Chapter 11: Managing Virtual Machines; Overview; Introduction To The Xnv Feature; Vm Port Configuration - Extreme Networks Ridgeline Guide Manual

11
Managing Virtual Machines
C H A P T E R
This chapter describes Ridgeline's Extreme Network Virtualization (XNV).

Overview

Typical data centers support multiple Virtual Machines (VMs) on a single server. These VMs usually
require network connectivity to provide their services to network users and to other VMs. The
following sections introduce ExtremeXOS software features that support VM network connectivity:

Introduction to the XNV Feature

The Extreme Network Virtualization (XNV) feature, which is also known as Virtual Machine (VM)
tracking, enables the ExtremeXOS software to support VM port movement, port configuration, and
inventory on network switches. VM movement and operation on one or more VM servers is managed
by a virtual machine manager (VMM) application. (Refer to "Identifying VMMs and VMs" on page 149)
Ridgeline's XNV feature enables a network switch to respond to VM movement and report VM activity
to network management software.
Ridgeline's XNV feature enables VM port movement from one switch to another, no matter where the
switches are located. When a VM is moved from one switch to another, the port configuration from the
switch is "copied" to the other switch. The port configuration remains the same. The configured VM
continues to function as it had on the initial switch without interrupting any switch or network
functions. The network does not detect the move.

VM Port Configuration

An important part of the XNV feature is the ability to configure a switch port to support a particular
VM. Ridgeline uses virtual port profiles (VPPs) which are also known as network virtual port profiles
(NVPPs). A network virtual port profile (NVPP) identifies a policy file or ACL rule to associate with a
VM entry in the authentication database. You can define ingress and egress VPPs to configure a port
separately for each direction. When the ingress or egress VPP is configured for a VM entry and the VM
is detected on a port, any associated policy or rule is applied to the port in the specified direction.
NVPPs are stored on an FTP server called a repository server. The XNV feature supports file
synchronization between XNV-enabled switches and the repository server. One of the advantages of the
repository server is centralized storage for NVPPs. Without the repository server, NVPPs would need to
be manually created or copied to each XNV-enabled switch.
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