Reference Architecture

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Table 2: VLAN Overview
Traffic Type
(VLAN segregation)
Description
Associated Network Device
Management
vSphere management traffic and
Active System 800v management services
Broadcom NDC and
Broadcom Network Adapter
vMotion
VMware vMotion traffic
Broadcom NDC and
Broadcom Network Adapter
VM
LAN traffic generated by compute cluster
VMs
Broadcom NDC and
Broadcom Network Adapter
iSCSI
iSCSI SAN traffic
Broadcom NDC and
Broadcom Network Adapter
Out-of-Band
Management
Out-of-Band Management traffic
iDRAC, CMC, and EqualLogic
Management Ports
Hypervisor network configuration for LAN and iSCSI SAN traffic: VMware ESXi hypervisor is configured
for the LAN and iSCSI SAN traffic that are associated with the blade servers. LAN traffic in Active
System 800v solution is categorized into four traffic types: VM traffic, management traffic, vMotion
traffic, and Out-of-Band (OOB) management traffic. OOB management traffic is associated with CMC,
iDRAC, and EqualLogic SAN management traffic. VM traffic, management traffic, and vMotion traffic
are associated with the blade servers in the compute cluster and the rack servers in the management
servers. Similarly, iSCSI SAN traffic is also associated with the blade servers and the rack servers. On
each hypervisor host within the compute cluster and the management cluster, a virtual switch is
created for each of the three LAN traffic types associated with the blade and the rack servers, and also
for the iSCSI traffic.
On the compute cluster hosts (the PowerEdge M620 blade servers), one vSwitch each is created for VM
traffic, vSphere management traffic, vMotion traffic, and iSCSI traffic. Two partitions, one from each
physical network port, are connected as uplinks to each of the virtual switches. This creates a team of
two network ports, enabling NIC failover and load balancing for each vSwitch. On the management
cluster hosts (the PowerEdge R620 rack servers), one vSwitch each is created for management traffic,
vMotion traffic, and iSCSI traffic. In this case, all VMs are management VMs, so the VM traffic and the
vSphere management traffic are on the same management VLAN. Due to this fact, the VM traffic port
group and the vSphere management traffic port group are on the same vSwitch.
The resultant compute cluster and management cluster hypervisor host configuration is illustrated in
Figure 6.