Hopefully this is the correct forum as i am using esx 4.1
Here we go:
I have x number of hosts. (ill be using 2 to explain but know i have more)
I have 1 vswitch that runs all of our VMs bound to 2 phyiscal nics. These 2 nics are plugged into 1 physical switch
WE have many port groups broken out into many different port groups on different vlans to create separate little networks.
We have as many as 12 port groups on this vswitch bound to both pnics using a route based hash algorithm for the load balancing.
The physical switch:
each host has 2 connections to this unit.
For example.....host 1.....pnic1 and pnic2 are plugged into hp switch port 1 and 2.
the switch port 1 and 2 are trunked together and added to their respective lans.
we are then able to access each vlan respectively to use the small networks created over these 2 ports and have a small level of redudnancy.
probelm:
There is only 1 physical switch.
IF that dies....i could have 30 ports trunked.....who cares...im still dead in the water.
i know i need 2 physical switches for my front end to have any sort of redundancy.
That said.....
Im thinking of going with 2 hp 2910-48g units.
My questions are with hookup
If i go down this path, i will want to have 2 uplinks from switch 1 to switch 2 for redundancy. Will spanning tree allow for this to happen or what prevents loops in this type of setup?
ScenerioA would be 2 hp procurve 2910 switches with 2 1gb uplinks.....lets say port 47 and port 48 on each switch will be uplinked to the other.
ScenerioB would be to look at a 2 10GB modules that i could put into the rear of the units and run 2 seperate 10gbE cables from one switch to the other.
Again....will spanning tree sort out the loops here? Is there any special configuration that needs to happen in a situation like this?
Lets say i get that figured out and the switches are now set.
As mentioned above ive got host1 pnic1 and pnic2 are plugged into switch port 1 and 2. Ports 1 and 2 are trunked together.
I would think that the trunk then can be removed and host1 ... pnic1 gets plugged into port 1 on switch 1
pnic2 gets plugged into port 1 on switch 2
does it sound like a proper plan to start my journey into redundant switching?
I have inherited this system so im trying to go in with a cautious approach.