Configuring Virtual Networking (PVE)

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Overview

The platform's data and application node VMs ("the platform nodes") are connected through three networks:
  • Management network — used for user access to the platform dashboard and for direct access the platform nodes.
  • Data-path (client) network — used for internal communication among the data and application nodes.
  • Interconnect network — used for internal communication among the data nodes.

To allow proper communication, you need to create and map network bridges for these networks, as outlined in this guide. Repeat the procedure for each Proxmox VE hypervisor host machine ("PVE host") in your platform's PVE cluster.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have administrative access to the platform's PVE cluster, and that each PVE host in the cluster has the following network interfaces:

  • A single-port 1 Gb (minimum) NIC for the management network
  • For hosting data-node VMs — a dual-port 10 Gb (minimum) NIC for the data-path (client) and interconnect networks
  • For hosting application-node VMs only — a single-port 10 Gb (minimum) NIC for the data-path (client) network
Each network must be on a different subnet, and the management network's subnet must be able to accommodate allocation of IP addresses for each of the platform's node VMs.
Note
For POCs and less demanding performance environments, you can use one 10G network interface that serves as the management, client, and interconnect networks.

Configuring the Management Network

The management network is usually connected to the default existing bridge "vmbr0", and is mapped to the management port. It's recommended that you add a comment marking this interface as "management": in the PVE GUI, choose the relevant PVE host, select System | Network, and edit "vmbr0" to add the comment.

Configuring the Data-Path (Client) Network

To configure the data-path (client) network, in the PVE GUI, choose the relevant PVE host and select System | Network. Create a new Linux bridge named "vmbr1", add the comment "client", and map the bridge to the platform's data-path (client) NIC port on the host (see the prerequisites). There's no need to configure any IPs for the bridge.

PVE GUI - data-path network Linux-bridge configuration

Configuring the Interconnect Network

Note
The interconnect network is used only for data-nodes communication.

To configure the interconnect network, in the PVE GUI, choose the relevant PVE host and select System | Network. Create a new Linux bridge named "vmbr2", add the comment "interconnect", and map the bridge to the platform's interconnect NIC port on the host (see the prerequisites). There's no need to configure any IPs for the bridge. In the case of a single data-node, there's also no need to map the bridge to any external interface.

PVE GUI - interconnect-need Linux-bridge configuration

Restarting the PVE Host

When you're done, restart the PVE hypervisor host machine ("the PVE host") to apply your changes.

Verifying the Configuration

When you're done (after the host has restarted), you can verify your configuration in the PVE GUI, as demonstrated in the following image; (the IP addresses and interface names might be different in your configuration):

PVE GUI - configuration verification

See Also