Category Archives: Networking

Dell Networking Extends Multipathing Capabilities with VLT Routing

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Humair

Dell Networking recently released enhancements to their VLT multipathing technology in FTOS 9.2 now available on S4810, S4820T, and Z9000. For a quick primer on Dell’s VLT technology read my prior blog post here. The most noticeable enhancement is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dell, Dell Force10, Labs, Network Architecture, Networking, Protocols, Technology | Tagged Dell Force10, Dell MXL, Dell Networking, Dell S4810, Dell S4820T, Dell Z9000, FTOS, FTOS 9.2, layer 3 multipathing, layer 3 routing, layer 3 VLT, multicast routing multipathing support, multicast routing over VLT, multipathing, multipathing technology, MXL, OSPF, OSPF over VLT, peer-routing, peer-routing timeout, routed VLT, Routing over VLT, routing over VLT using OSPF, S4810, S4820T, Virtual Trunk Link, VLT, vlt domain, VLT interconnect, VLT Routing, VLT technology, vlt-peer-lag, vlt-peer-lag port-channel, VLTi, Z9000 | 3 Comments

Cisco vPC with Dell S4810 at ToR

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Humair

Cisco’s vPC technology is similar to Dell’s VLT; it enables an access/leaf switch or server to have single LAG connecting up to two separate switches. This allows for an non-blocking, multipathing scenario. You can read more about Dell’s VLT technology … Continue reading →

Posted in Cisco, Dell, Dell Force10, Labs, Network Architecture, Networking, Technology | Tagged 5548, Cisco, Cisco 5548UP, Cisco Nexus, Cisco Nexus 5548UP, Dell, Dell Force10 S4810, Dell S4810, Force10 S4810, mlag, Nexus, Nexus 5548UP, Nexus switch, port channel, S4810, S4810 switch, switch, Virtual Port Channel, vPC | 3 Comments

FCoE with Dell S5000 Converged Switch and Dell MXL Blade Switch [Video]

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Humair

Check out the latest Dell S5000 converged switch video which demonstrates FCoE with the Dell S5000 converged switch and the Dell PowerEdge M1000e chassis w/ MXL blade switch. The Dell S5000 switch is configured in NPIV Proxy Gateway mode and … Continue reading →

Posted in Brocade, Dell, Dell Compellent, Dell Force10, Fibre Channel, Labs, Microsoft, Networking, Storage, Technology | Tagged Brocade, Compellent, Compellent SC220, Compellent SC8000, converged infrastructure, converged network, converged networks, Dell Compellent SC220, Dell Compellent SC8000, Dell Force10 S5000, Dell MXL, Dell MXL Blade Switch, Dell Networking S5000, Dell S5000, Dell S5000 configuration, Dell S5000 converged switch, dual fabrics, Ethernet-FC bridge, FC, FC Switch, FCF, FCoE, FCoE configuration, FCoE Transit, FCoE-FC Bridge, Fibre Channel Forwarder, Fibre Channel over Ethernet, Fibre Channel switch, FIP-snooping bridge, Froce10 S5000, FSB, multipathing, MXL, MXL blade, MXL Blade Switch, N_Port_ID Virtualization, NPIV, NPIV Proxy Gateway, S5000, S5000 configuration, S5000 converged switch, SAN, SAN multipathing, SC220, SC8000 | Leave a comment

Understanding Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Humair

Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders (FEX) behave and can be considered as remote line cards for Cisco Nexus switches. The fabric extender acts as an extension to the parent Cisco Nexus switch fabric; the fabric extender and the parent … Continue reading →

Posted in Cisco, Labs, Network Architecture, Networking, Technology | Tagged Cisco, Cisco distributed modular system, Cisco FEX architecture, Cisco Nexus, Cisco Nexus 2000, Cisco Nexus 2000 Fabric Extender, Cisco Nexus 2000 Fabric Extenders, Cisco Nexus 2000 FEX, Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders, Cisco Nexus 2248PQ, Cisco Nexus 2248PQ Fabric Extender, Cisco Nexus 2248PQ FEX, Cisco Nexus 5548UP, Cisco Nexus Fabric Extender, Cisco Nexus FEX, Cisco Nexus switch, distributed modular system, east-west traffic, edge ports, etherchannel, EtherChannel Fabric Interface Connection, EtherChannel interface, Fabric Extender, FEX, FEX architecture, fex associate, Nexus 2248PQ, Nexus 2248PQ Fabric Extender, Nexus 2248PQ FEX, Nexus 5548UP, spanning tree edge ports, Static Pinning Fabric Interface Connection, switchport mode fex-fabric | 3 Comments

FCoE Transit with the Dell PowerEdge M I/O Aggregator Blade Switch

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Humair

The Dell PowerEdge M I/O Aggregator (IOA) blade switch is pretty cool. It looks similar to the Dell MXL blade switch and even uses the same FlexIO modules in its two FlexIO module slots. As with the Dell MXL switch, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dell, Networking, Technology | Tagged CNA, Compellent, Compellent SC220, Compellent SC8000, Converged Network Adapter, Data Center Bridging, DCB, Dell Compellent, Dell Compellent SC220, Dell Compellent SC8000, Dell IOA, Dell IOA blade switch, Dell PowerEdge M I/O Aggregator, Dell S5000, Dell S5000 converged switch, Dell S5000 FCoE switch, Dell S5000 switch, FC, FC storage, FC switches, FCF, FCoE, FCoE Transit, Fibre Channel, Fibre Channel Forwarder, FIP-snooping, FIP-snooping bridge, FSB, IOA, IOA blade switch, plug-and-play, SC220, SC8000 | Leave a comment

Configuring a Syslog Server on CentOS 6.3 for Dell Force10 Switches

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Humair

In this lab I’m going to demonstrate how to configure a syslog server to use with Dell Force10 switches. A syslog server can be used to store log files remotely on an external server. Syslog servers can be invaluable when … Continue reading →

Posted in CentOS, Dell, Dell Force10, Labs, Linux, Network Architecture, Networking, Operating Systems, Troubleshooting | Tagged CentOS, CentOS 6.3, Configure FTOS syslog, Configure FTOS syslog server, configure rsyslog, configure syslog, Configure syslog for Dell, Configure syslog for Dell Force10, Configure syslog for Force10, Configure syslog for FTOS, Configure syslog on CentOS, Configure syslog on CentOS 6, Configure syslog on CentOS 6.3, configuring rsyslog server, configuring syslog server, Dell, Dell Force10 S4810. Force10 S4810, Dell Networking, Dell PowerEdge, Dell PowerEdge R620, Dell PowerEdge Server, Dell S4810, Dell S50N, Dell Server, FTOS, iptables, linux, linux iptables, linux syslog, linux syslog server, log to linux syslog, log to linux syslog server, PowerEdge R620, PowerEdge R620 server, PowerEdge server, rsyslog, rsyslog server, S4810, S50N, syslog, syslog server | 1 Comment

Cisco Nexus 5548UP – Configuring the Management Interface

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Humair

This is a relatively simple blog on configuring the Cisco Nexus 5548UP management interface. When Cisco moved away from IOS to NX-OS for the operating system on their new Nexus datacenter switches, some of the commands and syntax for even … Continue reading →

Posted in Cisco, Dell, Labs, Networking, Technology | Tagged Cisco, Cisco 5548UP, Cisco Nexus, Cisco Nexus 5548UP, Cisco Nexus default route, Cisco Virtual Routing and Forwarding, Cisco VRF, configure Cisco management interface, configure management interface, configure Nexus 5548UP management interface, configure Nexus management interface, Dell, Dell Force10 S4810, Dell PowerEdge, Dell PowerEdge R710, Dell PowerEdge R710 server, Dell S4810, Force10 S4810, Nexus 5548UP, Nexus default route, Nexus management interface, NX-OS, S4810, VDC, virtual device context, Virtual Routing and Forwarding, VRF, vrf context management | 3 Comments

Dell Networking S5000 – FCoE Configuration [Video]

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Humair

In my prior blog posts, I discussed Dell’s new converged switch, the Dell S5000, and provided links to two Dell S5000 whitepapers I recently published. Now you can see the Dell S5000 converged switch in action within a converged infrastructure … Continue reading →

Posted in Dell, Dell Compellent, Fibre Channel, Labs, Network Architecture, Networking, Protocols, Technology | Tagged Brocade, Compellent, Compellent SC220, Compellent SC8000, converged infrastructure, converged network, converged networks, Dell Compellent SC220, Dell Compellent SC8000, Dell Force10 S5000, Dell Networking S5000, Dell S5000, Dell S5000 configuration, Dell S5000 converged switch, Ethernet-FC bridge, FC, FC Switch, FCF, FCoE, FCoE configuration, FCoE-FC Bridge, Fibre Channel Forwarder, Fibre Channel over Ethernet, Fibre Channel switch, Froce10 S5000, N_Port_ID Virtualization, NPIV, NPIV Proxy Gateway, S5000, S5000 configuration, S5000 converged switch, SC220, SC8000 | Leave a comment

Dell Enterprise Forum Think Tank at DEF 2013

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Humair

Dell Enterprise Forum (DEF) 2013 was a great experience; I had a blast conducting the Dell Networking S5000 converged switch hands-on lab and talking to customers/partners.

Posted in Blogging, Dell, Dell Enterprise Forum 2013, Networking, Tech Events, Technology | Tagged 2013 Think Tank video, DEF, DEF 2013, DEF 2013 Think Tank video, DEF Think Tank video, Dell, Dell Enterprise Forum, Dell Enterprise Forum 2013, Dell Enterprise Forum 2013 Think Tank video, Dell Enterprise Forum Think Tank, Dell Enterprise Forum Think Tank at DEF 2013, Dell Enterprise Forum Think Tank video, Dell Networking, Dell Networking S5000, innovation, Think Tank video, video | Leave a comment

Deploying a Dell PowerEdge M1000e Chassis with Dell Blade Servers and Dell MXL Blade Switches

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Humair

In this blog I demonstrate how to setup a Dell M1000e chassis with a Dell PowerEdge M620 server and two Dell MXL blade switches [FTOS 8.3.16.2]. The Dell M1000e chassis is part of a larger network composed of three Dell … Continue reading →

Posted in Dell, Labs, Network Architecture, Networking, Technology, Windows Server 2008 R2 | Tagged 57810S CNA, Broadcom, Broadcom 57810, Broadcom 57810S, Broadcom 57810S CNA, Broadcom CNA, Dell, Dell Force10 MXL, Dell Force10 S4810, Dell M1000e, Dell M1000e chassis, Dell M1000e PowerEdge chassis, Dell MXL, Dell MXL Blade Switch, Dell MXL switch, Dell S4810, Dell S4810 switch, Force10 MXL, Force10 Networks MXL, Force10 Networks S4810, Force10 S4810, M620 server, Open Shortest Path First, OSPF, PowerEdge, PowerEdge M620, PowerEdge M620 server, PowerEdge server, S4810 switch, server, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise | 2 Comments