i assign the same vlan which i already assign in the above uplink port for accessing it.(for eg i assign vlan 20-30 in the management profile and when i create vmanagement profiel i assign vlan 21)

is this the correct thing i do?

[mohsinkhan]

need help if anyone can?

[mohsinkhan]

IS I AM DOING THE RIGHT THING ?

[Xana201110141]

Hi

Let me try to shed some light on this for you. Before I start, are there specific benefits out of the nexus you require ?

The reason I'm asking is because removong it at a later stage is extremely complicate and I would'nt suggest using the nexus if you are unsure.

Now, What you have configured there sort of correct but not enough info is given to determine if you have configured a operational DVS.

U need to make sure that the dvs is regitered into vcenter. You can do this by accessing the VSM(vitual supervisor module) by

http://theipyouassighed (cant remember if its http or https youl need to check.) You can also find VEM(vitual ethernet module) here.

Make sure you set up the vem on the esx host.

Follow these instruction on getting the nexus into vcenter.

Here is a sample of a ethernet port-profile

Note not to add iscsi or vmotion vlan in you main uplink.

port-profile type ethernet n1kv-uplink0

  vmware port-group

  switchport mode trunk

  switchport trunk allowed vlan 1,50,60,72,80,101,111,123,126

  channel-group auto mode on

  no shutdown

  system vlan 1

  state enabled

port-profile type ethernet n1kv-vmotion-uplink

  vmware port-group

  switchport mode access

  switchport access vlan 300

  channel-group auto mode on

  no shutdown

  system vlan 300

  state enabled

port-profile type ethernet n1kv-iscsi-uplink

  vmware port-group

  switchport mode access

  switchport access vlan 108

  mtu 9000

  channel-group auto mode on mac-pinning

  no shutdown

  system vlan 108

  description iSCSI uplink ports

  state enabled

Here are vethernet samples

port-profile type vethernet n1kv-pp-3rdparty

  vmware port-group

  switchport mode access

  switchport access vlan 101

  no shutdown

  system vlan 101

  state enabled

port-profile type vethernet n1kv-iscsi-veth

  vmware port-group

  switchport mode access

  switchport access vlan 108

  capability iscsi-multipath

  no shutdown

  system vlan 108

  description iSCSI

  state enabled

I've added a sample of the iscsi as this one can be tricky.

You also need al your vlans created on the nexus

cont t

vlan ##

state enable

no shutdown

That should do it.

I've noticed that you've created ethernet port-profile for all vlans. You cant do this as you will never have enough physical nics on the esx host for this and all ethernet pp need a physical nic to function the way you want. If you check ive got a uplink the has all my vlan for network traffic "n1kv-uplink"

Make sure have stp on your physical switch as the will create a loop if done incorrectly. "n1kv-uplink on my host contains 8 links"

Hope this clears thing up a bit. let me know if you get this far.

Also browse youtube, I managed to get alot done from these vids.

[mohsinkhan]

hi xana,

actually this is the client requirement to fully integrate the virtual environment with cisco. i have 6 physical nics in each host and i am going to configure the following uplink port profile for the host.(6 host in the primary site and 4 host in the secondary site)

1. management

2 production

3. control and packet

i configure these port profile as a trunk mode whose configuration is

for ethernet profile

->config t

-> Port-Profile type Ethernet system-uplink

-> vmware port-group

-> switchport mode trunk

->switchport trunk allowed vlan all

-> channel-group auto mode on mac-pinning

-> system vlan 250,251,252,260

-> no shut

-> state enabled

i want allow this port profile through 2 dedicated physical nics of my esx server. does it is correct(mac pinning supports it?)

For Management vethernet port-profile

è Config t

è Port-profile type vethernet management

è Vmware port-group

è Switchport mode access

è Switchport access vlan 250

è System vlan 250

è No shut

è State enabled

For Production vethernet port-profile

è Config t

è Port-profile type vethernet production

è Vmware port-group

è Switchport mode access

è Switchport access vlan 260

è System vlan 260

è No shut

è State enabled

For Control and Packet VSM vethernet port-profile

è Config t

è Port-profile type vethernet control-packet

è Vmware port-group

è Switchport mode access

è Switchport access vlan 251,252

è System vlan 251,252

[Xana201110141]

Hi,ph

I need to give you some advice on this. I just got rid of the nexus in my environment due to the issues and a lack of support from vmware and cisco.

You can achieve almost everything you need to with the Vmware DVS.

Anyway,

What you have listed here in theory should work, I would just advise you that the latets versions of nexus doesnt have problems

with running the control,packet, management vlan on the same vlan so I would use on vlan for that.

Also I dont understand why you would use mac-pinning on your main uplink ?

What I did is put all my network traffic on the main uplink and in vsphere I linked 8 cards per host on it. I have 8 host so that would give me 68 uplinks for all my data. (and this includes control,management and packet)

If you are using hardware iSCSI initiators I would recommend mac-pinning for the multipath stuff.

I used the software iSCSI so it made no dif to me. I dont have any disk performance issues but you will get a small performance increase on the host by going HW iscsi due to the fact that the instructions get ofloaded to the the hw iscsi card.

As your config you need to change this (marked in red)

>config t

-> Port-Profile type Ethernet system-uplink

-> vmware port-group

-> switchport mode trunk

->switchport trunk allowed vlan all - 250,251,252,260 (due to the fact you arent using any other)

-> channel-group auto mode on mac-pinning (leave this out for now, just to get it working)

-> system vlan 250,251,252,260 (only put the primary vlan in here that will include control,packet and management. In my case it was 1)

-> no shut

-> state enabled

I see that you are adding 2 nics to this uplink,

Make sure on your switch side you create a trunk/port-channel with these port. Also make sure you are running STP on the switch

Your vlans 250,251,252,260 must exist on the switch, tag the new trunk/port-channel on these vlans.

PS: I use HP switches so for me its a trunk, I can be wrong but I think cisco calls it a port-channel, youl need to check.

After this you need to create a Vethernet port-profile.

Example as per your conf on Ethernet port-profile

conf t

port-profile type vethernet (the name you use for vlan 250)

vmware port-group

switchport mode access

  switchport access vlan 250

  no shutdown

  system vlan 250

  state enabled

As soon as you hit enter you will see a new port profile created in vcenter client, you can now link a vm to it.

You will continue to ad vethernet port-profiles for all your vlans 251,252,260

Try this for now and check if it works then we can move on to iscsi, vmotion and FT

Note that if you plan to use vmotion I suggest having its own physical nic and FT needs its own nic to funtion.

But try these steps first and let me know how it goes. Hope it makes sense.

Regards