Solved: nexus 5548 with 2248 for servers

suthomas1 · ‎07-04-2013

Hi,

we have a 5548 acting as Layer 3 , 2248 will be connected to it as the FEX's.

The servers we have will be connected to 2248 physically.

few questions on this setup:-

1. Do i need to use VRF's , some of the documents indicates VRF for management .

can i use a simple vlan concept like normal switches rather than vrf?

2. After the connectivity of 5548 to 2248 , can i create different SVI on 5548 and have them as gateway for servers?

3. Can the ports on 2248 be configured as access ports for servers?

4. do i need to have any vtp mode on 5548 and 2248 . I read it is not requrired, but just trying to understand here.

Appreciate all help.

Steve Fuller · ‎07-05-2013

Hi,

1. You don't have to use VRF, but the management VRF exists by default anyway. I manage my Layer-3 switches in-band via the IP address of a loopback interface that's being advertised into the production environment. I also configure the mmgt0 interface, which is part of the management VRF, but I only use this for out-of-band management and for vPC peer-keepalive.

2. Yes. I have the two Nexus switches, connected via my vPC peer-link carrying all the server VLANs, and then each of the switches configured with an SVI for those server VLANs. The SVI has all my normal configuration such as HSRP, PIM etc.

3. Yes. The ports on the FEX can be configured as either access ports or trunk ports with the Layer-3 gateway function on the SVI of the Nexus 5548.

4. VTP only works in transparent mode in the Nexus switches which means it will only forward VTP packets. If you only have Nexus switches then VTP isn't really required. If you also have IOS based switches with VTP running in client/server mode, and the Nexus switches are in the path between the IOS switches, then you would need to enable it such that the VTP packets are forwarded between the IOS switches.

Regards

View solution in original post

Steve Fuller · ‎07-05-2013

Hi,

1. You don't have to use VRF, but the management VRF exists by default anyway. I manage my Layer-3 switches in-band via the IP address of a loopback interface that's being advertised into the production environment. I also configure the mmgt0 interface, which is part of the management VRF, but I only use this for out-of-band management and for vPC peer-keepalive.

2. Yes. I have the two Nexus switches, connected via my vPC peer-link carrying all the server VLANs, and then each of the switches configured with an SVI for those server VLANs. The SVI has all my normal configuration such as HSRP, PIM etc.

3. Yes. The ports on the FEX can be configured as either access ports or trunk ports with the Layer-3 gateway function on the SVI of the Nexus 5548.

4. VTP only works in transparent mode in the Nexus switches which means it will only forward VTP packets. If you only have Nexus switches then VTP isn't really required. If you also have IOS based switches with VTP running in client/server mode, and the Nexus switches are in the path between the IOS switches, then you would need to enable it such that the VTP packets are forwarded between the IOS switches.

Regards

siddhartham · ‎07-05-2013

I completely agree with Steve's response to first 3 questions.

4. VTP only works in transparent mode in the Nexus switches which means it will only forward VTP packets. If you only have Nexus switches then VTP isn't really required. If you also have IOS based switches with VTP running in client/server mode, and the Nexus switches are in the path between the IOS switches, then you would need to enable it such that the VTP packets are forwarded between the IOS switches.

NX 5548 switches (5.1(3)N2(1a)) started supporting all VTP modes (server,client and Transparent)-- But as Steve suggested if you only have nexus switches and no need to run VTP you can configure them in trasparent mode.

Siddhartha