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Dell VxRail Network Planning Guide
Introduction Planning Your Data Center Network for VxRail
Introduction
VxRail hardware and the physical network infrastructure
VxRail clusters, appliances, and nodes
Network switch
Data center network
VxRail networking port options
VxRail Ethernet adapter options
VxRail Fibre Channel adapter options
VxRail RoCE adapter options
VxRail node connectivity options
VxRail networking rules and restrictions
Topology and connections
VxRail Cluster Types VxRail Feature-Driven Decision Points VxRail Hardware and Switch Selection Decision Points Prepare the Data Center for VxRail Implementation Planning the VxRail Cluster Implementation Planning for VxRail Satellite Nodes Configure the Network for VxRail Configure the Network for VxRail VxRail Network Considerations After Implementation VxRail Network Configuration Table VxRail Passwords VxRail Cluster Setup Checklist VxRail Open Ports Requirements Virtual Distributed Switch Port Group Default Settings Physical Network Switch Examples

Topology and connections

Topology and connections

  • Various network topologies are possible with VxRail clusters. Complex production environments have multi-tier network topologies with clusters in multiple racks and spanning across data centers. Simpler workloads can be satisfied with the nodes and adjacent switches that are confined to a single rack, with routing services configured further upstream. Dell Technologies recommends that you create a site diagram showing the proposed network components and connectivity before:

    • Cabling and powering on VxRail nodes
    • Performing an initial build of the VxRail cluster

    Decide what network architecture that you want to support the VxRail cluster, and what protocols are used to connect to data center services and end users. For VxRail clusters managing production workloads, VLANs are configured to support the VxRail networks. Determine which network tier the VxRail networking VLANs terminate, and which tier to configure routing services.

    DiagramDescription automatically generated

    Figure 12.    High-level network topology with Layer 2 and Layer 3 options

    To determine the base number of ports required on each switch to support VxRail cluster operations:

    • Multiply the number of Ethernet ports on each VxRail node that you support VxRail networking by the number of nodes to be configured into the cluster.

    For a dual switch configuration, ports must be reserved on each switch to form an interswitch link for network traffic passage. Reserve additional ports to pass VxRail network traffic upstream. Reserve one port on a switch to enable a laptop to connect to VxRail to perform initial build.

    If the VxRail clusters are at a data center that you cannot access easily, Dell Technologies recommends setting up an out-of-band management switch. This switch facilitates direct communication with each node.

    To use out-of-band management, connect the integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) port to a separate switch to provide physical network separation. Default values, capabilities, and recommendations for out-of-band management are provided with server hardware information. Reserve an IP address for each iDRAC in your VxRail cluster (one per node).