Configuring Distributed Virtual Switches in Cisco UCS
This chapter includes the following sections:
- Distributed Virtual Switches
- Configuring a Distributed Virtual Switch
- Managing Distributed Virtual Switches
Distributed Virtual Switches
Each VMware ESX host has its own software-based virtual switch (vSwitch) in its hypervisor that performs the switching operations between its virtual machines (VMs). The Cisco UCS distributed virtual switch (DVS) is a software-based virtual switch that runs alongside the vSwitch in the ESX hypervisor, and can be distributed across multiple ESX hosts. Unlike vSwitch, which uses its own local port configuration, a DVS associated with multiple ESX hosts uses the same port configuration across all ESX hosts.
After associating an ESX host to a DVS, you can migrate existing VMs from the vSwitch to the DVS, and you can create VMs to use the DVS instead of the vSwitch. With the hardware-based VN-Link implementation, when a VM uses the DVS, all VM traffic passes through the DVS and ASIC-based switching is performed by the fabric interconnect.
In Cisco UCS Manager, DVSes are organized in the following hierarchy:
vCenter
Folder (optional)
Datacenter
Folder (required)
DVS
At the top of the hierarchy is the vCenter, which represents a VMware vCenter instance. Each vCenter contains one or more datacenters, and optionally vCenter folders with which you can organize the datacenters. Each datacenter contains one or more required datacenter folders. Datacenter folders contain the DVSes.
Configuring a Distributed Virtual Switch
You must first create a datacenter in VMware vCenter. Do not create the folder inside the datacenter or the DVS in VMware vCenter.
Managing Distributed Virtual Switches
Adding a Folder to a vCenter
You can add a folder inside a vCenter and place your datacenters inside the folder. However, this folder is optional.
| Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the VM tab. |
| Step 2 | On the VM tab, expand the VMWare node. |
| Step 3 | Right-click the vCenter to which you want to add a datacenter and choose Create Folder. |
| Step 4 | (Optional)In the Create Folder dialog box, do the following:
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| Step 5 | On the Create Datacenter page, do the following:
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| Step 6 | In the Create Folder page, do the following to create a folder in the datacenter:
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| Step 7 | On the Create Distributed Virtual Switches page, do the following to create a distributed virtual switch in the folder:
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| Step 8 |
Click Finish if you have finished adding all datacenters, folders, and DVSes to the folder. You may need to click Finish more than once to exit the wizard. You can stop at any page to add another datacenter, folder, or DVS. |
Adding a Datacenter to a vCenter
You must first create a datacenter in VMware vCenter. Do not create the folder inside the datacenter or the DVS in VMware vCenter.
| Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the VM tab. |
| Step 2 | On the VM tab, expand the VMWare node. |
| Step 3 | Right-click the vCenter to which you want to add a datacenter and choose Create Datacenter. |
| Step 4 | On the Create Datacenter page, do the following:
|
| Step 5 | In the Create Folder page, do the following to create a folder in the datacenter:
|
| Step 6 | On the Create Distributed Virtual Switches page, do the following to create a distributed virtual switch in the folder:
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| Step 7 |
Click Finish if you have finished adding all folders and distributed virtual switches to the Datacenter. You may need to click Finish more than once to exit the wizard. You can stop at any page to add another folder or DVS to the datacenter. |
Adding a Folder to a Datacenter
| Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the VM tab. |
| Step 2 | On the VM tab, expand the VMWare node. |
| Step 3 | Expand the vCenter that includes the datacenter to which you want to add a folder. |
| Step 4 | Right-click the datacenter to which you want to add a folder and choose Create Folder. |
| Step 5 |
On the Create Folder page, do the following to add a folder to the datacenter:
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| Step 6 | On the Create Distributed Virtual Switches page, do the following to create a distributed virtual switch in the folder:
|
| Step 7 |
Click Finish if you have finished adding all folders and DVSes to the datacenter. You may need to click Finish more than once to exit the wizard. You can stop at any page to add another folder or DVS. |
Deleting a Folder from a vCenter
If the folder contains a datacenter, Cisco UCS Manager also deletes that datacenter and any folders and DVSes it contains.
| Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the VM tab. |
| Step 2 | On the VM tab, expand . |
| Step 3 | Expand the node for the vcenter that contains the folder you want to delete. |
| Step 4 | Right-click the folder and choose Delete. |
| Step 5 | If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes. |
Deleting a Datacenter
If the datacenter contains a folder, Cisco UCS Manager also deletes that folder and any DVS it contains.
| Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the VM tab. |
| Step 2 | On the VM tab, expand . |
| Step 3 | If the datacenter that you want to delete is contained in a higher level folder, expand the node for that folder. |
| Step 4 | Right-click the datacenter and choose Delete. |
| Step 5 | If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes. |
Deleting a Folder from a Datacenter
If the folder contains a DVS, Cisco UCS Manager also deletes that DVS.
| Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the VM tab. |
| Step 2 | On the VM tab, expand . |
| Step 3 | If the datacenter that you want to modify is contained in a higher level folder, expand the node for that folder. |
| Step 4 | Expand the node for the datacenter which contains the folder you want to delete. |
| Step 5 | Right-click the folder and choose Delete. |
| Step 6 | If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes. |
Deleting a Distributed Virtual Switch from a Folder
| Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the VM tab. |
| Step 2 | On the VM tab, expand . |
| Step 3 | If the datacenter that you want to modify is contained in a higher level folder, expand the node for that folder. |
| Step 4 | Expand the node for the datacenter and the folder which contains the DVS you want to delete. |
| Step 5 | Right-click the DVS and choose Delete. |
| Step 6 | If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes. |
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