vPC configuration for peer-keepalives

[Ricky Sandhu]

Good morning, I am configuring a pair of Nexus 9k switches to run in a virtual port-channel configuration.  For the vPC peer-keepalive link, I dont' want to use the management interface.  Is it possible to tie 2 ports on each switch into an LACP port-channel and then assign an IP address to the port-channel itself?  Then I can directly connect two switches with each other using fiber cables.  I want to have complete isolation from the LAN hence why I don't want to rely on a single management link per switch for keepalives.  

[Kirk J · Accepted solution]

Greetings.

If I'm reading your question correctly, I believe it matches the 1st preference in the VPC best practices doc.

http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/sw/design/vpc_design/vpc_best_practices_design_guide.pdf

Strong Recommendations: When building a vPC peer-keepalive link, use the following in descending order of preference:

1. Dedicated link(s) (1-Gigabit Ethernet port is enough) configured as L3. Port-channel with 2 X 1G port is even better.

2. Mgmt0 interface (along with management traffic)

3. As a last resort, route the peer-keepalive link over the Layer 3 infrastructure WARNING: Do not configure vPC peer-keepalive link on top of vPC peer-link; peer-keepalive messages must not be carried over vPC peer-link to avoid fate sharing in case peer-link goes down.

Thanks,

Kirk...

[Ricky Sandhu]

Thanks Kirk.