Need help with Network settings in ESXi 5?

[detailer310]

Hello,

I'm new to ESXi, Just confused with network settings how this works. I'm sure this will be small easy issue for you to solve...:)

i installed esxi 5 on physical server with two NICs and one of them is connected to network cable from my existing network. I already have my LAN network running win2k3 servers and also have exchange 2003 environment running in this network. All these servers are with class c IPs like 192.168.1.X. I assigned one ip from this class (let's say 192.168.1.90) to esxi host and connect to it using vsphere client.

Actually i'm confused to setup network settings in virtual machines. Purpose is to setup exchange 2010 environment virtually on this esxi host which should be accessible on my existing network, but it should not conflict or create issues with existing exchnage 2003 environment. What IPs should i give to virtual machines? let's say i have three virtual machines with server 2008 installed. Should i give them ips from same class c like 192.168.1.91, 192.168.1.92, 192.168.1.93 onwards? If yes then will my new exchange 2010 environment conflicts with existing exchange 2003 environment?

Just want to know how VMs network settings work with physical network.

Thanks in Advance.

[VirtuallyMikeB]

Good day,

If you want to setup an Exchange environment that does not conflict with your existing Exchange infrastructure, the main thing you'll want to do is create a separate Windows domain.

This is much like (exactly like) setting up a backup verification or disaster recovery solution for Exchange, in that, one would want to restore Exchange backups to an Exchange server without affecting a production environment.

When you create a whole new "test" domain, if you will, you'll have all new subnets.  This domain and these subnets *can* exist on the same physical network.  Hopefully, you're using VLANs, which are extremely useful.

This is a vague answer because creating a new domain, while not complicated, involves many steps.  But this should get you started.

Cheers,

Mike

http://VirtuallyMikeBrown.com

https://twitter.com/#!/VirtuallyMikeB

http://LinkedIn.com/in/michaelbbrown

[detailer310]

Hello Mike,

Thank you for your reply, yes that make sense deploy new domain because that's what i have in my mind and want to do. Actually i want to test exchange 2010 without affecting production exchange 2003 environment. And i'm not planning to upgrade existing exchange 2003 to 2010 not really. This is just testing setup.

Yes my network is running vlans like:

192.168.10.1

192.168.20.1

192.168.30.1

192.168.40.1

192.168.50.1

and so on...

and my all production servers including exchange 2003 are in 192.168.10.x. And esxi is also in this vlan. Now you mean to say i can assign IPs to VMs from this network, setup new domain "e.g newexchangedomain.com" which will not affect my existing production exchange domain. means new exchange DC and DNS server on existing production network where there are already existing DCs and DNS servers......right?

It means i can use resources of my existing production network without affecting them?

[VirtuallyMikeB]

You can't use any subnets in the new domain that are defined in your existing AD Sites and Services. You'll need to create new subnets (unless you're on a completely separate physical netowrk).

You'll also need a new DC, DNS, and of course, Exchange servers.

Thumbed from my Android

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573-433-0872 (Cell)

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Blog: http://VirtuallyMikeBrown.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/VirtuallyMikeB

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/michaelbbrown

[VirtuallyMikeB]

And the resource question is yes and no. You can set up a trust between the domains, but you'll still need separate DCs.

Thumbed from my Android

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Mike Brown

573-433-0872 (Cell)

[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>

Blog: http://VirtuallyMikeBrown.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/VirtuallyMikeB

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/michaelbbrown

[detailer310]

Then how can i go ahead with this new domain setup on existing network? what do you mean by create new subnets? can you please explain keeping in mind my existing network setup?

[VirtuallyMikeB]

If you're only using certain VLANs in production, then feel free to use the other subnets for the second, test domain. Just don't use addresses from a single subnet (VLAN) in both domains.

Thumbed from my Android

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[detailer310]

Sorry but i already have two exchange domains running in my production network in same vlan. Already running two exchange 2003 with different domains and these servers are in same vlan. then why not i deploy another test domain for exchange 2010? Let me explain you:

Production network running two exchange domains:

exchange2003domain1.com

exchange2003domain2.com

and both domains have their own separate DCs, DNS and Exchange servers. These all servers are on same vlan e.g:

domain1 servers fall in range: 192.168.10.1 - 192.168.10.10

domain2 servers fall in range: 192.168.10.11 - 192.168.10.20

this vlan is only being used in I.T department contains all production servers only.

and remaining vlans (192.168.20.x, 192.168.30.x, 192.168.40.x and so on) are being used in aonther departments for users.

Now you mean to say i cannot setup this new test domain for exchange 2010 in this subnet? e.g 192.168.10.21 to onwards?

Hope now you understand my whole setup and can suggest me what should i do to test exchange 2010 on esxi?

[VirtuallyMikeB]

If you're running with that setup, it sounds like you may be able to add a third domain and test Exchange 2010 just fine in the same subnet. It's just messy - something I wouldn't do.

Thumbed from my Android

--

Mike Brown

573-433-0872 (Cell)

[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>

Blog: http://VirtuallyMikeBrown.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/VirtuallyMikeB

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/michaelbbrown

[detailer310]

If i do not setup new domain in same subnet.....let's i setup it in new class that is 10.10.10.x then how can i make it possible to access VMs on my existing network so some other IT guys can test this exchange and i can also put it live?. Is it possible and what are the steps for this?

Thanks