Cisco Network Switch Cabling User Manual

Control Node and Network Switch Cabling Example

This document provides background information and detailed procedures for cabling dual Cassatt Active Response control nodes and network switches and for configuring those network switches. These procedures are an example of one way you could cable the control nodes and configure the switches. If your site setup differs, use this document as a guideline.

Cabling control node and switch hardware

Prerequisites

This example assumes you have completed the following tasks:

• You have obtained all the required hardware.

• You have determined your network address strategy and allocated the required IP

addresses according to network requirements of

•

You have configured your gateway or gateways using the static IP addresses you allocated from the Cassatt network.

Cassatt Active Response.

See the

Cassatt Active Response.

Info Central

site for detailed information on calculating network addresses for

Port numbering

You must understand the switch and control node port numbering to cable the Cassatt Active Response environment’s hardware components together correctly. Figure 1 assumes use of a Cisco switch and shows switch ports, the switch module ports, and the control node ports. As an example, this document assumes four network switches intended for use with 24

CASSATT ACTIVE RESPONSE CONTROL NODE AND NETWORK SWITCH CABLING EXAMPLE 16

C2-1

C2-P

C2-2

Gb 2

Gb1

Control node 2

C1-1

N9-1N5-1

ISL-1

N21- 1

N12- P

N3-P

C2-1

N11-1

N7-1N3-1

GW-1 N16- PN23-1

N8-P

Switch stack 1

N20- P

N13-1

N15-1

N17-1

N19-1

N10-1N6-1

ISL-2

N11- P

N1-P

N12- 1N8-1N4-1

N15-P

N23-P

N7-P C2-P

N19- P

N14-1

N16-1

N18-1

N20- 1

Switch stack 2

Control node 1

Switch 1

Switch 2

Switch 3Switch 4

11 13 15

19 21

10 12

16 18

22 24

11 13 15

17 19

810

12 14 16 18 20 22

C1-2

N9-2N5-2

ISL-1

N21- 2

N10- P

N4-P

C2-2

N11-2

N7-2N3-2

GW-2

N22-P

N23-2

N6-P

N18- P

N13-2

N15-2

N17-2

N19-2

N10-2N6-2

ISL-2

N9-P N2-P

N14- 2N10-2N4-2

N13-P

N21-P

C1-P

N17- P

N14-2

N16-2

N18-2

N20- 2

11 13 15 17

19 21

10 12

16 18

22 24

11 13 15

17 19

810

12 14 16 18 20 22

C1-1

C1-P

C1-2

Gb 2

Gb1

N14- P

N5-P

N1-1

N1-2

N2-1

N2-2

N22-1

N22-2

Legend:

Blue = Gateway (GW) N

n-1 = Application node NIC

Yellow = Cisco interswitch link (ISL) N

n-2 = Application node NIC

Green = Control node (C) N

n-P = Application node remote management controller

Red = Remote management controller

application nodes. Note that detailed instructions for adding application nodes are in a separate document, which you should consult when you are ready to cable application nodes into your Cassatt Active Response environment. (Figure 1 highlights the control node and network switches, but also suggests application node cabling.)

Figure 1 Switch Panel and Control Node Cabling

CASSATT ACTIVE RESPONSE CONTROL NODE AND NETWORK SWITCH CABLING EXAMPLE 17

Table 1 shows how each port is used on the switch and control node.

Table 1 Description of Panel and Main Board Notation

Notation Description

ISL-1 Used to create the first half of interswitch link (ISL)

connection between the two Cisco switches.

ISL-2 Used to create the second half of the ISL connection

between the two Cisco switches.

GW-1 Used to create the first connection from the Cisco switch

to the gateway.

GW-2 Used to create the second connection from the Cisco

switch to the gateway.

C1-1 Used to connect the first control node’s first onboard

Gigabit Ethernet connection (Gb 1) into the Cassatt Active Response environment through the designated switch port.

C1-2 Used to connect the first control node’s first onboard

Gigabit Ethernet connection (Gb 2) into the Cassatt Active Response environment through the designated switch port.

C2-1 Used to connect the second control node’s second onboard

Gigabit Ethernet connection (Gb 2) into the Cassatt Active Response environment through the designated switch port.

C2-2 Used to connect the second control node’s second onboard

Gigabit Ethernet connection (Gb 2) into the Cassatt Active Response environment through the designated switch port.

C1-P Used to connect the first control node remote management

controller into the Cassatt Active Response environment.

C2-P Used to connect the second control node remote

management controller into the Cassatt Active Response environment.

N1-1 through N23-1 Used to connect application nodes into the Cassatt Active

Response environment.

N2-1 through N23-2 Used to connect application nodes into the Cassatt Active

Response environment.

CASSATT ACTIVE RESPONSE CONTROL NODE AND NETWORK SWITCH CABLING EXAMPLE 18

What about connecting application nodes?

Switch 1Switch 2

Switch 3

Switch 4

Rear panels

Stack2Stack1

Stack1 Stack2 Stack1 Stack2

Stack1 Stack2

Remaining switch ports can be used to connect application nodes and their remote management controllers into the Cassatt Active Response environment. In general, distribute the connections evenly between the switches and the application nodes (both the application node NICs and their associated remote management controller NICs) For more information,

up application nodes.

Racking and cabling guidelines

To cable your control nodes to the network switches according to Figure 1, follow these steps. Remember that this sample configuration uses four network switches, so use these instructions as a guideline for your own configuration.

1. Rack all switches and control node hardware according to the vendor’s documentation and/or the site policy. For lack of any other policy, rack the heaviest of the following pieces of equipment on the bottom:

• Cisco switches

• Power distribution units (PDUs)

• Control nodes

• Application nodes

see the

Info Central

site for detailed information on setting

2. Follow the Cisco switch hardware installation instructions and use the StackWise cables to cable the four switches into two sets of switch stacks, as shown in Figure 2. Once the two 24-port switches have been stacked, they behave as a single logical 48-port switch.

Figure 2 Stacked Switch Cabling

CASSATT ACTIVE RESPONSE CONTROL NODE AND NETWORK SWITCH CABLING EXAMPLE 19

3. Connect the control nodes to the shared storage hardware, as follows:

If... Then...

a SAN is used for shared storage • Insert a Host Bus Adapter (HBA) into each control

node.

• Connect one end of the fiber cable to the HBA and the other end to your site's SAN.

a NAS and dual-ported disk is used for shared storage

• Insert the connectivity card required for the dualported disk into each control node.

• Connect the other end of each card to the dual-ported disk.

4. Using crossover cables, create an interswitch link (ISL) between the two Cisco 3750 switches. The recommended configuration uses two ISL connections between the Cisco switches for increased bandwidth and redundancy. As suggested in Figure 1, create the first half of the ISL between the stacked switches, as follows.

• Connect port 1 on switch 1 to port 1 on switch 3.

5. Then create the second half of the ISL between the stacked switches as follows:

• Connect port 1 on switch 2 to port 1 on switch 4.

• Connect port 2 on switch 1 to the edge router to make the first gateway connection.

• Connect port 2 on switch 3 to the edge router to make the second gateway

connection.

6. Using the Cisco switches and control node port information in Figure 1, connect the control nodes to the switches using category 5 or 6 Ethernet cables. The recommended configuration uses dual Ethernet connections to each control node for redundancy. Do this as follows:

• From control node 1's back panel:

- Connect Gb1 port 1, C1-1, into port 3 on switch 1

- Connect Gb2 port 2, C1-2, into port 3 on switch 3

- Connect the remote management controller port, C1-P, into port 24 on switch 4

• From control node 2's back panel:

- Connect Gb1 port 1, C2-1, into port 4 on switch 1

- Connect Gb2 port 2, C2-2, into port 4 on switch 3

- Connect the remote management controller port, C2-P, into port 24 on switch 2

If you are cabling application nodes, you can follow the diagram in Figure 1. For more application-node specific cabling instructions, see the

CASSATT ACTIVE RESPONSE CONTROL NODE AND NETWORK SWITCH CABLING EXAMPLE 20

Info Central

site.

Configuring the switches

After you have racked and cabled the control nodes and switches, you need to configure both Cisco switch stacks. If you are using another of the Cassatt recommended switches (see the

Info Central

as a guideline.

Do not configure network switches to enforce a maximum number of Ethernet addresses learned on an interface. For example, on Cisco switches, do not use “switchport portsecurity.” Doing so may prevent discovery process.

Connecting the switch to a terminal server

To configure the first Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series switch stack to a Lantronix terminal server, do the following. If you are using another terminal server, use this Lantronix configuration as a guideline.

1. Unplug the network switches.

1. Connect the switch in a stack to a terminal server.

It may be convenient to connect all switch consoles to the terminal server to avoid the need to move cables if a switch fails. Follow the switch connector and cable specifications in the Catalyst 3750 Switch Hardware Installation Guide to determine what type of cable is needed when connecting the switch for configuration. The RJ-45-to-DB-9 adapter cable that comes with the switch for this connection was not used for the reference configuration testing.

site for recommended switch hardware), use this Cisco switch configuration

Cassatt Active Response from inventorying VMs during the

Cassatt tested the switch with an RJ-45 cable with reversed pins connected to a Lantronix ETS terminal server. The following Lantronix port settings were used:

Char Size/Stop Bits: 8/1 Input Speed: 9600 Flow Ctrl: None Output Speed: 9600 Parity: None Modem Control: None Access: Remote Local Switch: None Backward: None Port Name: Port_10 Break Ctrl: Local Session Limit: 4 Forward: None Terminal Type: Soft() Preferred Services: (Lat) (Telnet)

Authorized Groups : 0 (Current) Groups : 0

Characteristics: Broadcast Loss Notify Verify Remote Conf Telnet Pad

2. Log into the terminal server.

3. Connect to the Cisco switch via the terminal server console.

CASSATT ACTIVE RESPONSE CONTROL NODE AND NETWORK SWITCH CABLING EXAMPLE 21

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