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Step 2: Configure top-of-rack switches

Configure the top-of-rack switches.

Before you begin

In addition to typical configuration requirements for top-of-rack switches, ensure that all appropriate ports are enabled, including the external ports to the Flex switches, rack servers, and network, and internal ports to the CMM, rack servers, and network.

You can implement VLAN tagging in the Flex switches or top-of-rack switches, depending on the needs and complexity of your environment. If you implement tagging from the top-of-rack switches, enable VLAN tagging from the top-of-rack switches.

Ensure that VLAN IDs are set up for the management and data networks.

Procedure

The configuration steps might vary, depending on the type of rack switches that are installed.

The following figure is an example scenario that illustrates VLAN tagging that is implemented in the top-of-rack switches and enabled on only the management network. The management VLAN is set up as VLAN 10.

In this scenario, you must define the ports to which the CMMs are connected as belonging to the management VLAN.

Note
You can also enable VLAN tagging on the data network to configure a data VLAN.
Figure 1. Example configuration for Flex switches on virtually separate data and management networks (VMware ESXi) in which VLAN tagging is enabled on the management network
Illustrates configuring VLAN tagging on only the management network

For information about configuring Lenovo top-of-rack switches, see Rack switches in the System x online documentation. If another top-of-rack switch is installed, see the documentation that came with that switch.