IBM Flex System and PureFlex System Network Implementation with Cisco Systems

Book description

To meet today's complex and ever-changing business demands, you need a solid foundation of server, storage, networking, and software resources. It must be simple to deploy and able to quickly and automatically adapt to changing conditions. You also need access to, and the ability to take advantage of, broad expertise and proven best practices in systems management, applications, hardware maintenance, and more.

IBM® PureFlex™ System is part of the IBM PureSystems™ family of expert integrated systems. It combines advanced IBM hardware and software along with patterns of expertise and integrates them into three optimized configurations that are simple to acquire and deploy. With the PureFlex System, you can achieve faster time to value.

If you want a pre-configured, pre-integrated infrastructure with integrated management and cloud capabilities, factory tuned from IBM with x86 and Power hybrid solution, IBM PureFlex System is the answer.

In this IBM Redbooks® publication, the examples use a Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch, although any configurations should also apply to the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switch too. However, it is wise to check as there might be minor differences.

This book also covers the different variations for the implementation of these use cases when you use Cisco Catalyst Series Switches.

Table of contents

  1. Front cover
  2. Notices
    1. Trademarks
  3. Preface
    1. Authors
    2. Now you can become a published author, too!
    3. Comments welcome
    4. Stay connected to IBM Redbooks
  4. Chapter 1. Introduction
    1. 1.1 Networking requirements
    2. 1.2 Data center architecture
      1. 1.2.1 The IBM PureFlex System and IBM Flex System family
    3. 1.3 The goal of this book
    4. 1.4 Networking equipment
      1. 1.4.1 IBM System Networking
      2. 1.4.2 Cisco Switches
  5. Chapter 2. Layer 1 Overview
    1. 2.1 Layer 1 networking concepts and terminology
      1. 2.1.1 Ethernet cabling
      2. 2.1.2 Twisted-pair copper cabling
      3. 2.1.3 Fiber optic cabling
      4. 2.1.4 Physical configuration parameters
    2. 2.2 Physical layer on IBM Flex System Enterprise Chassis
    3. 2.3 IBM Flex System Ethernet I/O modules
      1. 2.3.1 IBM Flex System EN2092 1Gb Ethernet Scalable Switch
      2. 2.3.2 IBM Flex System Fabric EN4093/EN4093R 10 Gb Scalable Switch
      3. 2.3.3 IBM Flex System EN4091 10Gb Ethernet Pass-thru module
      4. 2.3.4 Cables and transceivers for I/O modules
    4. 2.4 IBM Flex System Ethernet adapters
      1. 2.4.1 IBM Flex System CN4054 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter
      2. 2.4.2 IBM Flex System EN2024 4-port 1Gb Ethernet Adapter
      3. 2.4.3 IBM Flex System EN4132 2-port 10Gb Ethernet Adapter
  6. Chapter 3. Layer 2 Overview
    1. 3.1 Basic Frame Forwarding Concept
    2. 3.2 Virtual local area network (VLAN) and tagging
      1. 3.2.1 Tagged frames
    3. 3.3 Spanning tree
      1. 3.3.1 Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) IEEE802.1D
      2. 3.3.2 Rapid Spanning Tree (RSTP) IEEE802.1w
      3. 3.3.3 Multiple Spanning Tree (MSTP) IEEE802.1s
      4. 3.3.4 Per VLAN Rapid Spanning Tree (PVRST)
    4. 3.4 Dynamic Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP)
    5. 3.5 Virtual Link Aggregation Groups (VLAG)
    6. 3.6 Cisco Virtual Port Channel (vPC)
    7. 3.7 Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP)
    8. 3.8 Layer 2 Failover
  7. Chapter 4. Layer 3 Overview
    1. 4.1 Overview of Layer 3
    2. 4.2 Static routes
    3. 4.3 Default gateways
    4. 4.4 Equal-cost multi-path (ECMP) static routes
    5. 4.5 Routing Information Protocol v2 (RIPv2)
    6. 4.6 Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP)
    7. 4.7 Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) for IPv4
      1. 4.7.1 OSPF area types
      2. 4.7.2 Neighbors and adjacencies
      3. 4.7.3 Link State Database (LSDB)
      4. 4.7.4 OSPF router types
      5. 4.7.5 Shortest path first
    8. 4.8 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
    9. 4.9 IPv6
      1. 4.9.1 Address size
      2. 4.9.2 Address usage
      3. 4.9.3 Address hierarchy
      4. 4.9.4 Address autoconfiguration/plug-and-play
    10. 4.10 Open Shortest Path First for IPv6 (OSPFv3)
    11. 4.11 FHRP (First Hop Redundancy Protocols) VRRP and HSRP
      1. 4.11.1 Active-active redundancy
      2. 4.11.2 VRRP high availability with VLAGs
  8. Chapter 5. Interoperability Use Cases: Connecting to a Cisco Network
    1. 5.1 Introduction
    2. 5.2 High availability overview
      1. 5.2.1 Looped and blocking design
      2. 5.2.2 Non-looped, single upstream device design
      3. 5.2.3 Non-looped, multiple upstream devices design
    3. 5.3 Fully redundant with virtualized chassis technology (VSS/vPC/vLAG)
      1. 5.3.1 Components used
      2. 5.3.2 Network topology and physical setup
      3. 5.3.3 EN4093flex_1 configuration
      4. 5.3.4 G8264tor_1 configuration
      5. 5.3.5 Nexus5548core_1 vPC primary switch configuration
      6. 5.3.6 Cisco Nexus 5548core_2 vPC secondary switch configuration
      7. 5.3.7 Verification and show command output
      8. 5.3.8 Full configuration files
    4. 5.4 Fully redundant with traditional spanning-tree
      1. 5.4.1 Topology and requirements
      2. 5.4.2 Components used
      3. 5.4.3 Network diagram and physical setup
      4. 5.4.4 EN4093flex_1 configuration
      5. 5.4.5 G8264tor_1 configuration
      6. 5.4.6 Nexus5548core_1 STP primary switch configuration
      7. 5.4.7 Nexus5548core_2 STP secondary switch configuration
      8. 5.4.8 Verification and show command output
      9. 5.4.9 Full configuration files
    5. 5.5 Fully redundant with Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
      1. 5.5.1 Topology and requirements
      2. 5.5.2 Network diagram and physical setup
      3. 5.5.3 EN4093flex_1 configuration
      4. 5.5.4 G8264tor_1 configuration
      5. 5.5.5 G8264tor_2 configuration
      6. 5.5.6 Nexus5548core_1 switch configuration
      7. 5.5.7 Nexus5548core_2 configuration
      8. 5.5.8 Verification and show command output
      9. 5.5.9 Full configuration files
  9. Chapter 6. Troubleshooting and maintenance
    1. 6.1 Troubleshooting
      1. 6.1.1 Basic troubleshooting procedures
      2. 6.1.2 Connectivity troubleshooting
      3. 6.1.3 Port mirroring
      4. 6.1.4 Serial cable troubleshooting procedures
    2. 6.2 Configuration management
      1. 6.2.1 Configuration files
      2. 6.2.2 Configuration blocks
      3. 6.2.3 Managing configuration files
      4. 6.2.4 Resetting to factory defaults
      5. 6.2.5 Password recovery
    3. 6.3 Firmware management
      1. 6.3.1 Firmware images
      2. 6.3.2 Upgrading the firmware with ISCLI
      3. 6.3.3 Recovering from a failed firmware upgrade
    4. 6.4 Logging and reporting
      1. 6.4.1 System logs
      2. 6.4.2 SNMP
      3. 6.4.3 Remote Monitoring (RMON)
      4. 6.4.4 Using sFlow to monitor traffic
  10. Appendix A. Cisco IOS to IBM isCLI Command Comparison
    1. General configuration
    2. Authentication
    3. BPDU Guard
    4. DHCP snooping
    5. Hostname and DNS server configuration
    6. Banner configuration
    7. Interface speed and duplex
    8. LLDP
    9. Management network configuration
    10. NTP
    11. OSPF configuration
    12. Port mirroring
    13. SNMP
    14. Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
    15. SSH and Telnet
    16. Syslog
    17. Port aggregation (static)
    18. Port aggregation (LACP)
    19. VLAN tagging (802.1q)
  11. Appendix B. Easy Connect
    1. Introduction to IBM Easy Connect
    2. Single Mode
    3. Storage Mode
    4. Easy Connect Multi-Chassis Mode
    5. Customer examples with diagrams
    6. Easy Connect limitations
  12. Related publications
    1. IBM Redbooks
    2. Online resources
    3. Help from IBM
  13. Back cover

Product information

  • Title: IBM Flex System and PureFlex System Network Implementation with Cisco Systems
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: August 2013
  • Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
  • ISBN: 9780738438566