For VxRail clusters that can tolerate a single point of failure, and do not have demanding workload requirements, the VxRail cluster can be configured using only the Ethernet ports on the NDC. For workloads that require a higher level of failure protection, VxRail supports spreading the networks across NDC Ethernet ports and Ethernet ports on PCIe adapter cards.

Version 7.0.130 provides flexibility with the selection of the Ethernet ports to support the VxRail cluster. The cluster can be deployed using either the default network profiles supported in VxRail, or you can select the Ethernet ports to be used by the cluster and assigned those ports to the VxRail networks. The default network profile option only supports NDC-based ports, and assigns the uplinks using the predefined settings as described in Appendix F: Physical Network Switch Examples. With the customized port selection option, you can use just the ports on the NDC, mix the ports from the NDC and a PCIe adapter card, or select only ports from PCIe adapter cards.

Figure 8.              Mixing NDC and PCIe ports to support a VxRail cluster

If you later decide to migrate the VxRail networks onto other uplinks on the VxRail nodes, this activity can be performed after the cluster is built, as long as the VxRail cluster is at version 7.0.010 or later.