Configuring DHCP Relays within RouterOS

   In a lab environment you may want to mimic a live environment as much as possible.  This also includes separating your clients from your servers with the use of VLANs.  I currently have my clients on VLAN 9 and servers on VLAN 8.  My Domain Controller (Also my DHCP Server) currently resides on VLAN 9 so in order for my clients to obtain an IP address from my DHCP server I need to relay the request from VLAN 9 to VLAN 8 as DHCP uses broadcast traffic to obtain it’s IP address which cannot span VLANs.  So, create the required DHCP scopes on your chosen DHCP server:

   Log into your MicroTik router via Winbox and then select IP and then DHCP Relay.  Enter a name for the Relay and then the Interface you want it to listen on and then finally the IP address of the DHCP server you want to forward the request to:

   To test simply connect a client to that VLAN and request an IP address.  If you click on the Status tab you can see how many requests and responses the DHCP Relay has dealt with:

Configure VLANs and Layer 3 Routing within RouterOS

   In my current setup I have a MikroTik RB751G-2HnD running software version 6.0rc12.  This is connected to the Linksys SRW2016 16 port Layer 2 Gigabit switch.  On the Linksys I’ve configured the required VLANs and trunked the port that connects the switch to the router:

   I’ve also trunked the ports that connect to my ESXi hosts so all VLANs can pass through.  Now, to configure the VLANs within the MicroTik router simple connect up via Winbox and select Interfaces and then the VLAN tab.  Create all the VLANs you require and click Apply:

   To add layer 3 functionality so you can route between VLANs select IP and then Addresses and simply add IP addresses to each VLAN:

   If all has been successful you should be able to ping the default gateway for each VLAN from any other VLAN.

Vblock Delivery Experience

   We recently engaged VCE with some requirements to rip and replace our existing aging Dell blade environment and to add capacity for both future growth and a new IP based CCTV project.  First of all I was extremely impressed with VCE from the initial kick off meetings all the way through to delivery and our vArchitect, David Owen, done an awesome job taking our very awkward requirements (Which included the kit needing to be onsite and signed off by 31st March due to budget requirements) and made them happen.  So, what did we end up with?  Our solution comprised of two Vblock 300’s with VNX 7500’s, Avamar and EMC RecoverPoint.  Ten cabinets spread across two sites with a mixture of B and C series blades with varying RAM and CPU’s all running VMware via an ELA.

   We purchased two Vblocks to go into two separate datacenters.  Datacenter A was supposed to be a very simple install with about a thirty meter run from the delivery bay to the final location.  What we ended up having to do is remove one of the internal door frames to ensure all five cabinets could be moved into place.  Below are a few photos taken of the delivery for Datecenter A:














   Datecenter B was a lot more difficult.  The Vblocks had to be delivered down two flights of stairs, across a ticketing concourse and through into a fire escape and then dropped down through a ceiling void into the datacenter all whilst the general public were still utilizing the area.  A custom lift had to be designed to lower the Vblocks and pretty much all hardware had to be removed including the cabinet doors and hinges and there was literally millimetres left to play with.  Below are some images taken of the delivery for datacentre B:

All in all a job well done.

Upgrading vCops 5.6 to 5.7

With the recent release of VMware vCenter Operation Manager 5.7 and having just recently installed version 5.6 I thought I'd upgrade since it was still going through the "collecting data" phase.  As mentioned, I'm currently using version 5.6:

I've downloaded the 5.7 .pak file which can be used to upgrade from 5.0.0, or 5.0.1, or 5.0.2, or 5.0.3, or 5.6.0 to 5.7.0.  To upgrade simple browse the to the UI vApp VM with the following URL and login with your details:

https://UI_vApp_VM_IP Address/admin/

Once logged in browse to the Update tab and browse to the recently downloaded file:

 

Click update to start uploading the file to the server:

Once the file has been uploaded you need to accept the licenses agreement and click OK:

You will be advised that you will be logged out of the admin portal until the upgrade has completed and all services have restarted.  The upgrade should start and if you log back into the admin portal you will see the progress:

Check to ensure all the services have started successfully:

Once the core services have started the appliance will be at version 5.7  To verify this check the status tab in the admin console:

Log into vCenter and check the plugins to ensure they are now using version 5.7: