vPC between UCS C210M2 and nexus 7K

[rajesh.kumar]

Dear Nexus team.

I have One UCS 210M2 server and two Nexus 7K

We want to configure portchannel(etherchannel) UCS two NIC card and connect to each nexus 7K

Is this design supported, connecting UCS port-channel on two nexus 7K?

we dont have 5K or 2K switches.

What configuration required from Nexus 7K to achieve this vPC directly with UCS 210M2 servers?

Waiting for your feedback.

[rajesh.kumar]

Dear Nexus team.

I have One UCS 210M2 server and two Nexus 7K

We want to configure portchannel(etherchannel) UCS two NIC card and connect to each nexus 7K

Is this design supported, connecting UCS port-channel on two nexus 7K?

we dont have 5K or 2K switches.

It is normal vPC configuration or any special configuration required from Nexus 7K to achieve this vPC directly with UCS 210M2 servers?

Waiting for your feedback.

[Marwan ALshawi]

generally speaking yes you can do it

but how this is depending on the NIC cards you have and the way yo configure your VMware ESXi NIC teaming too

if yo use LACP NIC teaming utilizing both Presented NICs then you will be able to use booth of them depending on the way you configure the VM NIC teaming, if are using N1Kv then this wil lrequired the LACP therchannel of vethernet uplink vports to aggregate both NICs/uplinks in one etherchannel and in the N7K all what you need to configure a standard vPC config following Cisco Config Guide

also if you use the Palo vn-link with which will provide you with more vNICs to be presented to the ESXi Host and then you can use direct Pining ( manul ) from each vNIC to actule physical NIC and this way you can archive loadsharing too

Hoep this help

if helpful Rate

[Kishore Chennupati]

Hi rajesh,

May the below links should help you

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/datacenter/sw/4_2/nx-os/interfaces/configuration/guide/if_vPC.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps9441/ps9402/white_paper_c11-516396.html

HTH

Regards

Kishore

please rate if helpful

[Marwan ALshawi]

Also, please refer to the bellow link as:

For use with the UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Servers, Cisco offers a choice of four types of PCIe adapters so that you can choose the technology most appropriate for your data center and applications. They can be mixed and matched in the same server.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/ps10265/ps10493/c_series_net_adapter.html

https://supportforums.cisco.com/thread/2085592

NIC teaming via CLI in UCS C:

Configuring NICs

Configure a server NIC when you want to set the NIC mode and NIC redundancy.

Before You Begin

You must log in as a user with admin privileges to configure the NIC

Server#

scope cimc

Server /cimc #

scope Network

Server /cimc/network # set mode {dedicated |shared_lom}

Sets the NIC mode to one of the following:

• Dedicated—The management port is used to access the CIMC.

• Shared LOM—The LOM (LAN On Motherboard) ports are

used to access the CIMC.

The available NIC modes may vary depending on your

platform.

Note

Sets the NIC redundancy for systems in which the NIC mode is

Shared LOM. The redundancy type can be one of the following:

Server /cimc/network # set redundancy {none | active-active |

active-standby}

• none—The NICs operate independently and do not failover

if there is a problem.

• active-active—If supported, both NICs are utilized

simultaneously. This increases throughput and provides

multiple paths to the CIMC.

If you select this option for a server that does not

support teaming, the system displays an error

message when you save your changes.

Note

• active-standby—If one NIC fails, traffic fails over to the

other NIC.

If you select this option, make sure that both NICs

are connected to the same subnet to ensure that the

traffic is secure regardless of which NIC is used.

Note

The available NIC redundancy may vary depending on

your platform.

be aware that SAN has to work in active standby mode if you looking to use FCoE with vPC in place

Hope this help

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[rajesh.kumar]

Dear marwanshawi

Thanks for the information you provided.

Now, I have

UCS-C210M2-VCD2

server and

UC-N2XX-ABPCI03

Broadcom BCM5709 Quad Gig E card   (10/100/1GbE)

I am installing UnifiedCommunication(CUCM) application on it.

What you suggest is I can configure NIC-Team on UCS and vPC on N7K.

For creating NIC-Teaming on UCS shall I follow CIMC vSphere client GUI, COnfiguration->Networking and vSwitch porpierties for NIC teaming. Or CLI is only the way to achieve NIC Teaming? If I configure through vSphere client GUI, these CLI commands are mandatory?

Pls. suggest.

[Marwan ALshawi · Accepted solution]

Hi rajesh

This is good question, when you do the teaming in the ucs level then you present a nic to the esxi. Host and the ucs hardware will take care of the teaming

However if you leave the nice as active active in the ucs level then use the teaming on the vceneter/vmware host level you can use vmware on the host os level to co trol the teaming which is better if you have some other features like vmotion and ft so you can control the nic from the vm and from ucs hardware it is two active links and from networking and N7K you have both links in forwarding state with the vPC

see the bellow link for uc on ucs Which has all the bested rice design

http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/Unified_Communications_Virtualization_Sizing_Guidelines

Hope this help

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