-

Creating stretched networks with NSX-T Federation

August 8, 2020 ronaldpj Comments 0 Comment

After the initial configuration and setup of NSX-T local and global managers ánd setting up layer-3 communication (see previous blogs), we can go for the real new thing of NSX-T 3.0, stretched networking with Federation. We are aiming for the following setup: In order to set this up, we need Edge Nodes on both sites (we have those) and a configuration of Remote Tunnel Endpoints (RTEPs). We also need to create a stretched T0 and T1 and setup BGP to…

Read More Read More

Setting up layer-3 connectivity with NSX-T

August 7, 2020 ronaldpj Comments 1 comment

After the installation (https://my-sddc.net/nsx-t-global-manager-installation-and-initial-setup/) and initial configuration (https://my-sddc.net/nsx-t-3-0-initial-configuration/), we can start building networks. In order to get connectivity from the virtual network to the physical network, we need to setup layer-3 connectivity. In order to be able to do that, I bought a small Mikrotik device, to allow me to play around with BGP/BFD and VRF’s. What we need to do to get layer-3 connectivity is: Create transport zones for transit networks Create an uplink profile for edge nodes Setup…

Read More Read More

NSX-T 3.0 – Initial Configuration

August 6, 2020 ronaldpj Comments 2 comments

This blog is to describe the initial configuration of NSX-T 3.0. After deploying the appliances and combining them into one environment (https://my-sddc.net/nsx-t-global-manager-installation-and-initial-setup/) and deploying the vSphere/vSAN environment (https://my-sddc.net/building-the-lab-vsphere-and-vsan/) it is time to combine the two and create the virtual network environment. As a reminder, our environment is going to look like this: but that’s mainly the physical side of it. The virtual side is still something I have to figure out, but for now, it’s roughly going to look like…

Read More Read More

HCI Benching the lab

August 5, 2020 ronaldpj Comments 0 Comment

Just a small tidbit. I have built the vSphere/vSAN part of the lab and am curious as to what the performance is, so I’ll use HCIBench for that: https://flings.vmware.com/hcibench. Deploying it is pretty straightforward, it’s an OVA: After that (and powering on), the configuration is done through the web-interface: Previous times I ran HCIBench at customers, I used VDBench as the bench-marking tool. In this version FIO is available, so I’ll give that a go. The “Clear Read/Write Cache Before…

Read More Read More

Building the lab – vSphere and vSAN

August 4, 2020 ronaldpj Comments 1 comment

After creating the NSX Managers (Local and Global, see https://my-sddc.net/nsx-t-global-manager-installation-and-initial-setup), and receiving the goods I ordered for the nested hosts, it is time to begin building the basics for the new lab. I have the availability of one HP DL380p Gen8, with two processors and 384 GB of memory. Two 450 GB 10K SAS disks for the basic virtual machines (vCenter, NSX-Manager and such) and I added two time three SSD’s. The idea behind this, is that I will create…

Read More Read More

NSX-T Global Manager installation and initial setup

August 4, 2020 ronaldpj Comments 5 comments

In my new lab environment, I will be working with two locations (Site A and Site B) and a Global NSX-T Manager to centrally manage the environment. For this, I installed a Global Manager after I deployed both Local Managers. Since I am not made of resources, all sites and the global environment will consist of one appliance, but in a production environment you would definitely need three per function. The installation of the Global Manager is almost identical to…

Read More Read More

New Lab – Part 2 – Setup and some small tips & tricks

August 2, 2020 ronaldpj Comments 0 Comment

For my lab environment I am building on a combination of physical and virtual. I have one (massive, from home lab perspective) DL380 on which I will run multiple nested environments and I have one PC with a fair amount of memory, which will host some virtual machines, that will help me along. Setup Basically, I am working towards the following setup (for now): All of this is connected to a NetGear switch (not to fancy, but support for VLAN’s…

Read More Read More

New lab environment – Part 1 – vCenter Server install on VMware Workstation

July 31, 2020 ronaldpj Comments 0 Comment

Since my company has moved offices recently (during the COVID-pandemic), the availability of my demo (/lab) environment has been cut off. This was okay for a couple of weeks, but it has been a couple of months now, and I really miss the possibility to test out some things. So I decided to get myself a new homelab. The lack of lab-equipment also stopped me blogging for quite some time, but since we are in the summer vacation, I plan…

Read More Read More

Upgrading the demo environment, with vSphere 7 and NSX-T 3

April 17, 2020 ronaldpj Comments 3 comments

After the release of NSX-T 3.0, nothing stands in the way of upgrading our demo environment to NSX-T 3.0, making it ready for vSphere 7. Because I wanted to see the checks in the upgrade process of vSphere 7, where it will inform you of the interoperability of NSX-T, I started with the upgrade of the vCenter Server: and choosing Upgrade. After following the wizard a new appliance is deployed. This appliance will then be used to upgrade the current…

Read More Read More

Repointing embedded vCenter server to join existing SSO-domain, for Enhanced Linked Mode

April 17, 2020 ronaldpj Comments 0 Comment

I was running a demo environment with three separate vCenter Servers, because of historical reasons. At one stage I wanted to migrate some VM’s from on to the other. Two choices exist, one is the Cross vCenter vMotion fling (very useful, find it here), the other is joining two (or more) vCenter Servers into one environment, by using Enhanced Link Mode (ELM). I chose the second option, because that would give me other advantages as well. To do this, we…

Read More Read More