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As with physical network deployments, advance planning is the key to successfully creating a working network. IP address allocation for a VSX deployment requires particular attention. This section takes you through the basics of IP address allocation for a VSX Cluster environment. Your VSX Cluster configuration choices affect the number of IP addresses required, both public and private.
VSX IP address allocation is similar to physical networks. Both real and virtual IP addresses are required for network connectivity (internal and external), management, and state synchronization.
VSX simplifies the IP address management task by automatically assigning IP addresses to Warp Links between Virtual Devices. For example, Warp Links between a Virtual Router and its associated Virtual Systems are created automatically and assigned IP addresses without user intervention.
A VSX Cluster network has these components:
The synchronization network is a physical network that carries state synchronization data between VSX Cluster Members. You configure the synchronization network during the initial VSX Cluster definition and can make changes as necessary when adding or removing VSX Cluster Members.
State Synchronization can be used ClusterXL deployments as well as other OPSEC-certified VSX solutions. The synchronization network must be configured using unique IP addresses that are not used anywhere else in the enterprise network.
The internal communication network is a virtual network that is required for ClusterXL environments, in addition to the synchronization network. The internal communication network is invisible to external networks and lets VSX Cluster Members communicate and recognize the state of the environment.
VSX assigns an IP address to the internal communication network during the cluster creation process. This eliminates the need to manually assign an IP address to each VSX Cluster Member:
IPv4 address: 192.168.196.0, netmask: 255.255.252.0 (A range of four class C networks).
IPv6 address and netmask: FD9A::1FFE:0:0:0/80
You can modify the default IP address using the Gateway Cluster Properties > Cluster Members page of the VSX Cluster object, but only before creating Virtual Systems. Once Virtual Systems have been created, the IP range of the internal communication network cannot be modified.
Note: To avoid overlapping IP addresses, before creating any Virtual Devices, make sure the default IP address range of the Internal Communication network is not used anywhere else in the external network.
Cluster (virtual) IP addresses are the only IP addresses visible to the external network. The assigned cluster IP addresses must correspond to the directly-connected subnet and server as a valid next hop address. These IP addresses are similar to virtual addresses configured across traditional cluster setups.
