Dell FORCE10 Open Automation Configuration

Also see for Force10 MXL Blade: Configuration guide Getting started guide Manual Deployment guide Reference guide

Contents

44 | Virtual Server Networkingw w w . d e l l . c o m | s u p p o r t . d e l l . c o m Both VMware and Citrix Xen provide SDKs and APIs for accessing theirconfiguration objects. VSN requires Layer 3 connectivity to access a hypervisor.Figure 5-1 shows an example of the network architecture in which a Dell FTOSswitch is connected to multiple servers, each of which may run a different type ofhypervisor. The vCenter hypervisor from VMware is a centralized servermanagement system that can manage multiple vSphere operating systems on whichmultiple virtual machines (VMs) can run. The VMware ESX server is a single unit,that may be managed by the hypervisor or act as an independent unit. The Citrix Xenhypervisor uses a distributed management methodology under which a number ofXenServers are grouped in a management domain, with a master server managing theother units in the domain.Minimal packet drops may be seen when migrating VMS from one server to another.THe drops may vary from one second or higher, depending on the load on the serverand network.FTOS supports up to eight hypervisor sessions. A hypervisor session can consist of asingle hypervisor unit (ESX, ESXi, XenServer) or a centralized hypervisor (vCenter,Xenpool). A vSphere client is used to manage a single VMware hypervisor. AvCenter server is a centralized management server for managing multiple VMwarehypervisors.Figure 5-1. Virtual Server Networking exampleVSN subscribes to hypervisor for any change to be notified to switch. Depending onthe hypervisor mode configured, FTOS may automatically update its configuration,provide provisioning for configuration changes, or require system administratorintervention.vCenter Citrix XenS60 FTOSVMVMVMVMVMVMvSphereVMVMvSpherevSphereVMVM