How to setup VSA Demo with separate management and iSCSI networks connected to vSphere?

[MattGG]

So when I setup Openfiler, I setup a NIC on the management network, and 2 nics on a private iSCSI network.

This keeps my iSCSI traffic isolated.

Can this be done in the VSA? I do not have a router so I cannot create a route between the management and iSCSI networks.

What is the general best practice for setting up the VSA with multiple NICs for ESX?

Thanks.

[Steven Clementi]

I don't think you can.

The VSA, like the physical hardware equivilant, is managed from the iSCSI network.

Is your management box physical? or virtual?

If virtual, can you add another vNIC to it and put that on the iSCSI network? If physical, do you have a spare nic on the box?

The 2 NIC's the VSA support I believe can only be teamed or otherwise/similarly configured to be on the same network.

My lab servers are offline this week sinced I am in training. I'll try to see what other options there are in the console sometime tonight.


Steven

[MattGG]

I am actually installing the VSA is VMware Workstation with ESX running in WKS as well.

I have a management, 2 x iSCSI, VM, and Vmotion networks configged.

I could put a VM on the iSCSI network to manage it, but it would just take up more resources on my local machine. Once you use CMC to configure the VSA and the volumes, can you then just turn the CMC VM off? Does the VSA have everything it needs?

Thanks

[Uwe Zessin]

You can add a second vNIC to the VSA (even after it was added to a management group - you have to add it while the VM is powered off, of course ;-)
After power-on you must manually enable the interface via the VM console and enter the IP parameters.

According to the documentation, you're not allowed to bond those interfaces in the VSA - use the ESX NIC teaming.

[MattGG]

Uwe,

But can that second interface be on a separate iSCSI network. So that the mgmt and iscsi networks are separate?

Thanks

[Uwe Zessin]

Unfortunately, the user manual is very quiet on the use of 2 vNICs and I am a bit shy to rip my test-environment apart right now for some test (sorry).

So I _beleive_ (corrections/additions welcome):

- The second interface MUST be in a separate IP subnet.

- It should be possible to run iSCSI data traffic through one vNIC and management traffic through the other.



Can you try it out in your environment and let us know?

[MattGG]

So normally you would need to add the CMC to the iSCSI network to management the VSA?

Do admins normally add a route from the admin network to the iSCSI network to facilitate management?

I was under the impression that management was separate nics from the SAN traffic?

Thanks

[SeanAmicus ITS]

Hi Matt,

I'm trying to add the second NIC on the VSA.

Has anybody got the CLI to do so?