Select one or two switches for the VxRail cluster. One switch is often used
in test and development environments. Two or more switches are required to support sustained
performance, high availability, and failover in production environments. More switch
features and functionality may be necessary to support specific use cases or requirements.
Consider the following performance factors when selecting switches:
If your plans include deploying all flash storage
on your VxRail cluster, 10 GbE network switches are the minimum requirement. Use
a minimum 25 GbE network if that is supported in your data center
infrastructure.
Enabling advanced features such as L3 routing
services on the switches for the VxRail cluster may cause resource contention
and consume switch buffer space. Select switches with sufficient resources and
buffer capacity.
Switches that support higher port
speeds are designed with higher Network Processor Unit (NPU) buffers. Use an NPU
shared switch buffer of at least 16 MB for 10 GbE network connectivity. Use an
NPU buffer of at least 32 MB for more demanding 25 GbE network connectivity.
For large VxRail clusters with demanding
performance requirements and advanced enabled switch services, consider switches
with resource capacity and deeper buffer capacity.
VxRail is an SDDC which relies on the physical ToR switching for network
communications. VxRail is engineered to enable full redundancy and failure
protection across the cluster. For environments that require protection from a
single point of failure, design and configure the adjacent network supporting the
VxRail cluster to eliminate any single point of failure. Deploy a minimum of two
switches to support high availability and balance the workload on the VxRail
cluster. Link the switches with a pair of cables to support the flow of L2 traffic
between the switches.
Consider LAG to enable load-balancing and failure protection at the port level.
NIC teaming, which is the pairing of physical ports into a logical port is
supported. These logical port pairings can peer with a pair of ports on the adjacent
switches to enable the load-balancing of demanding VxRail networks. Figure 1. Multichassis LAG across
two switches. Multichassis LAG across two switches
For network-intense workloads that require high availability, consider switches
that support multichassis LAG, such as Cisco vPC or Dell VLT port channel.
Multichassis LAG can be used to enable load-balancing from the VxRail cluster across
a logical switch port that is configured between the two linked switches.
LACP at the cluster level is supported. The switches supporting the VxRail
cluster should support LACP for better manageability and broader load-balancing
options.
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