This discussion provides an introduction and overview of a feature on Dell M6220, M6348, and M8024 switches called Simple Switch Mode. This feature will provide server administrators the ability to simply map internal ports to external ports without having to know anything about STP, VLANs, Link Aggregation or other L2/3 Protocols, with a feature called Port Aggregator. Our featured guest for this chat will Dell PG Product Expert, Srinivas Thodati.

Technical Community - Background Reading

Simple Switch Demo: http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/networking

White paper on Simple Switch Mode: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pwcnt/en/simple_switch_mode.pdf

Sri's blog: http://sri4blades.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/keeping-it-simple-with-simpleconnect-while-making-blade-server-connectivity-as-simple-as-plug-n-play/

Chat Transcript

Dell-KongY Sri Thodati is our featured guest today!
Sri I am glad to be here.
Dell-KongY Sri, when we get started in a few minutes, can you please give a brief bio introduction of yourself and your experience?
Sri Sure
Dell-DennisS Here are a few links before we get started: Simple Switch Demo can be found here: http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/networking Also, a white paper on Simple Switch Mode can be found here: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pwcnt/en/simple_switch_mode.pdf
Dell-DennisS There’s also a lot of great information over on Sri's blog as well: http://sri4blades.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/keeping-it-simple-with-simpleconnect-while-making-blade-server-connectivity-as-simple-as-plug-n-play/
Dell-DennisS Okay, let’s take care of a few housekeeping items first.
Dell-DennisS This chat is recorded, so don't worry about writing down links. They will be here tomorrow.
Dell-DennisS Joining us today is our Dell PG product manager Sri Thodati.
Dell-DennisS Sri, would you introduce yourself and give us an intro to Simple Switch Mode?
Sri With subject matter expertise in data center networking technologies, especially those in Blade form-factor, I keep in sync with the latest developments in focused areas such as blade technologies, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and switching, server/network virtualization, converged data center technologies, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) and system/network management. You can check my linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sthodati. I’ve been hanging around in this industry for the past 16 years, while gaining experience and technical in-depth knowledge in Enterprise Data Center products. I’ve performed various roles in product life cycle, while working for leading technology companies such as USRobotics, 3Com, Dell, Compaq, and HP. From 2001, my work mainly involved technical strategy, field training and marketing consulting for Blade products delivering technologies to interconnect Blade Servers.
Dell-ScottH Welcome, Sri!
Sri That's my little intro.
Dell-ScottH Man, you type quickly! :-)
Dell-DennisS I had that on queue for a while! :D
Sri I came from HP to Dell six months ago.
Dell-ScottH So, what is Simple Switch mode?
Sri First, let me introduce SimpleConnect.
Dell-ScottH Ahhh, it’s nice to know the real branding.
Dell-DennisS Scott, you know there is always more than one name!
Sri This feature is included on all PowerConnect blade switches (Dell PowerConnect M8024/ Dell PowerConnect M6348/ Dell PowerConnect M6220).
Dell-DennisS Any specific firewall that the switches need to be running?
Sri No current products support this feature.
Sri No need for a new firewall, just enable the Simple Switch Mode.
Sri When the switch is enabled in “simple” mode, the administrator can simply map internal ports to external ports for traffic aggregation, with the feature called “Port Aggregator."
Sri This provides the ability to aggregate traffic from multiple downlinks to a single (or fewer) uplinks and provides port consolidation at the edge of blade server chassis.
spencer_wheelwright Just to clarify, this feature is currently available on all PowerConnect blade switches. (I'm also in the blade product group at Dell.)
Sri The Port Aggregator feature minimizes the administration required for managing the Blade-based switches.
Dell-DennisS Spencer, this is currently available on blade switches (Dell PowerConnect M8024/ Dell PowerConnect M6348/ Dell PowerConnect M6220).
Sri Yes, it is available in all the PowerConnect blade switches.
Dell-DennisS When you enable simple mode, doesn't it set one group up by default for you?
ceri Does this support link dependencies too?
Sri By default, you have a group with all downlinks.
Sri As you plug the uplink cables, it will detect and enable LAG.
Sri What do you mean by link dependencies?
Dell-ScottH Are the documents available already? Do you have a link?
Dell-DennisS There is a white paper here: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pwcnt/en/simple_switch_mode.pdf
Dell-DennisS Also, there is a short demo on our Networking page: http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/networking
Sri Available in mid-March: Locked SimpleConnect models, Dell PowerConnect M8024s/ Dell PowerConnect M6348s/ Dell PowerConnect M6220s. They’re great for customers needing to eliminate network administration involvement in blade deployments.
Dell-DennisS It's new, so there’s not much content, but we're working on it. :D
Dell-DennisS As a side note, right click on the links, should stop you from bouncing out of the chat.
Sri New SKU's will be available in March, and we are calling that series of LAN I/O modules the SimpleConnect series.
ceri Sri, but those will be the same as the current switches, just locked to SimpleConnect?
Sri Yes, but those can only operate in simple mode, you cannot make them work as normal switches.
Dell-DennisS Any questions for Sri while we have him?
ceri Sri, in the not-SimpleConnect mode, one can specify Link Dependency groups, where if, say, xg/17 goes down then ports xg/1 through xg/8 get taken down too. Is that supported in SimpleConnect mode?
Sri We designed them, upon customer request, to make them as simple as plug and play and cable up.
ceri Sri, that makes sense.
Sri Now I get your question. :)
Sri Yes, we will support that feature in simple mode also.
ceri Good answer! ;-D
Sri We also are supporting LAG failover.
Sri That means if user configurable number of uplinks go down in the primary LAG, then it can failover to secondary.
Kevin_Jackson For the networking neophyte, me, when can Simple Switch Mode not be used or recommended against being used?
Sri We recommend using it until the customer wants to use a full bloom Layer 2 switch instead.
ceri Sri, neat. The reason I ask is that we found it was cheaper and ever so slightly more "available" to use two switches and a single uplink from each (and failover in the Os), as the upstream port costs were actually more than the cost of the Dell PowerConnect M8024s.
Sri At present, there are only a few things that are not configurable in simple mode, such as QoS.
ceri But then we might have managed a particularly good deal there.
Sri If customer implements all those advanced features and would like to configure those at this edge device level, I would recommend using normal mode as full featured Switch, only caveat is the customer has to manage STP along with those other features.
Sri Did you get your answer, Kevin?
Kevin_Jackson Yes, I believe so, thanks.
Sri Cool.
Dell-DennisS Sri, what exactly is configurable in Simple mode?
Sri You can configure your VLANs to meet your needs.
Sri You also can group servers such that they can be attached to specific uplink, to manage traffic flows.
Sri You can configure VLAN trunks.
Sri All the configuration you do will apply at the group level.
Sri Even though QoS works, it only works in default setting mode.
Dell-DennisS With simple mode enabled, can you still stack the switches?
Sri Yes, you can stack these switches in this mode.
ceri Although not the Dell PowerConnect M8024, correct?
Sri The Dell PowerConnect M8024 is not stackable.
ceri OK, that's what I thought, thanks.
Sri There is no stacking capability for 10 Gigabit switches today, even Cisco, as stacking interface could become bottle neck. We need very large pipe.
Sri It’s a technology limitation.
Sri Folks are coming up with new techniques such as Virtual Stacking over normal Ethernet.
Sri Cisco does it with vPC and VSS.
ceri Ah, interesting. Not a problem here though; I thought it might be at some point, but it wasn't.
Sri We also are coming up with a similar feature by the end of this year.
Er1cB Good information, Sri. I will check out the white paper. Thanks for the invite! TTYL!
Dell-DennisS Any other questions for Sri?
Sri Let me give more information then.
Sri On plug and play, there’s no need to mess with STP or any other L2 protocols. It extends value from the Dell factory install (locked down SKU), lowers operating expense with reduced training of complex network technologies (ie: STP, VLANs, etc.) Reduces management complexity target to serve IT for simplified deployment quick and easy – configures connections to existing networks.
Sri The following are the benefits for this technology: · Ease of deployment/management for I/O Modules for Blade Server connectivity. · Simple to configure: just map the internal ports to the external ports, assign a VLAN to the group (if required). Automatically configures multiple external ports into a LACP trunk group. · Reduces involvement of network administrator in blade deployments. · Eliminates the need to understand STP, VLANs and LACP groups. · SimpleConnect is completely interoperable. · Full integration of PowerConnect blade switches with third party I/O hardware (Cisco, etc.) · Provides cable aggregation benefit offered by integrated blade switches. · SimpleConnect feature provides loop-free operation without using STP. · Works across a stack of switches (Dell PowerConnect M6220 and Dell PowerConnect M6348) so that you can now manage switches as one via the easy-to-use interface.
Sri Any questions?
Dell-DennisS Okay, if no there aren't any more questions, we'll let Scott talk about next week’s chat.
Dell-ScottH Thanks, Sri, for joining us today. We appreciate your time, also thanks to Spencer and of course everyone for attending.
ceri Yes, thanks both.
Dell-KongY Thank you, Sri!
Sri Thank you all, good chatting with you.
Dell-ScottH Next week we will have Intel and Dell engineers here to discuss the Westmere-EP launch. (And ssshhhh! It hasn’t been announced yet!)
Dell-ScottH There will also be a follow-up chat on Thursday for those in the "know" that will go into a deeper dive on Westmere-EP.
ceri Are you allowed to talk about that before March 30?
Dell-ScottH Probably not! :-)
ceri LOL
Dell-ScottH It’s never stopped us before.
Sri Good day everyone. Good bye now.
Dell-ScottH The Nehalem-EX chat will be on the March 30.
Dell-ScottH Thanks again to everyone for joining, see you next time!
Dell-KongY Thank you everyone!
Claystorm Thanks guys.
ReedP Don't tell anyone I was out doing some work, see ya next week.