Using network sets

Network Sets are aggregated networking objects that contain networks. The Network Set will be an object you can assign to network connections within server profiles to greatly simplify multiple network configuration management tasks.

Use network sets in server profile connections to make all networks on a connection's downlink port available. Network sets define how packets will be delivered to the server when a server Ethernet connection is associated with the network set. Network sets also enable you to define a VLAN trunk, and associate it with a server connection.

From the Network Sets screen, you can view the details of network sets, and create, edit, and delete network sets. If no network sets are listed, you must add a network set. The preferred bandwidth setting of a network set can be overridden by a server profile. Changing this value for a network set does not affect the server profiles that are overriding it. Instead of assigning a single network to a connection in a server profile, you can assign a network set to that connection.

• Using network sets, you can quickly deploy changes to the network environment to multiple servers. For example, you have 16 servers connected to a network set. To add a new network to all 16 servers, you only need to add it to the network set, instead of adding to each server individually.

• You can create a network set for your production networks, and one for your development network.

• You can configure a hypervisor with a vSwitch to access multiple VLANs by creating a network set as a trunk that includes these networks.

Network set requirements

• All networks in a network set must be Ethernet and/or RoCE networks and must have unique external VLAN IDs. Untagged and tunnel networks are single networks and do not use network sets. Untagged network is designated for untagged packets. One network in a network set can be untagged.

• All networks in a network set must be configured in the same appliance.

• A network can be a member of multiple network sets.

• All networks in a network set must be added to uplink sets or internal networks in the logical interconnect group (and its logical interconnects) to be used in server profiles with connections to the logical interconnect.

• A network set can be empty (contain no networks), or can contain one or more of the networks configured in the logical interconnect group and logical interconnect. Empty network sets allow you to create network sets in the configuration before you create the member networks, or to remove all the member networks before you add their replacements. However, if a server profile adds a connection to an empty network set, the server cannot use the connection to connect to any data center network.