Preparing the NSX Infrastructure
In the Part 2 of this configuring NSX-T blog series, we discussed about how to add nodes to the NSX-T management cluster. In this blog, we will discuss how to prepare the NSX-T infrastructure.
Step 1: Create Transport Zone
Transport zone is a connection of transport nodes that can communicate with each other across the physical infrastructure. Transport zone defines the potential reach of transport nodes. This communication occurs over one or more Tunnel End Point. There are two types of transport zones.
- Overlay transport zone – Internal tunnel between transport nodes
- VLAN transport zone – Used at NSX-Edge uplinks for northbound connectivity
To create an overlay transport zone, go to System > Fabric > Transport Zones > +ADD
Create overlay and vlan transport zones by providing appropriate name, N-DVS name and selecting the respective traffic type. Once completed, you will see both the transport zones with status as UP.
Step 2: Create IP Pools
Each transport node has a TEP(tunnel endpoint) and each TEP requires an IP address. In this step we will created our first IP pool which is the vTEP pool for assigning IP address to the NSX transport nodes we will create.
To create IP pool, click on Networking > IP Address Management > IP Address Pools > ADD IP ADDRESS POOL. Provide a name for the IP pool you are creating and click on set under subnets.
From the ADD SUBNET drop down, select IP Ranges and provide the IP address range for the vTEP IP pool.
Note: In the above screenshot, you can see that I have created an IP Pool range of 192.168.30.100 – 192.168.30.145 with /24 subnet and 192.168.30.1 as the gateway IP.
Step 3: Configure Host Transport Node
NSX-T requires transport nodes to perform any networking ans security functionality. Transport node forwards the data plane traffic originating from VM’s, containers or from any applications running on bare metal servers. In this section we will see how to configure ESXi hosts as transport nodes.
To configure ESXi hosts as transport node, click on System > Fabric > Nodes > Host Transport Nodes. From the Managed by drop-down menu, select the vcsa.
Select the cluster and click on CONFIGURE NSX. Provide a name for the ESXi and click NEXT.
Select the overlay transport zone and the respective N-VDS from the drop down and configure it as below. Then click FINISH.
Once completed, you will be able to see the NSX-T prepared ESXi nodes available as transport nodes under Host Transport Nodes section.
Make a note of the nsx configuration, node status and transport zones tab of the host transport nodes. In the below screenshot, you can see that host esxi-3 is not configured as a transport node and hence the node status is not available.
We have now completed preparing the NSX infrastructure. In the next blog post, I will discuss about how to configure logical components of NSX-T. To know more click on the below button.
Kontainers 