Owner`s manual
NetworkingBestPracticesforVMwareInfrastructure3onDellPowerEdgeBladeServers
Contents
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 4
2 Overview ............................................................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Fabrics .......................................................................................................................................................... 4
2.2 I/O Modules ................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.3 Mapping between Blade Server and I/O Modules in Chassis ...................................................................... 6
2.4 Mapping between ESX Physical Adapter Enumeration and I/O Modules ................................................... 7
3 Network Architecture ............................................................................................................................................ 8
3.1 Design Principles ......................................................................................................................................... 8
3.2 Recommended Configurations ..................................................................................................................... 8
3.3 Local Area Network (LAN) ......................................................................................................................... 9
3.3.1 Traffic Isolation using VLANs .............................................................................................................. 10
3.3.2 Load Balancing ...................................................................................................................................... 10
3.3.3 External Connectivity using Uplinks ..................................................................................................... 10
3.4 iSCSI Storage Area Network (SAN) .......................................................................................................... 11
3.4.1 Load Balancing ...................................................................................................................................... 11
4 References ........................................................................................................................................................... 12
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Blade Fabric Layout ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 2: Adapter and I/O Modules connection in Chassis for Half Height Blades ...................................................... 6
Figure 3: Adapter and I/O Modules connection in Chassis for Full Height Blades ....................................................... 7
Figure 4: Virtual Switch for LAN on Half Height Blade Servers .................................................................................. 9
Figure 5: Virtual Switch for LAN on Full Height Blade Servers .................................................................................. 9
Figure 6: Virtual Switch for SAN on Half Height Blade Servers ................................................................................ 11
Figure 7: Virtual Switch for SAN on Full Height Blade Servers ................................................................................ 11
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