ServerView Resource Orchestrator Cloud Edition V3.1.2 Design Guide

2.2.7 Simplifying Networks

VLAN or IP address settings for LAN switch blades, virtual switches, and L2 switches is automatically performed based on the definition information of network resources in Resource Orchestrator. For L2 switches, firewalls, and server load balancers, configuring, modifying, or deleting the definitions that include VLAN settings is automatically performed using scripts. Scripts are prepared for each model of the network devices by infrastructure administrators.

2.2.7.1 Timing of Automatic Network Settings

The simplified network settings will be executed when the following operations are performed:

Table 2.4 Timing of Automatic Network Settings Execution (Network Devices)

Target	Operation	Firewalls (Overall Settings)	Server Load Balancer (Overall Settings)
Network resources	Creation	-	-
	Modification	-	-
	Deletion	-	-
	Automatic network configuration	-	-
	Pool migration	-	-
VM Pool	Registering to Pools	-	-
Network Pool	Tenant migration	-	-
Network Devices	Creation	-	-
	Modification	-	-
	Deletion	-	-
Virtual L-Server	Creation	-	-
	Modification	-	-
	Addition of NICs	-	-
	Deletion of NICs	-	-
	Deletion	-	-
Physical L-Servers	Creation	-	-
	Modification	-	-
	Deletion	-	-
L-Platform	Creation	Yes	Yes
	Modification	Yes	Yes
	Deletion	Yes	Yes

Yes: Available
-: Not Available

Table 2.5 Timing of Automatic Network Settings Execution (Switches)

Target	Operation	L2 Switches (Overall Settings) (*1)	Ethernet Fabric Switches			LAN Switch Blades (VLAN Settings) (*1)
			VLAN Port Profiles (*2)	Internal Connection Ports (*2)(*3)(*4)	VLAN Settings (*5)	Internal Connection Ports	External Connection Ports
Network resources	Creation	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	-	Yes (*6)
	Modification	Yes	Yes	Yes (*7)	Yes	-	Yes (*6)
	Deletion	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Automatic network configuration	-	-	-	-	Yes	-
	Pool migration	-	-	-	Yes	-	-
VM Pool	Registering to Pools	-	-	-	-	Yes	-
Network Pool	Tenant migration	-	-	-	Yes	-	-
Network Devices	Creation	-	-	-	Yes	-	-
	Modification	-	-	-	Yes (*10) (*11)	-	-
	Deletion	-	-	-	-	-	-
Virtual L-Server	Creation	-	-	Yes	-	Yes	-
	Modification	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Addition of NICs	-	-	Yes	-	Yes	-
	Deletion of NICs	-	-	Yes	-	-	-
	Deletion	-	-	Yes	-	-	-
Physical L-Servers	Creation	Yes (*8)	-	-	-	Yes	-
	Modification	Yes (*8)	-	-	-	Yes	-
	Deletion	Yes (*8)	-	-	-	Yes	-
L-Platform	Creation	Yes (*9)	-	Yes	-	Yes	-
	Modification	Yes (*9)	-	Yes	-	Yes	-
	Deletion	Yes (*9)	-	Yes	-	Yes	-

Yes: Available
-: Not Available

*1: When using an Ethernet Fabric switch or an Ethernet Fabric switch blade which constitutes an Ethernet Fabric, the timing of auto-configuration is the same as that of the Ethernet Fabric switch.
*2: It is automatically configured when using an Ethernet fabric switch and "port profile configuration" is set to "Enable".
*3: A VLAN is automatically configured for the internal connection port used for L-Server communications according to the link between the NIC of the L-Server and the VLAN port profile.
*4: It is automatically configured when all of the following conditions are met.
- When using an Ethernet fabric switch and "port profile configuration" is set to "Enable"
- When the VM host connected to the Ethernet fabric switch is VMware or a Hyper-V virtual L-Server
*5: When performing some type of auto-configuration for the Converged Fabric port, the interface group including the relevant port is configured in Converged Fabric.
*6: When automatic network configuration and automatic VLAN configuration for uplink ports are enabled, settings are automatically configured at the point when an external connection port (including an external connection port with link aggregation configured) is added.
*7: If an uplink port of the Ethernet fabric switch is added, the link between the L-Server connected to the network resource and the VLAN port profile will operate.
*8: Available when using rack mount servers.
*9: Available when using rack mount servers and physical LAN segments have been specified.
*10: When deleting tenants related to VFABs by modifying network devices in Converged Fabric, if the tenants to be deleted are not related to any other VFABs, the relevant tenants belong to the default VFAB. At this time, the linking information of the port profiles and the MAC addresses for the L-Server in the tenant will not be configured automatically as the default VFAB is out of the VFAB auto-configuration target.
In this case, log in to the Converged Fabric and modify the linkage between the port profile and the MAC address for the tenant in the relevant tenant using the relevant command.
*11: When deleting a port in dot1ad mode from VFAB by modifying the network device for Converged Fabric, settings for disabling dot1ad mode of the relevant port are not configured. The following is the reason for this:
- When using the port in dot1ad mode for a VFAB operation other than performing auto-configuration, if the dot1ad mode is disabled due to auto-configuration, it may be unable to communicate with the operational system.
When disabling dot1ad mode of the relevant port, log in to the Converged Fabric, and configure it using the relevant command.

Table 2.6 Timing of Automatic Network Settings Execution (Servers)

Target	Operation	Virtual Switch (Creation/VLAN Settings)	L-Server (IP Address Settings for OS)
Network resources	Creation	-	-
	Modification	-	-
	Deletion	Yes	-
	Automatic network configuration	Yes (*1)	-
	Pool migration	-	-
VM Pool	Registering to Pools	Yes (*1)	-
Network Pool	Tenant migration	-	-
Network Devices	Creation	-	-
	Modification	-	-
	Deletion	-	-
Virtual L-Server	Creation	Yes (*1)	Yes
	Modification	-	-
	Addition of NICs	Yes (*1)	-
	Deletion of NICs	-	-
	Deletion	-	-
Physical L-Servers	Creation	-	Yes (*2)
	Modification	-	Yes (*3)
	Deletion	-	-
L-Platform	Creation	Yes (*1) (*4)	Yes
	Modification	Yes (*1) (*4)	-
	Deletion	-	-

Yes: Available
-: Not Available

*1: Available when using rack mount servers and physical LAN segments have been specified.
*2: Requires a script that configures an IP address for the OS.
*3: The IP address is configured or modified when the network resource is modified.
*4: Available when using virtual L-Servers.

2.2.7.2 Scope of Automatic Network Settings

The simplifying network settings will be executed for the following scope.

Figure 2.4 Scope of Automatic Network Settings Execution (For L2 Switches)

Figure 2.5 Scope of Automatic Network Settings Execution (For Ethernet Fabric Switches)

CIR: Clean Interface with Redundancy (Port that connects to an external device)
EP: End Point (Port that connects with the server)

*Note: CIR is not automatically configured.

For details on automatic network settings for virtualized environments, refer to the relevant sections explaining how to prepare and setup server virtualization software in "Appendix C Configuration when Creating Virtual L-Servers" in the "Setup Guide CE".

2.2.7.3 Hiding Network Information

The following network information is hidden, depending on the network resource.

• Virtual Switches

• Port Groups

• LAN Switch Blades

• L2 Switches

• Ethernet Fabric Switches

  Figure 2.6 Hiding of Network Device Information (For L2 Switches)

  

  
  

  Figure 2.7 Hiding of Network Device Information (For Ethernet Fabric Switches)

  

CIR: Clean Interface with Redundancy (Port that connects to an external device)
EP: End Point (Port that connects with the server)

2.2.7.4 Network Device Automatic Configuration

There are two types of modes for auto-configuration of network devices.

• User Customization Mode

  Firewalls, server load balancers, and L2 switches are the targets.

• Simple Configuration Mode

  Only firewalls (NSAppliance) are the targets.

User Customization Mode

The infrastructure administrator creates the ruleset necessary to configure the definitions for the network devices (firewalls, server load balancers, and L2 switches), and registers it in Resource Orchestrator.
In Resource Orchestrator, perform auto-configuration for the target network devices using the ruleset registered by the infrastructure administrator.

For details on preparation for auto-configuration using user customization mode, refer to "Appendix F Preparing for Automatic Configuration and Operation of Network Devices".

For details on operation image of modifying configuration of firewalls using user customization mode, refer to "When an L-Platform that uses a firewall is deployed without the use of a ruleset" in "8.3.9 Setup Firewall" in the "User's Guide for Tenant Administrators CE" or "5.3.8 Setup Firewall" in the "User's Guide for Tenant Users CE".

For details on operation image of modifying configuration of firewalls using user customization mode, refer to "8.3.11 Server Load Balancer (SLB) Settings" in the "User's Guide for Tenant Administrators CE" or "5.3.10 Server Load Balancer (SLB) Settings" in the "User's Guide for Tenant Users CE".

Simple Configuration Mode

The infrastructure administrator is not required to create the rulesets necessary for configuring definitions for network devices (firewalls) in advance.
In Resource Orchestrator, it is possible to easily perform auto-configuration by using the defined definitions.

.Simple configuration mode enables deployment of L-Platforms using firewalls, without using rulesets.
For details on the logical network configuration realized using simple configuration mode, the target devices, or configuration details, refer to "Appendix I Auto-configuration and Operations of Network Devices Using Simple Configuration Mode".

For details on operation image of modifying configuration of firewalls using simple configuration mode, refer to "When an L-Platform that uses a firewall is deployed without the use of a ruleset" in "8.3.9 Setup Firewall" in the "User's Guide for Tenant Administrators CE" or "5.3.8 Setup Firewall" in the "User's Guide for Tenant Users CE".

Auto-configuration Timing and Images

This section explains auto-configuration timing and images.

• Automatic configuration of firewalls and server load balancers when creation, modification, or deletion of an L-Platform is performed

  The detailed timing is as follows:

  • When an L-Platform is created from an L-Platform template that includes a network device (firewall or server load balancer)

  • When L-Server addition or deletion is performed for an L-Platform

  • When the settings of a network device (firewall or server load balancers) in an L-Platform are modified

  • When an L-Platform created from an L-Platform template that includes a network device (firewall or server load balancer) is deleted

• Automatic configuration for L2 switches when creation, modification, or deletion of an network resource is performed

• Automatic configuration for L2 switches when creation or modification of a physical L-Server is performed on rack mount servers

  Figure 2.8 Network Device Automatic Configuration Image

  

Recovery (deletion of incomplete settings, etc.) of network devices can be performed by preparing a recovery script in advance in case automatic configuration of network devices fails.

Figure 2.9 Network Device Automatic Configuration Image (Recovery Process)

2.2.7.5 Network Device Configuration File Management

The following files are available as network device (firewall, server load balancer and L2 Switch) configuration files.

• Network device configuration files

  A configuration file containing settings related to communication, such as address and VLAN information of devices and interfaces, and rules for firewalls and server load balancers

• Network device environment files

  Files required for the operation of devices such as CA certificates, user authentication databases and user customized information (excluding network device configuration files)

In this product, a function which manages device configuration files using generations is offered. Using this function modification changes can be checked and restoration of configurations can be performed easily when network devices are exchanged.

The following features are provided by the network device configuration file management function.

• Backing up and restoration of configuration files

  Network device configuration files can be backed up by this product and managed using generations.
  Further, the latest configuration files which already backed up can be restored to network devices.

• Export of configuration files

  The files that are backed up and managed using generations can be exported from the manager.

• Backing up and restoration of environment files

  Network device configuration files can be backed up to this product.
  Further, backed up environment files can be restored to network devices.

• Export of environment files

  The backed up files can be exported to the infrastructure admin's terminal.

• Registration of external server information

  For network devices which do not have an ftp server, the information of an external ftp server, which is used for backing up and restoration of network devices, can be registered.

  Specify this external server in the network configuration information (XML definition) file when registering the network device.

2.2.7.6 Simple Network Monitoring

This section provides a brief overview of simple network monitoring.

Visualize Networks (NetworkViewer Function)

For PRIMERGY BX servers, Resource Orchestrator provides a NetworkViewer function, which helps visualize and relate physical networks (between servers and LAN switches) together with virtualized networks (from VLANs or virtual switches used in server virtualization software). It has the following features.

• Automatic detection and display of network connections (topology) and link statuses between heterogeneous network resources.

• Facilitates overall network consistency diagnostics and identification of the resources (physical and virtual) affected by a network issue.

• Displays comprehensive content that can be used in communication between server and network administrators, thus smoothing out coordination between the two parties.

For details on the functions of NetworkViewer, refer to "Table 2.5 Functions Available for LAN Switches" in "2.2 Function Overview" in the "Design Guide VE".

Note

For VMware virtual switches, network links are only displayed when using the standard switches.
When using switches other than the standard switches, such as distributed virtual switches, those virtual switches and the network links are not displayed.

Status Monitoring

Resource Orchestrator monitors the status of network devices (Firewalls, server load balancers, and L2 switches) in order to automatically perform network settings for them.