Multiple NICs with Non VLAN-aware Switch

In this best practice guide for “non VLAN-aware” switch, also known as “dummy” switch, we will introduce Harvester VLAN network and external switch configuration for common scenario.

Architecture

Hardware:

  • Three Harvester servers with dual ports network card.
  • One or more “non VLAN-aware” switch(es).

Network Specification:

  • The host and the VM networks are in the same subnet.

Cabling:

  • The Harvester servers are connected to the switch in a port from 1 to 6.

The following diagram illustrates the cabling used for this guide:

mulitple-nics-non-vlan-aware.png

External Switch Configuration

Typically, a “non VLAN-aware” switch cannot be configured.

Create a VLAN Network in Harvester

You can create a new VLAN network on the Advanced > Networks page, and click the Create button.

Specify the name and a VLAN ID that you want to create for the VLAN network (You can specify the same VLAN ID in different namespaces if you have Rancher multi-tenancy configured).

create-vlan-network.png

Connect a VM to the subnet of the Harvester hosts

The “non VLAN-aware” switch will only send out untagged network traffic to the subnet of the Harvester hosts. In Harvester, the untagged traffic is received in VLAN 1.

If you need a VM to connect to the subnet of the Harvester hosts, you have to create a VLAN Network in Harvester with VLAN ID 1.

mulitple-nics-non-vlan-aware-vlan1.png

Please refer to this page for additional information on Harvester Networking.

Multiple NICs with Non VLAN-aware Switch - 图4note

If you create a VLAN Network different from 1, the connection between VMs in different nodes will fail.