CinciTech
Dabbler
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2020
- Messages
- 11
I am setting up a system which might be overkill (and I'm welcoming that feedback), but I'm also looking to learn how to set this up for a bigger project for a customer. I'm adept with virtualization and networking, but VLANs are new to me.
I have TrueNAS running on an R730XD, and I have (currently) three virtual host machines running ESXi 6.7 (two R410s and one old desktop Frankenstein that's been a very reliable 'server' for over 8 years now). I have a Mikrotik CSS326 smart switch connecting these (all 1G ports), with two cat6 cables run to each machine. I have put a couple of 14TB Exos drives in and I confirmed I can share them with NFS4.1 and map it as a datastore in ESXi (no link aggregation or VLAN).
My first test was to try to ping from ESXi (VMKernel IP: #.#.#.101) to TrueNAS and vice versa, using LACP link aggregation. I created a link aggregation "lagg1" using the two NICs and gave it an IP address (#.#.#.100/24). The ports from my CSS326 connected to the TrueNAS server confirm a trunk is detected and a mac address shows up in the partner column. I was unable to ping from ESXi to TrueNAS but I had no trouble pinging from TrueNAS shell to the ESXi host.
Next I want to create a VLAN to ensure all my VMotion traffic stays separated from normal application traffic. I created a VLAN called "vlan1", and selected lagg1 as the parent interface (because apparently you can't select multiple NICs like you do for the link aggregation). My chosen VLAN ID is 300; I set the VLAN to 300 in the VMotion port group in ESXi, and in my CSS326 for all the ports connect to the NICs between these servers.
Now I am no longer able to ping from the TrueNAS shell to my ESXi host. I'm 99% sure I've done the ESXi part right, and the CSS part is pretty straightforward, so my biggest unknown is TrueNAS. That said, how do I troubleshoot this, and what have I as a TrueNAS newbie likely misconfigured in TrueNAS? Is it necessary to use a link aggregate and VLAN or is one configurable to do both?
I have TrueNAS running on an R730XD, and I have (currently) three virtual host machines running ESXi 6.7 (two R410s and one old desktop Frankenstein that's been a very reliable 'server' for over 8 years now). I have a Mikrotik CSS326 smart switch connecting these (all 1G ports), with two cat6 cables run to each machine. I have put a couple of 14TB Exos drives in and I confirmed I can share them with NFS4.1 and map it as a datastore in ESXi (no link aggregation or VLAN).
My first test was to try to ping from ESXi (VMKernel IP: #.#.#.101) to TrueNAS and vice versa, using LACP link aggregation. I created a link aggregation "lagg1" using the two NICs and gave it an IP address (#.#.#.100/24). The ports from my CSS326 connected to the TrueNAS server confirm a trunk is detected and a mac address shows up in the partner column. I was unable to ping from ESXi to TrueNAS but I had no trouble pinging from TrueNAS shell to the ESXi host.
Next I want to create a VLAN to ensure all my VMotion traffic stays separated from normal application traffic. I created a VLAN called "vlan1", and selected lagg1 as the parent interface (because apparently you can't select multiple NICs like you do for the link aggregation). My chosen VLAN ID is 300; I set the VLAN to 300 in the VMotion port group in ESXi, and in my CSS326 for all the ports connect to the NICs between these servers.
Now I am no longer able to ping from the TrueNAS shell to my ESXi host. I'm 99% sure I've done the ESXi part right, and the CSS part is pretty straightforward, so my biggest unknown is TrueNAS. That said, how do I troubleshoot this, and what have I as a TrueNAS newbie likely misconfigured in TrueNAS? Is it necessary to use a link aggregate and VLAN or is one configurable to do both?