BladeSystem - General
1748136 Members
3784 Online
108758 Solutions
New Discussion юеВ

Re: Virtual Connect: Port status in Standby

 
SOLVED
Go to solution

Virtual Connect: Port status in Standby

Hi,
I recently setup two new "Ethernet networks" in our virtual connect environment. We setup these networks the same way we did previously for our other ethernet networks. The only difference now is we have links showing they're in standby mode instead of all links being active. (see attachment)

Background:
We are running a c7000 enclosure fully populated with BL465c G5 servers. The servers have a total of six NICs. We have a NC325m Quad Port NIC on the blade servers. We used port 3 and 4 from the NC325m and assigned them to the newly created networks in Virtual Connect. We are using one NIC for each network.

The uplink ports are all going to the same switch (Cisco 3560G). Within the switch, backup_nas4 and storage_nas4 are on different VLANs.

Both networks have LACP. I believe backup_nas4 has trunking enabled on the swith.

I would appreciate any help or advice.
Thanks!
7 REPLIES 7
The Brit
Honored Contributor

Re: Virtual Connect: Port status in Standby

I dont do VMWare, however.

If you create an Ethernet Network, (or Uplinkset) using port from two adjacent IC modules, i.e. in your case Bay 7 and Bay 8, then only the ports on one bay can be ACTIVE.

If you pull the module from Bay 7, then the ports on Bay 8 will become ACTIVE and when Bay 7 is reinserted, the ports on that module will be in STANDBY.

In order for all of the ports to be ACTIVE they should all be on the same Module.

This is my understanding, hope it helps.

Dave.

Re: Virtual Connect: Port status in Standby

Thanks for the info Dave.
This is where I'm confused. The attachment also shows that I have an uplink set for Bays 5 and 6. But the uplink set shows all the ports as being active.

I looked into the virtual connect cookbook and the info doesn't seem to be clear to me. Do you have any documentation base on the info you provided?

Thanks again for your help!
HEM_2
Honored Contributor
Solution

Re: Virtual Connect: Port status in Standby

Dave is right...

In your setup, VMnetwork1 and VMnetwork2 each only have uplinks from a single VC module respectively and because they all connect to the same external switch they form an LACP LAG and therefore are all active.

Your new networks each have uplinks from bay 7 and bay 8. LACP will not span across VC modules.

Re: Virtual Connect: Port status in Standby

Thanks for the info!
We currently do not have one LACP setup for Bay 7, Port 1/2 and Bay 8, Port 1/2.

We implemented two separate LACP's (Bay 7, Port 1/2) and (Bay 8, Port 1/2). These two LACPs are going to the same Cisco 3560G switch. Since we are not spanning the LACP across two interconnects, shouldn't the port status be "active" on all the links?

Re: Virtual Connect: Port status in Standby

Sorry....
I think I understand your explanation now.

If I created two separate uplinks on virtual connect (example: backup1 for bay 7, port 1/2 and backup2 for bay 8, port 1/2), will all the ports show up as active?

In this scenario, I would assume one LACP would not work on two uplink sets. We would need to setup one LACP for each of the uplink set on the Cisco switch.

Would this be a "better" implementation if I wanted all ports to be active?

Thanks in advance!
HEM_2
Honored Contributor

Re: Virtual Connect: Port status in Standby

yes exactly... in your current setup you have 2 2-port LAGs each on backup_nas4 and storage_nas4. VC prevents loops by only allowing one physical or logical link (i.e. LACP channel) to be active on any given defined network or shared uplink set.

To have all links active, you can split backup_nas4 and storage_nas4 into side A and B but you need to make corresponding changes on your server profiles.

Re: Virtual Connect: Port status in Standby

Thank you for the explanation. It was very helpful!