When PlateSpin Forge executes the Configuration Service on a target machine in a failback to physical scenario for a Windows failover VM, Forge by default performs the following networking tasks during the second reboot:
Scans the network adapters and removes problematic ones.
Uninstalls existing network drivers.
Installs appropriate network drivers.
Configures the network adapters according to the failback configuration settings.
The normal networking tasks can be problematic in the following failback to physical scenarios:
If the target machine has the same network adapter hardware and networking drivers as the failover VM.
The network drivers that the target machine requires are the same as those already installed on the failover VM being failed back to physical. It is not necessary to re-install drivers. In some scenarios, removing and re-installing drivers can result in the target machine becoming unbootable.
If the target machine is booting from SAN.
If a target machine boots from SAN, Forge installs drivers before the first boot. If the Configuration Service removes these newly installed drivers during the second reboot, the target machine becomes unbootable. It is necessary to avoid the driver install tasks on the second reboot.
You can configure the PlateSpin Forge Server to use a light networking approach in which Forge does not perform the rescan, old driver uninstall, and new driver install during the second boot on target Windows workloads, including Windows Cluster workloads. It will perform networking customization as configured for the failback configuration settings.
Using light networking to avoid the unneeded tasks optimizes the network configuration process and helps avoid situations that cause a target machine to become unbootable. Light networking is useful in failback to physical scenarios for Windows failover VMs.
PlateSpin Configuration provides two light networking parameters to control whether or not PlateSpin Forge should perform the networking driver tasks for specified target Windows workloads. These parameters have no effect on Linux workloads.
If the EnableLightNetworking parameter is enabled, Forge will not perform the following networking tasks on second reboot for specified target Windows workloads: rescan network adapters, uninstall old drivers, and install new network drivers. It will perform networking customization as configured for the failback configuration settings. Avoiding the unneeded tasks optimizes the network configuration process for the target Windows workloads in failback to physical scenarios.
To take advantage of this light networking approach, set EnableLightNetworking to True, and then specify the host names of appropriate target Windows workloads in the HostNamesForLightNetworking parameter.
The HostNamesForLightNetworking parameter is used to specify the target Windows workloads for which light networking rules should apply when EnableLightNetworking is set to True. Enable or disable the EnableLightNetworking parameter to control whether light networking is active for specified target Windows workloads.
Add the host names of target Windows machines in the following scenarios:
If the source machine and target machine have the same networking hardware
If the target machine boots from SAN
Valid values for the HostNamesForLightNetworking parameter are:
You can specify a value of NONE to enable all target Windows machines for light networking when the EnableLightNetworking parameter is set to True.
Each value set for this parameter represents the FQDN (host name) of a target Windows workload for which light networking rules should apply when the EnableLightNetworking parameter is set to True.
If EnableLightNetworking value is set to False, the values in HostNamesForLightNetworking have no impact.
You can use light networking in failback to physical scenarios for Windows failover VMs. Configure light networking by using the PlateSpin Configuration page on your PlateSpin Forge Server.
To configure the light networking parameters:
Log in as Administrator to the Web Interface, then open the PlateSpin Server Configuration page at:
https://Your_PlateSpin_Server/PlateSpinConfiguration
Locate the HostNamesForLightNetworking parameter and edit its value as NONE or list one or more host names of target Windows machines for which light networking should apply when the EnableLightNetworking parameter is set to True.
Locate the EnableLightNetworking parameter and edit its value as True or False, depending on your light networking needs.
False: (Default) Disable light networking for this PlateSpin Forge Server. The values set for the HostNamesForLightNetworking parameter have no impact.
True: Enable light networking for target machines, according to the values set in the HostNamesForLightNetworking parameter.
Save your settings and exit the page.