Multistore and VIFs

[nsitps1976]

Is it possible to aggregate all Ethernet interfaces on a controller into a static multimode VIF and have this VIF be partitioned across multiple vFilers?

I thought I read somewhere that you could only assign physical interfaces to vFilers? – I want all vFilers to be able to utilise the entire aggregate bandwidth of a VIF which includes 4 Ethernet interfaces, I do not want to limit each vFiler to one Ethernet interface.

[D_BEREZENKO]

So that is a different situation than "each vFiler can manage their VLANs".

In other words there is only one "global admin" who managing VLANs am I right?

[scottgelb]

Yes..only vFiler0 can create and ifconfig the VLAN interfaces.

[scottgelb]

Your English seems great to me J True that more than one vFiler can be on the same VLAN (most don’t do this though) regardless of IPspace… even if a different routing table you could configure the same VLAN on both vFilers and that could be a security concern. A key point though is that the vFiler admin cannot create VLANs…those are by the vfiler0 admin (the same is true of creating/destroying aggregates and volumes). So the vfiler0 admin is the security police in this case to ensure multiple vFilers are on separate networks.

[D_BEREZENKO]

>A key point though is that the vFiler admin cannot create VLANs

This is the answer, many thanks Scott & aborzenkov for such a quick replays

[nsitps1976]

If I have a VIF with 4 interfaces, then I create a vlan for use within a vfiler / ipspace, when I assign the vlan to the ipspace does this include my VIF? (Which I can then assign multiple IP address too for load balancing across the 4 phy links)

[shaunjurr]

It seems like you are rushing forward and missing a few key concepts along the way.

A "vif" (or "igrp" in 8.x) is just a NetApp abstraction for the Ethernet protocol that allows multiple phyical connections to roughly work like a single link (round-robin algorithm with 8 slots).  

Adding vlan interfaces to a "vif" is yet another abstraction that "tags" the traffic with a vlan tag that is used to "sort" the Ethernet frames.

Since the vlan is assigned to the entire "vif" then traffic for that vlan will be allowed to use all of the physical connections in that vif (although load-balancing is not a guaranteed result).

You won't see the "vif" interface in the IP space because it has no IP.  The traffic using your vlan interface (on the vif) in that ipspace/vfiler configuration will, logically by extension, use the configured links in vif for traffic.

It might be a good time to actually stop and read the administration guides for a while.

[nsitps1976]

Hi, thanks again for the assistance.

I am a certified Cisco, Nortel & Juniper LAN engineer so I do understand these concepts and I am not rushing forward. I am currently reading the DOT 7.3 Mutistore Mgmt Guide along with the other information I can find, I have not began the configuration (I have not even taken delivery of the equipment as yet). I am trying to get things straight in my head so I fully understand (or as much as possible) before I design the end solution.

Your input (as well as Scott's) is greatly appreciated and helping me achieve the understanding required.

As there is little information out there (that I can find) re Multistore the only place I can get answers is here on the community – If my questions seem a little “basic” I apologise, however, this is what the community is for, right?

I am sure I will post more questions over the coming weeks.

Many thanks

[shaunjurr]

Hi,

It is not always easy to remember how much time all of that network knowledge took to attain.  I guess I always have tried to respect the value of others' time and read first, then ask questions. It was a lesson that a good friend and unix administrator pounded into my skull (RTFM).

If you need something to compare with, then the Multistore concept is probably something like allocating vlan interfaces to a Cisco FWSM.  For the OS, vlan interfaces work largely like physical interfaces, but have the normal restrictions of non-physical interfaces (no flow-control, etc.)

You can download the NetApp simulator if you want to play with some configuration examples until you get your equipment.  Your local NetApp supplier should be able to give you a copy until you get full access to NOW, if you don't already have that.  I'm not sure if Multistore functionality is in the simulator or not, but it is a start.

[nsitps1976]

I will get this setup on the sim and use some labs which Scott kindly sent to me.

Thanks again

[scottgelb]

The simulator supports MultiStore.

Typos Sent on Blackberry Wireless

[scottgelb]

Keep them coming

Typos Sent on Blackberry Wireless

[imarcroft]

Hi Scott

I attended Insight  Prague 2010 and was hoping to get a copy of the Lab notes/ slides from the break-out session on configuring multistore?

I am particularly interested in vfiler dr configure with the dr filer on a different subnet.

[scottgelb]

Send me an email and I will reply with the attachment... I updated the vfiler dr lab a bit too since then.  ONTAP 7.3.5 added a new "-u" option which lets us vfiler dr configure when there are existing mirrors.  We had a workaround to manually create then resync the vfiler (without a dr configure) but the new -u option saves a lot of steps.  But vfiler dr configure lets you pick a new subnet/ip from the wizard instead of having to activate and manually vfiler add -i to change the ip..but either method works fine.  I wish we had the "-u" option for vfiler migrate too.

[imarcroft]

I don't have your email address?

[scottgelb]

On the site here.. Click my account

Typos Sent on Blackberry Wireless

[scottgelb]

Each vlan can be in a different or same ipspace. With 7.x if you have a single vlan, the base vif interface can't have an ip but with 8.x 7-mode it can have an untagged address on the base vif in addition to vlans.

Typos Sent on Blackberry Wireless

[nsitps1976]

I am restricted to 7.x due to VSM to a none x64 filer for DR.

If I cannot have an IP address etc assigned to the base VIF then what are my options for accessing vfiler0 with DOT 7.xxxx?

I am glad I asked this question as I was planning on having vfiler0 with an untagged VIF!!! - I could not find this information out anywhere else....

[scottgelb]

You can ifconfig alias and add additional ips to the same interface.. The alias will be in the same ipspace as the base interface so you probably will have to keep default-ipspace. The vfiler wizard automatically adds ifconfig alias to /etc/rc if it sees an ip already assigned..it knows to alias additional ips.

Typos Sent on Blackberry Wireless

[nsitps1976]

So what you are saying is create a base vif but assign alias ips rather than an actual ip?

[scottgelb]

1st ip is always to the interface..additional ips are aliases added to that interface..

ifconfig int ip netmask x partner x

ifconfig int alias ip

ifconfig int alias ip

Typos Sent on Blackberry Wireless

[nsitps1976]

Sorry, I think I may have confused things.

I want to do the following – Create a VIF (VIF0 for example) with a base IP, 3 aliases and 4 physical links – Create 3 VLANs each of which is assigned to three vfilers / customers with a base IP and 3 aliases each. The base VIF will be assigned to vfiler0 and will be untagged, you mentioned this last bit is not possible with DOT 7.x, what about if I create an additional VLAN again with 4 ips in total and assigned this to vfiler0 and the traffic is tagged????