1. Managing the Impact of
Virtualization
Technology on Your Network
Josh Stephens, VP & Head Geek

2. Introduction
 A big “Howdy” from SolarWinds®
based in Austin, Texas
» Josh Stephens- SolarWinds Head Geek, Monster
Blogger, and Constant Tweeter
» Neal Mueller – Cisco Product Manager, Nexus 1000V
 Today’s Topic:
Managing the Impact of Virtualization
Technology on Your Network
 Who is SolarWinds?
» What we do…
» Who are our customers?
» The SolarWinds community…

3. Housekeeping
 Can you hear me now?
 If not, use the Q&A panel to contact the
moderator
 How do you ask questions?
 Will this thing be recorded?

4. Agenda
 Introductions
 A refresher on virtualization
 Cisco Nexus 1000V
 How Orion helps
 The only bundle in the business
 Orion/Nexus Demonstration
 Summary and Q&A

5. Server Virtualization Issues
1. vMotion moves VMs
across physical ports—
the network policy must
follow
2. Impossible to view or
apply network policy to
locally switched traffic
VLAN
101
3. Need collaboration
between network and
server admin
vCenter
Cisco CLI (NX-OS)

6. Cisco Nexus 1000V
VM VM VM VM
 Industry’s first 3rd-party vNetwork
Distributed Switch for VMware vSphere
Nexus
 Built on Cisco NX-OS 1000V
 Compatible with all switching platforms
vSphere
 Maintain vCenter provisioning model
unmodified for server administration;
allow network administration of virtual
network via familiar Cisco NX-OS CLI
Nexus 1000V
Policy-Based Mobility of Network & Non-Disruptive
VM Connectivity Security Properties Operational Model

7. Cisco Nexus 1000V
Cisco VN-Link: Virtual Network Link
Policy-Based Mobility of Network & Non-Disruptive
VM Connectivity Security Properties Operational Model
VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM
Nexus Nexus
1000V 1000V
VEM VEM
vSphere vSphere
vCenter Nexus 1000V VSM

8. Cisco Nexus 1000V
Faster VM Deployment
Cisco VN-Link: Virtual Network Link
Policy-Based Mobility of Network & Non-Disruptive
VM Connectivity Security Properties Operational Model
VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM
Port Profiles
WEB Apps Nexus Nexus
1000V 1000V
HR VEM VEM
DB
vSphere vSphere
DMZ
VM Connection Policy
• Defined in the network
• Applied in Virtual Center
• Linked to VM UUID
vCenter Nexus 1000V VSM

9. Cisco Nexus 1000V
Richer Network Services
Cisco VN-Link: Virtual Network Link
Policy-Based Mobility of Network & Non-Disruptive
VM Connectivity Security Properties Operational Model
VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM
VM VM VM VM
VMs Need to Move
• VMotion Nexus Nexus
• DRS 1000V 1000V
VEM VEM
• SW Upgrade/Patch
• Hardware Failure vSphere vSphere
Property Mobility
• VMotion for the network
• Ensures VM security
• Maintains connection state
vCenter Nexus 1000V VSM

10. Cisco Nexus 1000V
Increased Operational Efficiency
Cisco VN-Link: Virtual Network Link
Policy-Based Mobility of Network & Non-Disruptive
VM Connectivity Security Properties Operational Model
VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM
VI Admin Benefits
• Maintains existing VM mgmt Nexus Nexus
• Reduces deployment time 1000V 1000V
• Improves scalability VEM VEM
• Reduces operational workload
vSphere vSphere
• Enables VM-level visibility
Network Admin Benefits
• Unifies network mgmt and ops
• Improves operational security
• Enhances VM network
features
• Ensures policy persistence
• Enables VM-level visibility Nexus 1000V VSM
vCenter

11. Cisco Nexus 1000V Architecture
VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM VM
Nexus Nexus Nexus
1000V 1000V 1000V
VEM VEM VEM
vSphere vSphere vSphere
Virtual Supervisor Module (VSM)
 Virtual or Physical appliance running
Cisco NXOS (supports HA) (VEM)
Virtual Ethernet Module
  Enables advanced networking
Performs management, monitoring, & Nexus 1000V VSM
Cisco Nexus 1000V Installation
configuration on the hypervisor
capability
   ESX & ESXi with dedicated
Provides each VM
Tight integration with VMware vCenter
“switch port”
 VUM & Manual Installation
 Collection of VEMs = 1 vNetwork
 VEM is installed/upgraded like an ESX
Distributed Switch vCenter
patch

12. Port Profile: Network Admin View
n1000v# show port-profile name WebProfile
port-profile WebProfile
description: Support Commands
Include:
status: enabled
capability uplink: no
system vlans:  Port management
port-group: WebProfile
config attributes:  VLAN
switchport mode access  PVLAN
switchport access vlan 110
no shutdown  Port-channel
evaluated config attributes:  ACL
switchport mode access
 NetFlow
switchport access vlan 110
no shutdown  Port Security
assigned interfaces:  QoS
Veth10

13. Features of the Nexus 1000V
L2 Switching, 802.1Q Tagging, VLAN Segmentation, Rate Limiting (TX)
Switching

 IGMP Snooping, QoS Marking (COS & DSCP)
Policy Mobility, Private VLANs w/ local PVLAN Enforcement
Security

 Access Control Lists (L2–4 w/ Redirect), Port Security
Automated vSwitch Config, Port Profiles, Virtual Center Integration
Provisioning

 Optimized NIC Teaming with Virtual Port Channel – Host Mode
VMotion Tracking, ERSPAN, NetFlow v.9 w/ NDE, CDP v.2
Visibility

 VM-Level Interface Statistics
Virtual Center VM Provisioning, Cisco Network Provisioning, CiscoWorks
Management

 Cisco CLI, Radius, TACACs, Syslog, SNMP (v.1, 2, 3)

14. Flexible Deployment Options
 All servers on VMware
Compatibility List
 All switches, including all
Cisco switches
 1G & 10G NICs

15. 100s of Companies Use Nexus 1000V
 US Bottling Company
“The Nexus 1000V simplifies collaboration within
the IT department by clearly separating
responsibilities for our server group and network
group”
»Rory Regan, Telecom Manager
 European Insurance Conglomerate
“Taking control of the Cisco Nexus 1000V was
simplified and intuitive. The process of
virtualization of our datacenter will in fact
accelerate and we will be able to virtualize
everything that has been not possible in the
past.”
»Julien Mousqueton, Technical Architect

16. Management – The Last Step in Success
 Virtualized infrastructures need management and
monitoring
 Best in class management tools support
management of virtual infrastructure out of the box
J0sher2014
 Orion from SolarWinds is the management choice
for virtualized infrastructure

17. SolarWinds for the Cisco Nexus 1000V
 Native support in Orion NPM
 Discovers and monitors the Nexus 1000V
 Monitor network traffic by VM, host, etc…
 Automated notifications for virtual switch issues
J0sher2014
 Additional visibility with the Orion NetFlow Traffic
Analyzer
 NetFlow – who and what of traffic analysis
 Especially helpful for virtualized application servers

18. Cisco Nexus 1000V + SolarWinds Orion Bundle
 The three components to successful virtualization:
 vSphere Enterprise Plus from VMware
 Nexus 1000V from Cisco
 Orion NPM from SolarWinds
J0sher2014
 Orion is the only management tool offered as a
bundle with vSphere and the Nexus 1000V
 Offered through your favorite reseller

19. SolarWinds Orion Demonstration
- Slide 19 -

20. Summary and Q&A
Thank you for attending!
To learn more or to download free 30-day trials of
SolarWinds products visit: www.SolarWinds.com
Contact information
Josh Stephens, Head Geek
headgeek@solarwinds.com
twitter: sw_headgeek
Blog: http://thwack.com/blogs/geekspeak/