Questions on redundant switch setup
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Is this how you connect switches when you want to have redundant switches?
- Do I need any special features on the switches?
- What do I need to do on the servers themselves? Do I just bond two ports as I would do when both are connected to the same switch?
- What do I need to do on the firewall? Bonding as well?
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@pete-s With Hyper-V, if you you create a NIC team and leave the default "Switch Independant" mode set, you need do nothing else from the Hyper-V server to the switches except connect a port ot each as you have pictured.
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It's been a while.... isn't that the small campus layout for a split multi-link trunk setup?
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@pete-s
What kind of firewall and switches are you running?
One option: if you're switches have stacking, then you can put them in a single stack and then create a port group that spans the two switches and then connect that to your NIC teams on the other end. This guards against switch failure, switchport failure, server NIC port failure, Ethernet cable failure, etc..
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@dave247 Thanks Dave, looks like a good solution.
I don't have any switches yet so any recommendations on what to get?
Regarding the firewall, I'm leaning toward software based firewalls, like pfsense (freebsd) or vyos (linux) - mainly for performance reasons (openpvn) and flexibility.
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@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 Thanks Dave, looks like a good solution.
I don't have any switches yet so any recommendations on what to get?
Regarding the firewall, I'm leaning toward software based firewalls, like pfsense (freebsd) or vyos (linux) - mainly for performance reasons (openpvn) and flexibility.
I think the Dell N series switches are great. We use a bunch of Dell N3048s where I work but I think they might be a bit over-kill. They have a lot of features we likely wont ever use. I would suggest looking at the Dell N2000 series depending on your needs. Do some reading on how they stack and their other features.
Here's info on the N1100 series and at he bottom right of that page are white-sheets on the various other models.
I've used pfSense before and I think it's pretty good. You would have a lot more flexibility with how you set up your interfaces if you build out a custom system. Or are you buying one of their appliances?
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@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 Thanks Dave, looks like a good solution.
I don't have any switches yet so any recommendations on what to get?
Regarding the firewall, I'm leaning toward software based firewalls, like pfsense (freebsd) or vyos (linux) - mainly for performance reasons (openpvn) and flexibility.
I think the Dell N series switches are great. We use a bunch of Dell N3048s where I work but they have a lot of features we wont ever use. I would suggest looking at Dell N1100 or N2000 series depending on your needs.
Here's info on the N1100 series and at he bottom right of that page are white-sheets on the various other models.
Thanks, I'll have a look at them.
I've used pfSense before and I think it's pretty good. You would have a lot more flexibility with how you set up your interfaces if you build out a custom system. Or are you buying one of their appliances?
No, I will run it on standard server hardware (supermicro) so I have flexibility when it comes to NICs, storage, RAM & CPU.
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@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s
What kind of firewall and switches are you running?
One option: if you're switches have stacking, then you can put them in a single stack and then create a port group that spans the two switches and then connect that to your NIC teams on the other end. This guards against switch failure, switchport failure, server NIC port failure, Ethernet cable failure, etc..
This adds a level of complexity that you don't have to deal with when using a simple team. But the plus side is higher bandwidth per connected server.
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@jaredbusch said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s
What kind of firewall and switches are you running?
One option: if you're switches have stacking, then you can put them in a single stack and then create a port group that spans the two switches and then connect that to your NIC teams on the other end. This guards against switch failure, switchport failure, server NIC port failure, Ethernet cable failure, etc..
This adds a level of complexity that you don't have to deal with when using a simple team. But the plus side is higher bandwidth per connected server.
The "switch independant team" what bonding mode is that in linux? Is it mode 1, active/backup policy?
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@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@jaredbusch said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s
What kind of firewall and switches are you running?
One option: if you're switches have stacking, then you can put them in a single stack and then create a port group that spans the two switches and then connect that to your NIC teams on the other end. This guards against switch failure, switchport failure, server NIC port failure, Ethernet cable failure, etc..
This adds a level of complexity that you don't have to deal with when using a simple team. But the plus side is higher bandwidth per connected server.
The "switch independant team" what bonding mode is that in linux? Is it mode 1, active/backup policy?
You will have to look at your individual network card's drivers and management software with regards to Linux. AKA, read the manual. My guess is that you're running Broadcom NICs and the management software that I've seen/used is called "Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 4" and the "switch independent mode" or team type is called, "Smart Load Balancing and Failover (SLB)".
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@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@jaredbusch said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s
What kind of firewall and switches are you running?
One option: if you're switches have stacking, then you can put them in a single stack and then create a port group that spans the two switches and then connect that to your NIC teams on the other end. This guards against switch failure, switchport failure, server NIC port failure, Ethernet cable failure, etc..
This adds a level of complexity that you don't have to deal with when using a simple team. But the plus side is higher bandwidth per connected server.
The "switch independant team" what bonding mode is that in linux? Is it mode 1, active/backup policy?
Should be Mode 4
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@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@jaredbusch said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s
What kind of firewall and switches are you running?
One option: if you're switches have stacking, then you can put them in a single stack and then create a port group that spans the two switches and then connect that to your NIC teams on the other end. This guards against switch failure, switchport failure, server NIC port failure, Ethernet cable failure, etc..
This adds a level of complexity that you don't have to deal with when using a simple team. But the plus side is higher bandwidth per connected server.
The "switch independant team" what bonding mode is that in linux? Is it mode 1, active/backup policy?
You will have to look at your individual network card's drivers and management software with regards to Linux. AKA, read the manual. My guess is that you're running Broadcom NICs and the management software that I've seen/used is called "Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 4" and the "switch independent mode" or team type is called, "Smart Load Balancing and Failover (SLB)".
I'm all Intel on the NIC side in this case as Supermicro is predominately intel NICs and they are very well supported both in freebsd and linux.
Contrary to Windows, linux actually have bonding of different types in the kernel (a module called bonding). So the drivers don't have to do bonding.
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@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@jaredbusch said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s
What kind of firewall and switches are you running?
One option: if you're switches have stacking, then you can put them in a single stack and then create a port group that spans the two switches and then connect that to your NIC teams on the other end. This guards against switch failure, switchport failure, server NIC port failure, Ethernet cable failure, etc..
This adds a level of complexity that you don't have to deal with when using a simple team. But the plus side is higher bandwidth per connected server.
The "switch independant team" what bonding mode is that in linux? Is it mode 1, active/backup policy?
You will have to look at your individual network card's drivers and management software with regards to Linux. AKA, read the manual. My guess is that you're running Broadcom NICs and the management software that I've seen/used is called "Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 4" and the "switch independent mode" or team type is called, "Smart Load Balancing and Failover (SLB)".
I'm all Intel on the NIC side in this case as Supermicro is predominately intel NICs and they are very well supported both in freebsd and linux.
Contrary to Windows, linux actually have bonding of different types in the kernel (a module called bonding). So the drivers don't have to do bonding.
oh nice. I have no idea. I haven't done much with Linux lately. Still, I would read the NIC documentation as it pertains to Linux.
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@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@jaredbusch said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s
What kind of firewall and switches are you running?
One option: if you're switches have stacking, then you can put them in a single stack and then create a port group that spans the two switches and then connect that to your NIC teams on the other end. This guards against switch failure, switchport failure, server NIC port failure, Ethernet cable failure, etc..
This adds a level of complexity that you don't have to deal with when using a simple team. But the plus side is higher bandwidth per connected server.
The "switch independant team" what bonding mode is that in linux? Is it mode 1, active/backup policy?
You will have to look at your individual network card's drivers and management software with regards to Linux. AKA, read the manual. My guess is that you're running Broadcom NICs and the management software that I've seen/used is called "Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 4" and the "switch independent mode" or team type is called, "Smart Load Balancing and Failover (SLB)".
I'm all Intel on the NIC side in this case as Supermicro is predominately intel NICs and they are very well supported both in freebsd and linux.
Contrary to Windows, linux actually have bonding of different types in the kernel (a module called bonding). So the drivers don't have to do bonding.
oh nice. I have no idea. I haven't done much with Linux lately. Still, I would read the NIC documentation as it pertains to Linux.
I also do the NIC teaming in Windows from PowerShell. It has nothing to do with the NIC drivers themselves.
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@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@jaredbusch said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@dave247 said in Questions on redundant switch setup:
@pete-s
What kind of firewall and switches are you running?
One option: if you're switches have stacking, then you can put them in a single stack and then create a port group that spans the two switches and then connect that to your NIC teams on the other end. This guards against switch failure, switchport failure, server NIC port failure, Ethernet cable failure, etc..
This adds a level of complexity that you don't have to deal with when using a simple team. But the plus side is higher bandwidth per connected server.
The "switch independant team" what bonding mode is that in linux? Is it mode 1, active/backup policy?
You will have to look at your individual network card's drivers and management software with regards to Linux. AKA, read the manual. My guess is that you're running Broadcom NICs and the management software that I've seen/used is called "Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 4" and the "switch independent mode" or team type is called, "Smart Load Balancing and Failover (SLB)".
I'm all Intel on the NIC side in this case as Supermicro is predominately intel NICs and they are very well supported both in freebsd and linux.
Contrary to Windows, linux actually have bonding of different types in the kernel (a module called bonding). So the drivers don't have to do bonding.
oh nice. I have no idea. I haven't done much with Linux lately. Still, I would read the NIC documentation as it pertains to Linux.
Looking at Dell switches it seems like Dell N1124 will do the job. It's 24x1G switch with 4x10G for uplinks and stacking and has most of the features of it's bigger brothers in the N2000, N3000 series.
Pricing looks very attractive where I'm at (<$400 USD per switch), otherwise it's $1259 in the dell.com store.
I've never used Dell switches though.
