Configuring Virtual Networking (vSphere)

On This Page

Overview

The platform's data and application node VMs ("the platform nodes") are connected through three networks:
  • Management network — used for user access to the platform dashboard and for direct access the platform nodes.
  • Data-path (client) network — used for internal communication among the data and application nodes.
  • Interconnect network — used for internal communication among the data nodes.

To allow proper communication, you need to create and map virtual network switches (vSwitches) for these networks, as outlined in this guide. Repeat the procedure for each VMware ESXi hypervisor host machine ("ESXi host") in your platform's vSphere cluster.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have administrative access to the platform's vSphere cluster, and that each ESXi host in the cluster has the following network interfaces:

  • A single-port 1 Gb (minimum) NIC for the management network
  • For hosting data-node VMs — a dual-port 10 Gb (minimum) NIC for the data-path (client) and interconnect networks
  • For hosting application-node VMs only — a single-port 10 Gb (minimum) NIC for the data-path (client) network
Each network must be on a different subnet, and the management network's subnet must be able to accommodate allocation of IP addresses for each of the platform's node VMs.
Note
For POCs and less demanding performance environments, you can use one 10G network interface that serves as the management, client, and interconnect networks.

Configuring the Management Network

The management-network vSwitch needs to be mapped to ports that are on the management virtual LAN (VLAN). If such a vSwitch is already configured in your environment (typically named "vSwitch0"), you may use it instead of creating an additional switch. To create a management-network vSwitch, follow these steps:

  1. Create a new vSwitch named "igz_management", and map it to the appropriate vNIC on the ESXi host.
  2. Create a new port group named "igz_management", and map it to the "igz_management" vSwitch.

Configuring the Data-Path (Client) Network

Note
If all the data and application node VMs reside on the same ESXi host, it may be possible to skip this step. Consult Iguazio's support team.

To configure the data-path (client) network —

  1. Create a new vSwitch named "igz_client", and map it to the platform's data-path (client) NIC port on the ESXi host (see the prerequisites).
  2. Create a new port group named "igz_client", and map it to the "igz_client" vSwitch.

Configuring the Interconnect Network

Note
  • The interconnect network is used only for data-nodes communication.
  • If all the data and application node VMs reside on the same ESXi host, it may be possible to skip this step. Consult Iguazio's support team.

To configure the interconnect network —

  1. Create a new vSwitch named "igz_interconnect", and map it to the platform's interconnect NIC port on the ESXi host (see the prerequisites).
  2. Create a new port group named "igz_interconnect", and map it to the igz_interconnect vSwitch.

Verifying the Configuration

When you're done, you can verify your configuration in the vSphere Web Client, as demonstrated in the following image:

vSphere vSwitches

See Also