Configuring the Virtual I/O Server for the VSN capability

If you are using the Hardware Management Console (HMC) Version 7 Release 7.7.0, or later, you can use Virtual Station Interface (VSI) profiles with virtual Ethernet adapters in logical partitions and assign the Virtual Ethernet Port Aggregator (VEPA) switching mode to virtual Ethernet switches.

When you use the Virtual Ethernet Bridge (VEB) switching mode in virtual Ethernet switches, the traffic between logical partitions is not visible to the external switches. However, when you use the VEPA switching mode, the traffic between logical partitions is visible to the external switches. This visibility helps you to use features such as security that are supported by the advanced switching technology. Automated VSI discovery and configuration with the external Ethernet bridges simplifies the switch configuration for the virtual interfaces that are created with logical partitions. The profile-based VSI management policy definition provides flexibility during configuration and maximizes the benefits of automation.

The configuration requirements on the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) to use the VSN capability follow:

• At least one VIOS logical partition that is servicing the virtual switch must be active and must support the VEPA switching mode.
• The external switches that are connected to the shared Ethernet adapter must support the VEPA switching mode.
• The lldp daemon must be running on the VIOS and must be managing the shared Ethernet adapter.
• From the VIOS command-line interface, run the chdev command to change the value of the lldpsvc attribute of the shared Ethernet adapter device to yes. The default value of the lldpsvc attribute is no. Run the lldpsync command to notify the change to the running lldpd daemon.
  Note: The lldpsvc attribute must be set to the default value before you remove the shared Ethernet adapter. Otherwise, removal of the shared Ethernet adapter fails.
• For redundancy shared Ethernet adapter setup, the trunk adapters might be attached to a virtual switch that is set to the VEPA mode. In this case, attach the control channel adapters of the shared Ethernet adapter to another virtual switch that is always set to the virtual Ethernet bridging (VEB) mode. The shared Ethernet adapter that is in the high availability mode does not work when the control channel adapter that is associated with the virtual switches is in the VEPA mode.