Your Browser is Out of Date

Nytro.ai uses technology that works best in other browsers.
For a full experience use one of the browsers below
Dell Networking SmartFabric Services Deployment with VxRail 7.0.400
Introduction Hardware used in this guide Topology Deployment Planning
Deployment Planning
Minimum requirements
Unsupported environments
Unsupported features
Production topology deployment options
Uplink options
External switches
VLANs and IP addresses
VxRail deployment settings - first cluster
VxRail deployment settings - second cluster
DNS server records - first cluster
DNS server records - second cluster
Configure the First Leaf Switch Pair Deploy First VxRail Cluster Expand to Multirack Add a second VxRail cluster Deploy and Configure OMNI Validated Components CLI Commands Cisco Nexus External Switch Configuration Example Support and Feedback

Uplink options

Home > Integrated Products > VxRail > Guides > Dell Networking SmartFabric Services Deployment with VxRail 7.0.400 > Uplink options

Uplink options

  • SFS uplink options to external network switches include:

    • L2 uplinks from a leaf pair
    • L3 uplinks from a leaf pair
    • L3 uplinks from spines
    Note: Dell Technologies recommends using uplinks from a leaf pair as a best practice. Leaf switches with uplinks to an external network are referred to as border leafs. VxRail nodes and other servers in the rack may be connected to border leafs in the same manner as other leafs in the SmartFabric.

    Note: If NSX-T will be used in the SmartFabric, Dell Technologies recommends using L3 uplinks.

    Note: If uplinks from spines are used, they must be L3.

    L2 uplink planning

    If an L2 uplink is used, determine the VLAN ID to use for VxRail external management, and if ports in the uplink will be tagged or untagged. Typically, this will be the same VLAN used for DNS and NTP services on the existing network, as shown in the example in this guide. Optionally, traffic may be routed from the external switch to the DNS/NTP servers.

    The L2 uplink may be an LACP or static LAG. If L2 uplinks connect to a pair of Dell PowerSwitch systems, Dell Technologies recommends using LACP with VLT per the example in this guide.

    L2 uplink configuration is covered in detail in Configure L2 uplinks to the external network.

    Note: With L2 uplinks, all routing into and out of the SmartFabric is done on external switches.

    Note: If NSX-T will be used in the SmartFabric, Dell Technologies recommends using L3 uplinks.

    L3 uplink planning

    SFS supports using L3 routed or L3 VLAN uplinks.

    With L3 routed uplinks, each physical link is a point-to-point IP network. With L3 VLAN, all uplinks are in a LAG, and an IP address is assigned to the VLAN containing the LAG. This guide provides examples using L3 routed uplinks. L3 VLAN examples are beyond the scope of this guide.

    Point-to-point IP networks and addresses must be planned for each physical link in the L3 uplink.

    Each leaf switch in the SmartFabric needs an IP address on the External Management VLAN. An anycast gateway address on the same VLAN is also specified. This is the virtual router/anycast gateway address shared by all leafs in the SmartFabric.

    SmartFabric supports routing using eBGP or static routes. eBGP and static routing examples are both provided in this guide.

    Note: SFS does not support other routing protocols.

    If eBGP is used, ASNs and router IDs must be determined for the external switches. These are automatically configured on all switches in the SmartFabric.

    Note: SFS uses ASNs 65011 for leafs, and 65012 for spines. If these ASNs conflict with your environment, they may be changed in the SFS UI under Global Settings > Fabric Settings.

    L3 uplink configuration is covered in detail in Configure L3 routed uplinks to the external network section of this guide.