15 Managing networks and network resources

This chapter describes configuring and managing networks and network resources for the enclosures and server blades managed by the appliance. For information about configuring the network settings for the appliance, see “Managing the appliance settings” (page 155).

NOTE: The network features described in this chapter apply to enclosures and server blades only. The appliance does not monitor or manage the network features and hardware for rack mount servers or for networking equipment outside the enclosures.

For more information about the network features and the appliance, see “About network connectivity” (page 116).

UI screens and REST API resources

UI screen

REST API resource

 

 

Interconnects

interconnects

 

 

Networks

connection-templates,ethernet-networks, and fc-networks

 

 

Network Sets

network-sets

 

 

15.1 Data center switch port requirements

Although you can configure an uplink set to receive incoming network traffic as untagged by designating a network on in that uplink set as Native, traffic egressing the uplink set is always VLAN tagged.

The switch ports for data center network switches that connect to the Virtual Connect interconnect modules must be configured as follows:

Spanning tree edge (because the Virtual Connect interconnect modules appear to the switch as access devices instead of switches).

VLAN trunk ports (tagging) to support the VLAN IDs included in the uplink set that connects to switch port.

For example, if you configure an uplink set, prodUS, that includes the production networks prod 1101 through prod 1104 to use the X2 ports of the interconnects in bay 1 and bay 2 of Enclosure 1, then the data center switch ports that connect to those X2 ports must be configured to support VLAN IDs 1101, 1102, 1103, and 1104.

If multiple uplinks in an uplink set connect the same interconnect to the same data center switch, to ensure that all the uplinks in the uplink set are active, you must configure the data center switch ports for LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol) in the same LAG (Link Aggregation Group).

15.2Managing Fibre Channel networks (SANs)

You can manage Fibre Channel networks from the UI Networks screen or by using the REST APIs.

15.1 Data center switch port requirements 115