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December 5th, 2013 01:00
T620 iDRAC VLAN interferes with ESXi?
Hi all,
I have a T620 that runs vmware ESXi 5.1 and is equipped with the basic iDRAC management module (no dedicated ethernet port, it uses one of the 2 embedded ports).
The ESXi setup is running fine for some time now but we weren't using the iDRAC to this day. Today I had the chance to reconfigure the iDRAC because it was not reachable on the net so far. Since we use VLAN 20 for management, I configured the iDRAC to use this VLAN on NIC2. Some virtual machines and the ESXi host itself also use this VLAN on the NIC2 interface. Are there any known troubles with this configuration?
It seems that I cannot reach the iDRAC from some of the VMs and some other VMs also behave strange now when it comes to using the management VLAN. Most communications work but some fail and I have not figured out a pattern yet. This is not limited to accesses to the iDRAC but also (few) other devices on VLAN 20. There is no IP address conflict.
Also I tried to configure the email warnings on the iDRAC but tests were not successful. Unfortunately there is no error log that I could use to pinpoint this issue. Maybe this is connected to the network problem. Theoretically routing and name resolution work on the management VLAN but something is strange with the iDRAC
I'm open for suggestions...
Daniel My
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December 5th, 2013 09:00
Hello atbs
Yes, there are known issues with this configuration. When your VMs are communicating with each other the traffic is handled on the server by the virtual switch. The operating system distributes the frames and packets received by the switch to the host and the VMs. The iDRAC is handled at a hardware level, so it is like having two physical NICs on a single interface. Most switches don't handle communication to and from the same interface very well as it is expected that a network device on an interface will be able to communicate with itself. Several protocols will not function well like multicast and ICMP. If you need to communicate with the iDRAC from the host then it would be best to configure it on a LOM interface that is not shared with the same VM/OS that you are wanting to access it from.
Thanks
atbs
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December 5th, 2013 11:00
Thank you for your quick response. This explanation makes sense.
So my options are:
1) Buy an additional NIC
2) Upgrade to iDRAC7 Enterprise
Am I right?
Daniel My
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6.2K Posts
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December 5th, 2013 11:00
The iDRAC is sharing LOM 2 right? That is the same interface the VMs are on from my understanding. If you move the iDRAC to LOM 1/3/4 you should be fine. If you need to communicate from all interfaces on the LAN on Motherboard to the iDRAC then yes those are your options, but if there is a free interface or an interface that does not have an operating system that needs to communicate with the iDRAC then you can assign it to that one.
Thanks