Islandr
asked on
how to configure cisco switch 3750
Hi Experts,
I am currently working on my lab which consists of 3 ESXi host with 8 NICs each and 2 cisco 3750 switched already stacked, I am not very fluent in cisco, but willing to learn.
What I am looking for is how to configure the switches in order to provide trunk VLAN's to the ESXi's which are going to be clustered, my current designe is as follow:
Management
VMK0 192.168.10.10 - VLAN 10
route based on physical nic load
vmnic 0
vMotion
VMK1 192.168.20.10 - VLAN 20
route based on physical nic load
vmnic 1
iSCSI
VMK2 192.168.30.10 - VLAN 30
route based on physical nic load
vmnic 2, 6, 3, 7
VM Network
VMK3 192.168.40.10 - VLAN 40
route based on physical nic load
vmnic 4, 5
All ports trunked (Management, vMotion, iSCSI and VM Network)
I need an expert to walk me through the switches configuration step by step and maybe explain to me some of the commands, I have a fair knowledge on the commands parts.
I am currently working on my lab which consists of 3 ESXi host with 8 NICs each and 2 cisco 3750 switched already stacked, I am not very fluent in cisco, but willing to learn.
What I am looking for is how to configure the switches in order to provide trunk VLAN's to the ESXi's which are going to be clustered, my current designe is as follow:
Management
VMK0 192.168.10.10 - VLAN 10
route based on physical nic load
vmnic 0
vMotion
VMK1 192.168.20.10 - VLAN 20
route based on physical nic load
vmnic 1
iSCSI
VMK2 192.168.30.10 - VLAN 30
route based on physical nic load
vmnic 2, 6, 3, 7
VM Network
VMK3 192.168.40.10 - VLAN 40
route based on physical nic load
vmnic 4, 5
All ports trunked (Management, vMotion, iSCSI and VM Network)
I need an expert to walk me through the switches configuration step by step and maybe explain to me some of the commands, I have a fair knowledge on the commands parts.
ASKER
Ken Boone,
First of all, thank you for replying, I got a few other questions, since I got two switches already stacked, which will make 48 switch ports available, I am going to plug 24 NICs into the ports as I described above (3 servers 8 NICs each = 24 vmnic 0 -7) 1 NIC for the Management, 1 NIC for vMotion, 4 NICs for iSCSI, 2 NICs for VM network.
How Do I tell the switch where this NICs will be plug or Do I need to tell the switch this information?
Finally, I would like to make a description of the interface where is connected, for example vmnic 1 is vMotion connected to port gig0/4.
Thanks in advanced.
First of all, thank you for replying, I got a few other questions, since I got two switches already stacked, which will make 48 switch ports available, I am going to plug 24 NICs into the ports as I described above (3 servers 8 NICs each = 24 vmnic 0 -7) 1 NIC for the Management, 1 NIC for vMotion, 4 NICs for iSCSI, 2 NICs for VM network.
How Do I tell the switch where this NICs will be plug or Do I need to tell the switch this information?
Finally, I would like to make a description of the interface where is connected, for example vmnic 1 is vMotion connected to port gig0/4.
Thanks in advanced.
Ok so on the switchport
conf t
interface gig0/4
description ESXi-1 VMNIC 1 Vmotion
That will put the description on the switchport
Not sure about this question "How Do I tell the switch where this NICs will be plug or Do I need to tell the switch this information?"
Basically you configure the switchport for what you want it to do i.e. trunk certain vlans etc.. then you plug it in. The description is for your benefit when troubleshooting.. but the switch doesn't need to know specifically what vmmic is attached to what port. I hope that answers your question.
conf t
interface gig0/4
description ESXi-1 VMNIC 1 Vmotion
That will put the description on the switchport
Not sure about this question "How Do I tell the switch where this NICs will be plug or Do I need to tell the switch this information?"
Basically you configure the switchport for what you want it to do i.e. trunk certain vlans etc.. then you plug it in. The description is for your benefit when troubleshooting.. but the switch doesn't need to know specifically what vmmic is attached to what port. I hope that answers your question.
ASKER
Ken Boone,
Does one single interface (gig0/4) would be enough for all the VLANS? or Do I need to specify an interface for every VLAN? what would be the best practices for this case?
Thanks,
Does one single interface (gig0/4) would be enough for all the VLANS? or Do I need to specify an interface for every VLAN? what would be the best practices for this case?
Thanks,
Well that depends on what you are trying to accomplish.. I am assuming you are using a minimum of gig links and not 100Meg links to start with.
I am not a ESX expert by any means.. but this is what I see a lot folks do:
ESX with 8 NICs
2 NICs for management
2 NICs for vmotion
2 NICs for iSCSI
2 NICs for Data
Generally in this setup, the nics for mgmt, motion and iscsi only need to carry the applicable vlan. One the data nics, all of the data vlans that are needed would be trunked. This is typically when you have VMs that need to be in different vlans.
I have also seen
2 NICS for mgmt and vmotion
2 nics for iscsi
4 nics for data
Again,
Im not a vmware expert my specialty is in the cisco realm.
I am not a ESX expert by any means.. but this is what I see a lot folks do:
ESX with 8 NICs
2 NICs for management
2 NICs for vmotion
2 NICs for iSCSI
2 NICs for Data
Generally in this setup, the nics for mgmt, motion and iscsi only need to carry the applicable vlan. One the data nics, all of the data vlans that are needed would be trunked. This is typically when you have VMs that need to be in different vlans.
I have also seen
2 NICS for mgmt and vmotion
2 nics for iscsi
4 nics for data
Again,
Im not a vmware expert my specialty is in the cisco realm.
ASKER
Ken Boone,
I'll try the configuration you suggested, and I should be able to get back to you soon. Again, thank you for the information.
I'll try the configuration you suggested, and I should be able to get back to you soon. Again, thank you for the information.
ASKER
Ken Boone,
I completed the configuration following the guidelines, I assigned an IP to the host and specify the VLAN ID as well, I am currently connected to the console of the switch, but when I ping the IP that I assigned to the host, I get:
% Unrecognized host or address, or protocol not running.
Any ideas?
I completed the configuration following the guidelines, I assigned an IP to the host and specify the VLAN ID as well, I am currently connected to the console of the switch, but when I ping the IP that I assigned to the host, I get:
% Unrecognized host or address, or protocol not running.
Any ideas?
Ok so here is a guide if you are not trunking vlans i.e. your ports are broken out to specific vlans.
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004127
Here is a guide if you are trunking:
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1006628
And here is a guide on how to setup your vswitch:
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1004074
I think the last doc is probably what will help you the most.
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004127
Here is a guide if you are trunking:
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1006628
And here is a guide on how to setup your vswitch:
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1004074
I think the last doc is probably what will help you the most.
ASKER
I got the guides, Where and how do I specify an IP address on the switch so I can ping the hosts?
The error happens when I try to ping the host from the console.
The error happens when I try to ping the host from the console.
how do you specify an ip address on the cisco switch? If that is your question. You need to create a layer 3 vlan on your switch and give it an ip address.
i.e.
vlan 10
name Mgmt
So that defined the layer 2 vlan
int vlan 10
ip address x.x.x.x
no shut
That defined the layer 3 vlan.
i.e.
vlan 10
name Mgmt
So that defined the layer 2 vlan
int vlan 10
ip address x.x.x.x
no shut
That defined the layer 3 vlan.
ASKER
Ken,
I really appreciated your help, I am going to redo this again to see, what I am doing wrong.
Thanks,
PS. I'll provide you with the points no matters what the outcome is, you've been very useful.
I really appreciated your help, I am going to redo this again to see, what I am doing wrong.
Thanks,
PS. I'll provide you with the points no matters what the outcome is, you've been very useful.
ASKER
Ken Boone,
Let me pick your brain one more time, here is what I do, I started all over again, reset the switches to factory settings and I added the VLANs, 10,20,30,40 with their respective names, then I plug one cable from vmnic0 to gig1/0/16 and did the following:
inter gig1/0/16
switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
switch port mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan 10,20,30,40
exit
Then I plug a laptop into a port in the switch (specifically gig1/0/12) configured a static IP in my laptop and I already have an IP on the ESXi host connected to port 16, and when I tried to ping it, I was unable to obtain a response, so I if I can not reach the host from the switch, I am not going to be able to install and deploy VM's
Do you know what I am doing wrong?
Thanks,
Let me pick your brain one more time, here is what I do, I started all over again, reset the switches to factory settings and I added the VLANs, 10,20,30,40 with their respective names, then I plug one cable from vmnic0 to gig1/0/16 and did the following:
inter gig1/0/16
switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
switch port mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan 10,20,30,40
exit
Then I plug a laptop into a port in the switch (specifically gig1/0/12) configured a static IP in my laptop and I already have an IP on the ESXi host connected to port 16, and when I tried to ping it, I was unable to obtain a response, so I if I can not reach the host from the switch, I am not going to be able to install and deploy VM's
Do you know what I am doing wrong?
Thanks,
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ASKER
Ken Boone,
You were precise and very knowledgeable about the question, from the VMware perspective there were a few things that I wanted to put together that I was unable to understand such as separating the management VLAN from the rest of the VLAN, now I have a clear understanding of what I am doing.
Another resource that I was able to use and replicated the network piece was the Cisco Packet Tracer student, and Danscourses youtube video about VLANs and trunking.
Thank you so much for your assistance.
You were precise and very knowledgeable about the question, from the VMware perspective there were a few things that I wanted to put together that I was unable to understand such as separating the management VLAN from the rest of the VLAN, now I have a clear understanding of what I am doing.
Another resource that I was able to use and replicated the network piece was the Cisco Packet Tracer student, and Danscourses youtube video about VLANs and trunking.
Thank you so much for your assistance.
conf t
vlan 10
name Mgmt
vlan 20
name vMotion
vlan 30
name iSCSi
vlan 40
name VMNetwork
So on the switchport that will connect to ESXI where you want to trunk these ports this is what you do:
int gig0/1
switchport mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan 10,20,30,40
switchport trunk encapsulation 802.1q <-- may or may not be necessary.
What we did was define the port as a trunk instead of access
Then we specified what vlans are allowed over this trunk... This is not necessary as by default all vlans flow over a trunk, but it is good practice to prune the vlans down to what you want from a security perspective as well as bandwidth mgmt practice.
Cisco had a proprietary trunking protocol years ago and some switches still support it. If it does then you need to specify the 8021q otherwise the command will be rejected if its not needed.