IBM Easy-Connect provides simplified networking capabilities for IBM PureFlex systems. It operates in either transparent mode or multi-chassis mode. Transparent mode makes the system appear as a "dumb" switch to the edge switch, eliminating the need for spanning tree protocol. Multi-chassis mode allows traffic consolidation across chassis. Easy-Connect supports both intra-chassis and inter-chassis switching for high performance without requiring complex network integration or configuration. Customer examples show how it can provide simple, redundant, or dedicated uplink connectivity for various workloads.

1. IBM Easy-Connect
System Networking
- Transparent Mode
- Multi-chassis Mode (PureFlex ONLY)
- Customer Examples EN/CN4093 and Virtual Fabric Switch Module
Design and configuration by Scott Irwin & Igor Marty © 2013 IBM Corporation

2. What is Easy-Connect
• Clever pass-through = Simple I/O module connecting servers,
storage and the Core network
• Aggregation = Server ports aggregated together towards Core
Network
• No network integration = Seen as one big pipe with server traffic
coming in and out.
• No Spanning-Tree = No loops, no network integration
• Similar to Cisco FEX – with one important exception, server to
server traffic stays local to chassis.
• Specific Networking features (Virtual Fabric Mode, VMready etc…)
can still be activated on selected ports when/if needed.
2 © 2013 IBM Corporation

3. Transparent Mode
© 2013 IBM Corporation

4. Easy-Connect
- Transparent Mode
Easy-Connect Transparent Mode
• Looks like a “dumb” device to Nexus 5K/Edge Switch
• No Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) – eliminates Network admin loop concerns
• Provides traffic consolidation in the chassis to minimize ToR port utilization
• Provides intra-chassis switching, even in Transparent Mode
Client Benefits
• Allows client to manage networking from the Edge/Nexus management system
• Allows for intra-chassis switching for optimal performance (i.e. vMotion)
• Allows for pay as you grow expandability in the chassis, both to the network and the compute
nodes.
Networking Infrastructure
• VLAN’s are transparent when in “Transparent Mode” between the NIC and Edge Switch
• Allows for pNIC or Switch Independent vNIC to be utilized
• Note: Power Nodes supported in pNIC mode only
• Allows for growth into “Virtual Fabric Mode” using multiple groups and uplinks
• Allows for FCoE if ONLY using a single Uplink (FCoE currently not supported over PortChannel)
How to set the I/O Switch into Transparent Mode
• Set the uplinks as one logical unit via Static Port-Channel (note: VFSM support LACP when using
vNIC Groups)
• Turn on vNIC and configure all internal “ports” and external “port-channel” into vNIC “Group 1”
• Turn on Spanning Tree BPDU Guard and Edge on the Edge/Nexus Switch for additional
protection
Note: If connecting to a Nexus 2k both BPDU Guard and Edge are already enabled by default and
cannot be disabled.
• Works with PureFlex Chassis EN/CN4093 and Virtual Fabric Switch Modules
• If using FCoE over a single link simply enable CEE Globally (cee enable) © 2013 IBM Corporation

5. Easy-Connect
Configuration to convert from Switch Mode to Transparent Mode
Configuration for the IBM VFSM and EN/CN4093
•ssh to each VFSM,EN/CN4093
•boot the VFSM,EN/CN4093 to use isCLI (Cisco-Like CLI) for a more familiar look
• /boot/mode iscli
• /boot/reset
• /boot/prompt enable  enable if using FSM on PureFlex
•Set the following commands to convert to “Transparent Mode”
• ssh to each VFSM
• enter into enable mode (e.g. enable)
• enter into configuration terminal mode (e.g. config t)
• type the following; (start with factory default configuration) vLAG
Networking Infrastructure
Switch Switch vPC
“boot conf factory”
===========Begin Script ===========
spanning-tree mode disable LACP
interface port ext1-ext10
lacp key 1001 VFSM 1 VFSM 2
lacp mode active
vnic enable
vnic vnicgroup 1
vlan 4091
port int1-int14
adminkey 1001 Node
enable
failover
exit Chassis
write memory
===========End Script =========== © 2013 IBM Corporation

6. Easy-Connect
Configuration to convert from Switch Mode to Transparent Mode w/FCoE
Configuration for the IBM VFSM and EN/CN4093
•ssh to each VFSM
•boot the VFSM to use isCLI (Cisco-Like CLI) for a more familiar look
• /boot/mode iscli
• /boot/reset
•Set the following commands to convert the VFSM to “Transparent Mode”
• ssh to each VFSM
• enter into enable mode (e.g. enable)
• enter into configuration terminal mode (e.g. config t)
• type the following; (start with factory default configuration)
“boot conf factory” vLAG
Networking Infrastructure
Switch Switch vPC
===========Begin Script ===========
spanning-tree mode disable
interface port ext1-ext4 LACP
lacp key 1001
lacp mode active VFSM 1 VFSM 2
vnic enable
vnic vnicgroup 1
vlan 4091
port int1-int14
adminkey 1001
enable Node
failover
exit
cee enable Chassis
write memory
===========End Script =========== © 2013 IBM Corporation

7. Multi-Chassis Mode
© 2013 IBM Corporation

8. Easy-Connect
- Multi-chassis Mode
Easy-Connect Multi-chassis Mode
• Allows G8264 and EN/CN4093 look like a “dumb” device to Edge/Nexus Switches
• No Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) Required – eliminates Network admin loop concerns
• Provides traffic consolidation in the chassis to minimize ToR port utilization
• Provides intra chassis switching, even in Easy-Connect Mode
• Works with EN/CN4093 ONLY as VFSM does NOT support vLAG
Client Benefits
• Allows client to manage networking from the Edge/Nexus management system
• Allows for intra/external chassis switching for optimal performance (i.e. vMotion)
Networking Infrastructure
• Allows for pay as you grow expandability in the chassis, both to the network and the
compute nodes.
• VLAN’s are transparent on both G8264 and EN/CN4093 when in “Easy-Connect Mode”
between the NIC and Upstream AGG/Core Switch
• Allows for pNIC or Switch Independent vNIC to be utilized
• Allows for growth into Virtual Fabric Mode
• Note: Power Nodes supported in pNIC mode only
Use cases for Multi-Chassis Mode
• Works with environments that require Active/Active NIC Teaming and or Bonding using
802.3ad and or Static EtherChannels on the NODE Ports
• Works with both Intel and Power Nodes
• ALL local Layer 2 Traffic, even if using different I/O Bays, will remain within the same
enclosure with the use of the ISL Peer-Links between the EN/CN4093’s
• Each Chassis appears to upstream Network as a single entity
© 2013 IBM Corporation

9. Easy-Connect
What you end up with in Multi-chassis Mode with vLAG and vPC
How-To: EN/CN4093 Easy-Connect Multi-chassis Mode
Disable Global Spanning Tree
Set all VFSM ports, both EXT Ports facing the Network (Top of
Rack) and INT Ports, into tagpvid-ingress using VLAN 4091 as Switch Switch
vLAG
or vPC
the PVID
Enable TAGGING on the two EXT Ports being used as the vLAG
Peer Link and set 4090 as the PVID adding VLAN 4091 as a LACP
TAGGED/TRUNKED member (VLAN 4090 is used as the vLAG
ISL VLAN) EN/CN4093 EN/CN4093 vLAG
Configure all required LACP PortChannels (Peer Link, EXT, and LACP
INT Ports)
Configure a dummy IP Address used by the MGT EXT Port
Node
vLAG Health Check (e.g. 1.1.1.1 (SW1) and 1.1.1.2 (SW2))
X or P
Configure vLAG ISL, Health Check peer-ip, and all associated
Chassis
vLAG pairs
NOTE: Turning on Spanning Tree BPDU Guard and Edge on the
EDGE G8264 / Nexus 5K Switches can provide further protection
© 2013 IBM Corporation

10. Easy-Connect
If using G8264’s in ToR also in Multi-Chassis Transparent Mode
How-To: G8264 Easy-Connect Multi-chassis Mode
vPC AGG/Core AGG/Core
Disable Global Spanning Tree (not required (default is using
Rapid PVST+ (i.e. PVRST))) LACP
Set all G8264 ports, both uplink facing network and enclosure vLAG G8264-1 G8264-2
facing EN/CN4093’s, into tagpvid-ingress using VLAN 4091 as
the PVID
Enable TAGGING on the two ISL Ports being used as the vLAG LACP LACP
Peer-Link and set 4090 as the PVID adding VLAN 4091 as a
TAGGED/TRUNKED member (VLAN 4090 is used as the vLAG vLAG EN/CN4093 EN/CN4093
ISL VLAN)
LACP
Configure all required LACP PortChannels (Peer Link, Uplinks,
and EN/CN4093 facing ports)
Node
Configure a dummy IP Address used by the MGT Port vLAG
X or P
Health Check (e.g. 1.1.1.1 (SW1) and 1.1.1.2 (SW2))
NOTE: if using customers MGT Network set IP’s appropriately
Chassis
Configure vLAG ISL, Health Check peer-ip, and all associated
vLAG pairs
NOTE: Turning on Spanning Tree BPDU Guard and Edge on the
EDGE G8264 / Nexus 5K Switches can provide further protection © 2013 IBM Corporation

11. Customer requirements to implement Easy-Connect
1. If using FSM in same chassis – since the FSM is NOT capable of TAGGING
(Cisco Trunking) customer MUST enable the Top-of-Rack Port “Native
VLAN ID” with the VLAN that the FSM needs to be configured on.
2. ALL other OS’s (i.e. VMware, VIO, and even Bare Metal OS’s) within the
PureFlex Chassis are required to TAG/Trunk VLAN’s.
3. If using multiple vNIC Groups for traffic either traffic separation and or if
using Virtual Fabric Mode - each vNIC Group requires it’s own
uplink/PortChannel or DUM (Dedicated Uplink Mode)
4. If Multi-Tenant security is a concern within the same PureFlex Chassis
Easy-Connect may/may not be a good option. Why, because each vNIC
Group is a single broadcast domain.
5. If IGMP Multicast Snooping is required Easy-Connect may not be a best
option. Since Easy-Connect is VLAN Agnostic IGMP Snooping is not
supported in any Q-n-Q Architecture. However, Multicast will still pass
through the Easy Connect enabled Switches.
11 © 2013 IBM Corporation

12. Easy Connect
Customer Examples
© 2013 IBM Corporation

13. Easy-Connect EN/CN4093
Transparent Mode – Telecom Customer (Very Simple)
Requirements included:
•No Spanning Tree and or any other protocols seen by the network (Easy-Connect)
•Connection into Nexus 2k (no vPC or vLAG requirement)
•EN4093 is to be a total transparent device requiring no management by any group
© 2013 IBM Corporation

14. Easy-Connect EN/CN4093
Transparent Mode – State Government
Requirements included:
•Using LoM in Virtual Fabric Mode so bandwidth can be adjusted on the fly for each vNIC as required
•Dedicated uplink vPC PortChannel from each EN4093 for each vNIC Group for separation of traffic
•EN4093’s in Transparent Mode with minimal hands-on requirement (vNIC BW ONLY)
© 2013 IBM Corporation

15. Easy-Connect EN/CN4093
Storage Mode w/NIC Redundancy – Medical Center
Requirements included:
•Dedication and Separation of Fiber Channel and Ethernet from Each NODE and Enclosure
•Total Hardware Redundancy including NIC and ASIC on every NODE (CN4054 Mezz)
•Transparency on both Ethernet (Easy-Connect) and Fiber Channel (NPV)
© 2013 IBM Corporation

16. Backup Slides
© 2013 IBM Corporation

17. Four Scalable switches enable high speed connectivity – Ethernet
(FCoE, iSCSI), Fibre Channel and InfiniBand
Four high
performance
Scalable Switch
Modules
3 2 4
1
17
17 © 2013 IBM Corporation

18. Robust connectivity: Switch, asic and adapter level redundancy
Redundant pair
asic level redundancy Redundant pair
EN4093 (base)
EN4093 (base)
EN4093 (base)
EN4093 (base)
asic 1
asic 2
CN4054
EN4093 (Upgrade 1)
EN4093 (Upgrade 1)
EN4093 (Upgrade 1)
EN4093 (Upgrade 1)
asic 1
asic 2
CN4054
1 3 2 4
Adapter level redundancy © 2013 IBM Corporation