NIC Teaming in Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012 SERVER NETWORK CARD NETWORK CARD 0000 0000 HOW TO TEAM YOUR NETWORK CARDS IN WINDOWS SERVER 2012 TEAMING IN WINDOWS SERVER 2012 - WHAT, WHY AND HOW? With the advent of cloud computing and massed virtualization of Server Operating Systems, the need for high speed, highly available networking becomes even more pressing. Until now, in a Windows Server environment, the joining together of Network Interface Cards (NICS) into teams was a tricky and time consuming process. It required 3rd-party drivers, specific NICS and some rather technical configurations to get it all right. D00 0000 TEAM NETWORK CARDS COMPICATED & TIME CONSUMING So what is a team? The teaming of network cards is simply joining them into one logical entity, with a single IP address. Having done this, you can choose how you want to use this new team. 0000 + 0000 %3D TEAM CONNECTION A ERROR There are many reasons for teaming your multi-homed servers. Primarily because the networking becomes highly-available, you can also lose one of the NICS and still communicate. The team NO TEAM + CARD ERROR CONNECTION STILL WORKING can be set to perform several other functions, including bonding the two bandwidths together and doubling the potential throughput of your connection. TEAM + CARD ERROR WHAT YOU NEED TO GET STARTED The great thing about NIC teaming is that it is included in the box, free and will work on any NIC that works with Windows Server 2012. It is remotely configurable and remains the same process no matter what card you use. Obviously you need a server and at least two NICS. A team in Server 2012 can comprise two or more NICS from one or more vendors. The team can be added-to after creation, and this is achievable from a Windows 8 client remotely on a Server 2012 machine - with or without a GUI on the server. The whole process is underpinned by PowerShell 3.0. + 0000 + TEAM WINDOWS SERVER 2012 2 OR MORE NICS "HYDRANGEA" (to be teamed, member of the domain) "DAHLIA" (to be teamed, member of the domain) For the purpose of this guide, we will have three servers: 2 3 DC AND DHCP SERVER (single NIC) Of course all of this can be achieved using Virtual Servers. Our setup was carried out on a Dell Laptop using Windows 8 RTM with Hyper-V. 3 VM VM VM 2 WHERE TO BEGIN It would be normal to use static IP addresses for all servers (or most of them), and certainly on a team of NICS. It is just as easy to use DHCP too, Server 2012 will allow that and we will use DHCP to ease the configuration. So make sure you have a functional Server 2012 with a DHCP scope available to it (can be installed as a role on the server, or be available somewhere else on your network). If you have no DHCP, then you will need to manually assign IP addresses to your teams when you create them. WINDOWS SERVER 2012 DHCP / IP ADDRESS +> POWERSHELL 3.0 As a quick test of your current network configuration, run PowerShell 3.0 and enter the following commands: RESOLVE-DNSNAME Hydrangea ENTER COMMANDS. RESOLVE-DNSNAME Dahlia (The results of these Cmdlets show that each server has two NICS and two IP addresses - showing that the NICS are NOT teamed). COMMANDS 3 NOW TEAM THE NICS ON EACH SERVER This can be performed remotely from the DC. Run Server Manager and select All Servers, right-click Hydrangea and select Configure NIC Teaming, the dialog box that is presented allows all teaming activities. Ensure the server is selected under Servers, and under Teams select Tasks and click on New Team. Enter the Team Name - we used the creative name of "Team1" = TEAM1 - then simply select the NICS you want to include in your team (minimum of two). Then select Additional Properties to choose how you want to set-up your team. SWITCH DEPENDENT SWITCH INDEPENDENT NEW IP ADDRESS. Now here are the really powerful settings. You can choose to be Switch dependent or independent, if redundant switches are important to you. You can choose if you want a standby adaptor or if you want all adaptors included and active. Finally, you can choose the VLAN you want this Team to operate on. Select your options (Switch independent, None (for standby) and Default VLAN) then click OK. This will take a couple of minutes and will cause a loss of connectivity to the server you are managing (you are changing its IP address). To reconnect, you need to delete your local DNS cache and refresh server manager and all will be well (PowerShell - enter Clear-DNSClientCache and Resolve-DNSName ). This will show that you now have only one IP address and a single interface. Repeat this set of steps on your second server. You now have a pair of teamed servers. TEAMS ADAPTERS AND INTERFACES All Teams | 1 total TASKS TASKS Team Status Teaming Mode Load Balancing Ada Network Adapters Team Interfaces Team1 O OK Switch Independent Address Hash 2 Adapter Speed State Reason - Team1 (2) LAN 10 Gbps O Active LAN2 10 Gbps O Active First, on your equivalent of my Hydrangea server, run a PowerShell window and type: The way to test the teaming is quite simple, but does involve more PowerShell 3.0. PING -T DC Spruar Mananar All Servere NIC Teaming (where DC is your DC server name) this will keep pinging the DC until you tell it to stop, leave the window оpen. E Dasbond i Local Server New team Servers Open another PowerShell window and set it side-by-side with the ping window. My NICS were called LAN and LAN2, you will need to use your correct naming in the below commands: AD DS Menber ades A DNS State eon file and Ston as GET-NETADAPTER DISABLE-NETADAPTER –NAME "LAN" -CONFIRM:SFALSE TA AFTER THE FIRST DISABLE COMMAND – NOTICE THAT THE PING IS STILL WORKING FINE DISABLE-NETADAPTER –NAME "LAN2" -CONFIRM:SFALSE AND ONLY FAILS AFTER THE SECOND DISABLE COMMAND. ENABLE-NETADAPTER –NAME "LAN" -CONFIRM:ŞFALSE ENABLE-NETADAPTER –NAME "LAN2" -CONFIRM:ŞFALSE A Asson propetes Teaming ode S dependet Ld balaningde Adre Hah Stany adae None adaters Acte Pimary am iteface TeDeltAN Some setings aeetlarseesuingin ustvitl mahine 16/201265908A 0126 A Once NICS are re-enabled, all goes back to normal (in-fact comms are restored when the first NIC is re enabled). SUMMARY Prior to the release of Windows Server 2012, to be able to implement NIC teaming required several prerequisites: 2.3RD PARTY DRIVERS built specifically for teaming. 3. SKILLS in configuring the specific NICS and drivers. 0000+ D000 =V 1. NICS of the same make and DO00 + D00 = X model, and often of the same firmware revision. With this groundbreaking release, Microsoft has provided all the functionality in the box for free - and removed all of the above. Your NICS can be any make, model or revision; provided it works with Server 2012, the drivers all have the functionality built in. The real USP is the fact that this can be done remotely on any number of servers through Server Manager and of course through PowerShell 3.0. FIREBRAND The fastest way to learn Windows Server 2012 SERVER NETWORK CARD NETWORK CARD 0000 0000 HOW TO TEAM YOUR NETWORK CARDS IN WINDOWS SERVER 2012 TEAMING IN WINDOWS SERVER 2012 - WHAT, WHY AND HOW? With the advent of cloud computing and massed virtualization of Server Operating Systems, the need for high speed, highly available networking becomes even more pressing. Until now, in a Windows Server environment, the joining together of Network Interface Cards (NICS) into teams was a tricky and time consuming process. It required 3rd-party drivers, specific NICS and some rather technical configurations to get it all right. D00 0000 TEAM NETWORK CARDS COMPICATED & TIME CONSUMING So what is a team? The teaming of network cards is simply joining them into one logical entity, with a single IP address. Having done this, you can choose how you want to use this new team. 0000 + 0000 %3D TEAM CONNECTION A ERROR There are many reasons for teaming your multi-homed servers. Primarily because the networking becomes highly-available, you can also lose one of the NICS and still communicate. The team NO TEAM + CARD ERROR CONNECTION STILL WORKING can be set to perform several other functions, including bonding the two bandwidths together and doubling the potential throughput of your connection. TEAM + CARD ERROR WHAT YOU NEED TO GET STARTED The great thing about NIC teaming is that it is included in the box, free and will work on any NIC that works with Windows Server 2012. It is remotely configurable and remains the same process no matter what card you use. Obviously you need a server and at least two NICS. A team in Server 2012 can comprise two or more NICS from one or more vendors. The team can be added-to after creation, and this is achievable from a Windows 8 client remotely on a Server 2012 machine - with or without a GUI on the server. The whole process is underpinned by PowerShell 3.0. + 0000 + TEAM WINDOWS SERVER 2012 2 OR MORE NICS "HYDRANGEA" (to be teamed, member of the domain) "DAHLIA" (to be teamed, member of the domain) For the purpose of this guide, we will have three servers: 2 3 DC AND DHCP SERVER (single NIC) Of course all of this can be achieved using Virtual Servers. Our setup was carried out on a Dell Laptop using Windows 8 RTM with Hyper-V. 3 VM VM VM 2 WHERE TO BEGIN It would be normal to use static IP addresses for all servers (or most of them), and certainly on a team of NICS. It is just as easy to use DHCP too, Server 2012 will allow that and we will use DHCP to ease the configuration. So make sure you have a functional Server 2012 with a DHCP scope available to it (can be installed as a role on the server, or be available somewhere else on your network). If you have no DHCP, then you will need to manually assign IP addresses to your teams when you create them. WINDOWS SERVER 2012 DHCP / IP ADDRESS +> POWERSHELL 3.0 As a quick test of your current network configuration, run PowerShell 3.0 and enter the following commands: RESOLVE-DNSNAME Hydrangea ENTER COMMANDS. RESOLVE-DNSNAME Dahlia (The results of these Cmdlets show that each server has two NICS and two IP addresses - showing that the NICS are NOT teamed). COMMANDS 3 NOW TEAM THE NICS ON EACH SERVER This can be performed remotely from the DC. Run Server Manager and select All Servers, right-click Hydrangea and select Configure NIC Teaming, the dialog box that is presented allows all teaming activities. Ensure the server is selected under Servers, and under Teams select Tasks and click on New Team. Enter the Team Name - we used the creative name of "Team1" = TEAM1 - then simply select the NICS you want to include in your team (minimum of two). Then select Additional Properties to choose how you want to set-up your team. SWITCH DEPENDENT SWITCH INDEPENDENT NEW IP ADDRESS. Now here are the really powerful settings. You can choose to be Switch dependent or independent, if redundant switches are important to you. You can choose if you want a standby adaptor or if you want all adaptors included and active. Finally, you can choose the VLAN you want this Team to operate on. Select your options (Switch independent, None (for standby) and Default VLAN) then click OK. This will take a couple of minutes and will cause a loss of connectivity to the server you are managing (you are changing its IP address). To reconnect, you need to delete your local DNS cache and refresh server manager and all will be well (PowerShell - enter Clear-DNSClientCache and Resolve-DNSName ). This will show that you now have only one IP address and a single interface. Repeat this set of steps on your second server. You now have a pair of teamed servers. TEAMS ADAPTERS AND INTERFACES All Teams | 1 total TASKS TASKS Team Status Teaming Mode Load Balancing Ada Network Adapters Team Interfaces Team1 O OK Switch Independent Address Hash 2 Adapter Speed State Reason - Team1 (2) LAN 10 Gbps O Active LAN2 10 Gbps O Active First, on your equivalent of my Hydrangea server, run a PowerShell window and type: The way to test the teaming is quite simple, but does involve more PowerShell 3.0. PING -T DC Spruar Mananar All Servere NIC Teaming (where DC is your DC server name) this will keep pinging the DC until you tell it to stop, leave the window оpen. E Dasbond i Local Server New team Servers Open another PowerShell window and set it side-by-side with the ping window. My NICS were called LAN and LAN2, you will need to use your correct naming in the below commands: AD DS Menber ades A DNS State eon file and Ston as GET-NETADAPTER DISABLE-NETADAPTER –NAME "LAN" -CONFIRM:SFALSE TA AFTER THE FIRST DISABLE COMMAND – NOTICE THAT THE PING IS STILL WORKING FINE DISABLE-NETADAPTER –NAME "LAN2" -CONFIRM:SFALSE AND ONLY FAILS AFTER THE SECOND DISABLE COMMAND. ENABLE-NETADAPTER –NAME "LAN" -CONFIRM:ŞFALSE ENABLE-NETADAPTER –NAME "LAN2" -CONFIRM:ŞFALSE A Asson propetes Teaming ode S dependet Ld balaningde Adre Hah Stany adae None adaters Acte Pimary am iteface TeDeltAN Some setings aeetlarseesuingin ustvitl mahine 16/201265908A 0126 A Once NICS are re-enabled, all goes back to normal (in-fact comms are restored when the first NIC is re enabled). SUMMARY Prior to the release of Windows Server 2012, to be able to implement NIC teaming required several prerequisites: 2.3RD PARTY DRIVERS built specifically for teaming. 3. SKILLS in configuring the specific NICS and drivers. 0000+ D000 =V 1. NICS of the same make and DO00 + D00 = X model, and often of the same firmware revision. With this groundbreaking release, Microsoft has provided all the functionality in the box for free - and removed all of the above. Your NICS can be any make, model or revision; provided it works with Server 2012, the drivers all have the functionality built in. The real USP is the fact that this can be done remotely on any number of servers through Server Manager and of course through PowerShell 3.0. FIREBRAND The fastest way to learn