VMware Networking Community
kpc
Contributor
Contributor

Multiple subnets / NSX Question

Hi guys

Need a little bit of advice please.  I've inherited a collection of tiny server rooms, around 250 physical Windows 2003 server, spread over several buildings.  Almost each rack has it's own subnet, I've told management that they need to invest more in their network and a fully equipped server room / data center however falls on deaf ears!  Ideally I just want to invest in a small cluster with a SAN array in a single location and P2V all those VM's, however I need a little bit of advice on how to approach the subnet issue.

I've had a very quick look at NSX and it seems to tick all the right boxes, is there something else I should be looking at or is something like NSX the way forward?

Many thanks

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nickmuir
Contributor
Contributor

If the subnets the servers are in can be reached in the single site you want to move the servers to then it should be fine.   If the subnets only exist in the individual buildings then you will have to deploy ESXi servers in each of the buildings in order for NSX to connect to the subnet and share it back to your central site using VXLAN.

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grosas
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi KPC

What's the specific subnet issue? Are there connectivity issues with the way server subnets were carved out?  What's your end goal?

NSX can offer a lot of flexibility in the world of VM networking; I'd love to understand what your specific problem is though, I'm not picking it up from your statement.

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Gabe Rosas (VMware HCX team at VMware)
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kpc
Contributor
Contributor

Sorry if there were some holes in my explanation.  I'm not a network guy so my knowledge on this is limited. 

The end goal is to have all the physical servers (200+) running in many different rooms on multiple subnets, P2V'd onto a single cluster in a new location somewhere else in the building.  I don't know exactly why each rack has it's own subnet, maybe it's a legacy thing.  I asked the network team if they can present all those subnets to the new cluster but they said it can't be done due to the way the network is configured (no other explanation).

Whilst I can ping the old physical servers from the new cluster I can't host any of the P2V's there as it's not picking up the old subnets, does that make sense?

Regards

Pete

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