Cisco ACI use same DVS for two VMM Integrations (VMware/VMware SDN)

[sdn_worker]

Hi

If I have a working VMM Integration (VMware) with DVS Version >7.0, is it possible to use the ACI created DVS for a second VMM Integration (VMware SDN) with NSX-T vlan-backed port groups?

My thought is, that I can use the DVS with the NSX-T Transport Zone and both port-group types (vds pg, nsx-t pg) are visible under the same DVS.

br

David 

[acmurali]

Hi David, thanks for your query.

It is not recommended to perform any changes to a DVS once integrated with ACI.

That said, as per the following excerpt from the virtualization guide (https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/dcn/aci/apic/5x/virtualization-guide/cisco-aci-virtualization-guide-52x/ACI-Virtualization-Guide-52x-aci-with-vmware-vds.html#reference_6C91E62F8FE74309A26195322FC16B1E) the following are parameters you must ensure aren't changed from outside ACI (in your case modifying your DVS from NSX) in case you want to try this integration:

"Guidelines for VMware VDS Integration

Follow the guidelines in this section when integrating VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) into Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI).

• Do not change the following settings on a VMware VDS configured for VMM integration:

  • VMware vCenter hostname (if you are using DNS).

  • VMware vCenter IP address (if you are using IP).

  • VMware vCenter credentials used by Cisco APIC.

  • Data center name

  • Folder, VDS, or portgroup name.

  • Folder structure containing the VMware VDS.

    For example, do not put the folder in another folder.

  • Uplink port-channel configuration, including LACP/port channel, LLDP, and CDP configuration

  • VLAN on a portgroup

  • Active uplinks for portgroups pushed by Cisco APIC.

  • Security parameters (promiscuous mode, MAC address changes, forged transmits) for portgroups pushed by Cisco APIC.

• Use supported versions of VMware vCenter/vSphere with the version of Cisco ACI that you are running.

• If you are adding or removing any portgroups, use Cisco APIC or the Cisco ACI vCenter plug-in in VMware vCenter.

• Know that Cisco APIC may overwrite some changes that are made in VMware vCenter.

  For example, when Cisco APIC updates a portgroup, port binding, promiscuous mode, and load-balancing can be overwritten

"

If the above requirements can be ensured then you may attempt such an integration however I would strongly recommend testing this out in a lab to check if there are any unexpected results for the scenarios will be using with VMs.

Have a nice day.