This policy defines how a vNIC on a server connects to the LAN. This
policy is also referred to as a vNIC LAN connectivity policy.
You need to include this policy in a
service profile
for it to take effect.
Creating a vNIC Template
Before You Begin
This policy requires that one or more of
the following resources already exist in the system:
Named VLAN
MAC pool
QoS policy
LAN pin group
Statistics threshold policy
Procedure
Step 1
In the
Navigation pane, click the
LAN tab.
Step 2
On the
LAN tab, expand
LAN > Policies.
Step 3
Expand the node for the organization where you want to create the
policy.
If the system does not include multi-tenancy,
expand the
root node.
Step 4
Right-click the
vNIC Templates node and choose
Create vNIC Template.
Step 5
In the
Create vNIC Template dialog box:
In the General area, complete the following fields:
Name
Description
Name field
The name of the vNIC template.
This name can be between 1 and 16
alphanumeric characters. You cannot use spaces or any special characters, and
you cannot change this name after the object has been saved.
Description
field
A user-defined description of the
template.
Enter up to 256 characters. You can use any characters or spaces except ^ (carat), \ (backslash), > (greater than), < (less than), ' (single quote), " (double quote), ` (accent mark).
Fabric ID
field
The fabric
interconnect associated with the component.
If you want vNICs created from
this template to be able to access the second fabric interconnect if the
default one is unavailable, check the
Enable Failover check box.
Note
Do not select
Enable Failover if you plan to associate vNICs
created from this template with servers that have adapters which do not support fabric failover, such as a
Cisco UCS 82598KR-CI 10-Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.
If you do so,
Cisco UCS Manager
generates a configuration fault when you associate the
service profile
with the server.
Target list
box
A list of the possible targets for
vNICs created from this template. This can be:
Adapter—The vNICs apply to all
adapters.
VM—The vNICs apply to all virtual
machines.
Template
Type field
This can be:
Initial Template—vNICs created
from this template are not updated if the template changes.
Updating Template—vNICs created
from this template are updated if the template changes.
In the VLANs area, use the table to select the VLAN to
assign to vNICs created from this template. The table contains the following
columns:
Name
Description
Select column
Check the check box in this column for each VLAN you want to use.
Name column
The name of the VLAN.
Native VLAN column
To designate one of the VLANs as the native VLAN, click the
radio button in this column.
Create VLAN link
Click this link if you want to create a VLAN.
In the Policies area, complete the following fields:
Name
Description
MTU field
The maximum transmission unit, or packet size, that vNICs
created from this vNIC template should use.
Enter an integer between 1500 and 9216.
MAC Pool
drop-down list
The MAC address pool that vNICs
created from this vNIC template should use.
QoS Policy
drop-down list
The quality of service policy that vNICs
created from this vNIC template should use.
Network Control Policy drop-down list
The network control policy that vNICs
created from this vNIC template should use.
Pin Group
drop-down list
The LAN pin group that vNICs created
from this vNIC template should use.
Stats Threshold
Policy drop-down list
The statistics collection policy
that vNICs created from this vNIC template should use.
Step 6
Click
OK.
What to Do Next
Include the vNIC template in a service profile.
Deleting a vNIC Template
Procedure
Step 1
In the
Navigation pane, click the
LAN tab.
Step 2
On the
LAN tab, expand
LAN > Policies > Organization_Name.
Step 3
Expand the
vNIC Templates node.
Step 4
Right-click the policy you want to delete and choose
Delete.
Step 5
If
Cisco UCS Manager GUI
displays a confirmation dialog box, click
Yes.
Binding a vNIC to a vNIC Template
You can bind a vNIC associated with a
service profile
to a vNIC template. When you bind the vNIC to a vNIC template,
Cisco UCS Manager
configures the vNIC with the values defined in the vNIC template. If the
existing vNIC configuration does not match the vNIC template,
Cisco UCS Manager
reconfigures the vNIC. You can only change the configuration of a bound vNIC
through the associated vNIC template. You cannot bind a vNIC to a vNIC template
if the
service profile
that includes the vNIC is already bound to a
service profile
template.
Important:
If the vNIC is reconfigured when you bind it to a template,
Cisco UCS Manager
reboots the server associated with the
service profile.
Procedure
Step 1
In the
Navigation pane, click the
Servers tab.
Step 2
On the
Servers tab, expand
Servers > Service Profiles.
Step 3
Expand the node for the organization that includes the
service profile
with the vNIC you want to bind.
If the system does not include multi-tenancy, expand the
root node.
Step 4
Expand
Service_Profile_Name > vNICs.
Step 5
Click the vNIC you want to bind to a template.
Step 6
In the
Work pane, click the
General tab.
Step 7
In the
Actions area, click
Bind to a Template.
Step 8
In the
Bind to a vNIC Template dialog box, do the
following:
From the
vNIC Template drop-down list, choose the
template to which you want to bind the vNIC.
Click
OK.
Step 9
In the warning dialog box, click
Yes to acknowledge that
Cisco UCS Manager
may need to reboot the server if the binding causes the vNIC to be
reconfigured.
Unbinding a vNIC from a vNIC Template
Procedure
Step 1
In the
Navigation pane, click the
Servers tab.
Step 2
On the
Servers tab, expand
Servers > Service Profiles.
Step 3
Expand the node for the organization that includes the
service profile
with the vNIC you want to unbind.
If the system does not include multi-tenancy, expand the
root node.
Step 4
Expand
Service_Profile_Name > vNICs.
Step 5
Click the vNIC you want to unbind from a template.
Step 6
In the
Work pane, click the
General tab.
Step 7
In the
Actions area, click
Unbind from a Template.
Step 8
If
Cisco UCS Manager GUI
displays a confirmation dialog box, click
Yes.
Configuring Ethernet Adapter Policies
Ethernet and Fibre Channel Adapter Policies
These policies govern the host-side behavior of the adapter, including
how the adapter handles traffic. For example, you can use these policies to
change default settings for the following:
Queues
Interrupt handling
Performance enhancement
RSS hash
Failover in an cluster configuration with two fabric interconnects
Note
For Fibre Channel adapter policies, the values displayed by Cisco UCS Manager may not match those displayed by applications such as QLogic SANsurfer. For example, the following values may result in an apparent mismatch between SANsurfer and Cisco UCS Manager:
Max LUNs Per Target—SANsurfer has a maximum of 256 LUNs and does not display more than that number. Cisco UCS Manager supports a higher maximum number of LUNs.
Link Down Timeout—In SANsurfer, you configure the timeout threshold for link down in seconds. In Cisco UCS Manager, you configure this value in milliseconds. Therefore, a value of 5500 ms in Cisco UCS Manager displays as 5s in SANsurfer.
Max Data Field Size—SANsurfer has allowed values of 512, 1024, and 2048. Cisco UCS Manager allows you to set values of any size. Therefore, a value of 900 in Cisco UCS Manager displays as 512 in SANsurfer.
Operating System Specific Adapter Policies
By default, Cisco UCS provides a set of Ethernet adapter policies and Fibre Channel adapter policies. These policies include the recommended settings for each supported server operating system. Operating systems are sensitive to the settings in these policies. Storage vendors typically require non-default adapter settings. You can find the details of these required settings on the support list provided by those vendors.
Important:
We recommend that you use the values in these policies for the applicable operating system. Do not modify any of the values in the default policies unless directed to do so by Cisco Technical Support.
However, if you are creating an Ethernet adapter policy for a Windows OS (instead of using the default Windows adapter policy), you must use the following formulas to calculate values that work with Windows:
Interrupt Count = (Completion Queues + 2) rounded up to nearest power of 2
For example, if Transmit Queues = 1 and Receive Queues = 8 then:
Completion Queues = 1 + 8 = 9
Interrupt Count = (9 + 2) rounded up to the nearest power of 2 = 16
Creating an Ethernet Adapter Policy
Tip
If the fields in an area are not displayed, click the
Expand icon to the right of the heading.
Procedure
Step 1
In the
Navigation pane, click the
Servers tab.
Step 2
On the
Servers tab, expand
Servers > Policies.
Step 3
Expand the node for the organization where you want to create the
policy.
If the system does not include multi-tenancy,
expand the
root node.
Step 4
Right-click Adapter Policies and choose
Create Ethernet Adapter Policy.
Step 5
Enter a name and description for the policy in the following
fields:
Name
Description
Name
field
The name of the policy.
Description field
A description of the policy.
We recommend including information about where and when the policy should be
used.
Enter up to 256 characters. You can use any characters or spaces except ^ (carat), \ (backslash), > (greater than), < (less than), ' (single quote), " (double quote), ` (accent mark).
Step 6
(Optional)In the
Resources area, adjust the following values:
Name
Description
Transmit Queues field
The number of transmit queue resources to allocate.
Enter an integer between 1
and 256.
Ring Size field
The number of descriptors in each transmit queue.
Enter an integer between 64 and 4096.
Receive Queues field
The number of receive queue resources to allocate.
Enter an integer between 1
and 256.
Ring Size field
The number of descriptors in each receive queue.
Enter an integer between 64 and 4096.
Completion Queues field
The number of completion queue resources to allocate.
In general, the number of completion queue resources you should allocate is equal to the number of transmit queue resources plus the number of receive queue resources.
Enter an integer between 1
and 512.
Interrupts field
The number of interrupt resources to allocate. In general, this value should be equal to the number of completion queue resources.
Enter an integer between 1 and 514.
Step 7
(Optional)In the
Options area, adjust the
following values:
Name
Description
Transmit Checksum Offload field
This can be:
disabled—The CPU calculates all
packet checksums.
enabled—The CPU sends all packets
to the hardware so that the checksum can be calculated. This option may reduce
CPU overhead.
Receive Checksum Offload field
This can be:
disabled—The CPU validates all
packet checksums.
enabled—The CPU sends all packet
checksums to the hardware for validation. This option may reduce CPU overhead.
TCP Segmentation Offload field
This can be:
disabled—The CPU segments large
TCP packets.
enabled—The CPU sends large TCP
packets to the hardware to be segmented. This option may reduce CPU overhead
and increase throughput rate.
Note
This option is also known as Large Send Offload (LSO).
TCP Large Receive Offload field
This can be:
disabled—The CPU processes all
large packets.
enabled—The hardware reassembles
all segmented packets before sending them to the CPU. This option may reduce
CPU utilization and increase inbound throughput.
Receive Side Scaling field
RSS distributes network receive processing across multiple CPUs in multiprocessor systems. This can be:
disabled—Network receive processing is always handled by a single processor even if additional processors are available.
enabled—Network receive processing is shared across processors whenever possible.
Failback Timeout field
After a vNIC has started using its secondary interface, this
setting controls how long the primary interface must be available before the
system resumes using the primary interface for the vNIC.
Enter a number of seconds between 0 and 600.
Interrupt Mode field
The preferred driver interrupt mode. This can be:
MSI-X—Message Signaled Interrupts(MSI)
with the optional extension. This is the recommended option.
MSI—MSI only.
INTx—PCI INTx interrupts.
Interrupt Coalescing Type field
This can be:
min—The system waits for the time
specified in the
Interrupt Timer field before
sending another interrupt event.
idle—The system does not send an
interrupt until there is a period of no activity lasting as least as long as
the time specified in the
Interrupt Timer field.
Interrupt
Timer field
The time to wait between interrupts or the idle period that
must be encountered before an interrupt is sent.
Enter a value between 1 and 65535. To turn off interrupt coalescing,
enter 0 (zero) in this field.
Step 8
Click
OK.
Step 9
If
Cisco UCS Manager GUI
displays a confirmation dialog box, click
Yes.
Deleting an Ethernet Adapter Policy
Procedure
Step 1
In the
Navigation pane, click the
LAN tab.
Step 2
On the
LAN tab, expand
LAN > Policies > Organization_Name.
Step 3
Expand the
Adapter Policies node.
Step 4
Right-click the Ethernet adapter policy that you want to delete
and choose
Delete.
Step 5
If
Cisco UCS Manager GUI
displays a confirmation dialog box, click
Yes.
Configuring Network Control Policies
Network Control Policy
This policy configures the network control settings for the Cisco UCS instance, including the following:
Whether the Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) is enabled or disabled
How the VIF behaves if no uplink port is available in end-host mode
Whether the server can use different MAC addresses when sending packets to the fabric interconnect
The network control policy also determines the action that Cisco UCS Manager takes on the remote Ethernet port or the vEthernet interface when the associated border port fails. By default, the Action on Uplink Fail property in the network control policy is configured with a value of link-down. This default behavior directs Cisco UCS Manager to bring the remote Ethernet or vEthernet port down if the border port fails.
Note
The default behaviour of the Action on Uplink Fail property is optimal for most Cisco UCS that support link failover at the adapter level or only carry Ethernet traffic. However, for those converged network adapters that support both Ethernet and Fibre Channel traffic, such as the Cisco UCS CNA M72KR-Q and the Cisco UCS CNA M72KR-E, the default behavior can affect and interrupt Fibre Channel traffic as well. Therefore, if the server includes one of those converged network adapters and the the adapter is expected to handle both Ethernet and Fibre Channel traffic, we recommend that you configure the Action on Uplink Fail property with a value of warning. Please note that this configuration may result in an Ethernet teaming driver not being able to detect a link failure when the border port goes down.
Creating a Network Control Policy
Procedure
Step 1
In the
Navigation pane, click the
LAN tab.
Step 2
On the
LAN tab, expand
LAN > Policies.
Step 3
Expand the node for the organization where you want to create the
policy.
If the system does not include multi-tenancy,
expand the
root node.
Step 4
Right-click the Network Control Policies node and select Create Network Control Policy.
Step 5
In the Create Network Control Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:
Name
Description
Name
field
The name of the policy.
This name can be between 1 and 16
alphanumeric characters. You cannot use spaces or any special characters, and
you cannot change this name after the object has been saved.
CDP field
This option determines whether Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) is enabled on servers associated with a service profile that includes this policy. This can be:
disabled
enabled
Action on Uplink Fail field
This option determines how the VIF behaves if no uplink port is available when the fabric interconnect is in end-host mode. This can be:
link-down— Changes the operational state of a vNIC to down when uplink connectivity is lost on the fabric interconnect, and enables fabric failover for vNICs.
warning— Maintains server-to-server connectivity even when no uplink port is available, and disables fabric failover when uplink connectivity is lost on the fabric interconnect.
The default is link-down.
Note
The default behaviour of the Action on Uplink Fail property is optimal for most Cisco UCS that support link failover at the adapter level or only carry Ethernet traffic. However, for those converged network adapters that support both Ethernet and Fibre Channel traffic, such as the Cisco UCS CNA M72KR-Q and the Cisco UCS CNA M72KR-E, the default behavior can affect and interrupt Fibre Channel traffic as well. Therefore, if the server includes one of those converged network adapters and the the adapter is expected to handle both Ethernet and Fibre Channel traffic, we recommend that you configure the Action on Uplink Fail property with a value of warning. Please note that this configuration may result in an Ethernet teaming driver not being able to detect a link failure when the border port goes down.
Step 6
In the MAC Security area, do the following to determine whether the server can use different MAC addresses when sending packets to the fabric interconnect:
Click the Expand icon to expand the area and display the radio buttons.
Click one of the following radio buttons to determine whether forged MAC addresses are allowed or denied when packets are sent from the server to the fabric interconnect:
allow— All server packets are accepted by the fabric interconnect, regardless of the MAC address associated with the packets.
deny— After the first packet has been sent to the fabric interconnect, all other packets must use the same MAC address or they will be silently rejected by the fabric interconnect. In effect, this option enables port security for the associated vNIC.
If you plan to install VMware ESX on the associated server, you must configure the MAC Security to allow for the network control policy applied to the default vNIC. If you do not configure MAC Security for allow, the ESX installation may fail because the MAC security permits only one MAC address while the installation process requires more than one MAC address.
Step 7
Click OK.
Deleting a Network Control Policy
Procedure
Step 1
In the
Navigation pane, click the
LAN tab.
Step 2
On the
LAN tab, expand
LAN > Policies > Organization_Name.
Step 3
Expand the
Network Control Policies node.
Step 4
Right-click the policy you want to delete and select
Delete.
Step 5
If
Cisco UCS Manager GUI
displays a confirmation dialog box, click
Yes.
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