Users Guide

NOTE: You cannot select the ports, and the connection topology is enforced by SmartFabric Services.

NOTE: VLT is supported only on Ethernet and not on FCoE. Physically separate uplinks for LAN and FCoE traffic are

required for MX5108n and MX9116n switches.

Upstream network switch requirements

It is recommended, but not required, that PowerEdge MX switches are connected to a pair of redundant upstream switches.

When you are connecting a pair of switches in Fabric mode to an upstream switch pair, the upstream switch pair must be

configured in the following way:

1. Both upstream switches must be connected to each other using technologies such as VLT or VPC.

2. The upstream switch ports must be in a port channel using LACP.

NOTE: The LACP option is supported on Ethernet uplinks only.

3. Ensure that a compatible Spanning Tree Protocol is configured. For more information, see the section, Spanning Tree

Protocol.

Spanning Tree Protocol

OS10 defaults to RPVST+ as the Spanning Tree protocol. To change STP modes, use the spanning-tree mode command. Use

the spanning-tree mode command to change STP modes. For steps, see the OS10 Enterprise Edition User Guide.

NOTE:

If the upstream network is running RSTP, change from RPVST+ to RSTP before physically connecting the switches

to the upstream network. Failure to do so may cause a network outage.

NIC teaming restrictions

NIC teaming is suggested for redundancy unless a particular implementation recommends against it. There are two main kinds of

NIC teaming:

1. Switch Dependent—Also referred to as 802.3ad or Dynamic Link Aggregation. The switch dependent teaming method uses

the LACP protocol to understand the teaming topology. This teaming method provides Active-Active teaming and requires

the switch to support LACP teaming.

2. Switch Independent—This method uses the operating system and NIC device drivers on the server to team the NICs. Each

NIC vendor may provide slightly different implementations with different pros and cons.

NIC Partitioning (NPAR) can impact how NIC teaming operates. Based on restrictions implemented by NIC vendors related to

NIC partitioning, certain configurations preclude certain types of teaming.

The following restrictions are applicable to both Full Switch and SmartFabric modes:

1. If NPAR is NOT in use, both Switch Dependent (LACP) and Switch Independent teaming methods are supported.

2. If NPAR IS in use, only Switch Independent teaming methods are supported. Switch Dependent teaming is NOT supported.

The following restrictions are applicable to Switch Dependent (LACP) teaming:

1. The IDRAC shared LOM feature can only be used if “Failover” option on IDRAC is enabled

SmartFabric Services