# Determining the Network Topology for Appliance and Reference Architecture

Determining the network topology is a crucial first step that can affect nearly every part of the Commvault Grid Reference Architecture deployment in your environment.

Commvault Grid Reference Architecture software leverages several technologies that are critically dependent on a fast and stable network connection. Due to that, there are guidelines on how the network should be configured to ensure that the appliance is stable and meets the performance expectations.

Important

Several pre-defined topologies have been validated and built into the Commvault Grid Reference Architecture software. These validated topologies are explained below.

If the network topology in your environment is not listed here, or if you are not sure of the topology that is required for your environment, contact your Commvault representative for assistance.

Cisco Fabric Extenders (FEX for short) are not conducive to storage based solutions, and therefore it is not recommended to connect any HSX nodes to a Cisco FEX. If they are connected to a FEX, stability and performance issues can arise.

Answering the following questions will help to determine a recommended topology:

- Do you require network redundancy?

- Do you have a dedicated non-routable backup network?

- Do you require the appliance to be connected to multiple vLANs?

Use the following selection guide to determine the topology required for your environment:

Require Network Redundancy | Have dedicated non-routable backup network | Require multiple VLANs connected to the appliance | Recommended Topology
--- | --- | --- | ---
No | No | No | Basic topology
No | Yes | No | Basic topology with management network
Yes | No | No | Bonded topology
Yes | Yes | No | Bonded topology with management network
No | No | Yes | VLAN topology
No | Yes | Yes | VLAN topology with management network
Yes | No | Yes | Bonded VLAN topology
Yes | Yes | Yes | Bonded VLAN topology with management network

## Considerations

For proper operations, the Commvault Grid Reference Architecture nodes require connectivity to the following networks:

- Data Protection Network: The data protection network handles data transfer between protected clients and the CommServe server. It requires at least one dedicated 10 GbE or 25 GbE network connection.

  Note

  If using two-port Broadcom network cards, both ports must operate at the same speed.

- Storage Pool Network: The storage pool network is a dedicated private network used for communication and replication between Commvault Grid Reference Architecture nodes. It also requires at least one dedicated 10 GbE or 25 GbE network connection.

  Note

  If using two-port Broadcom network cards, both ports must operate at the same speed.

- Management Network: An optional management network, used only when the data protection interfaces are non-routable and an alternative interface is required for management operations.

Consider the following while determining your network topology:

- All Commvault Grid Reference Architecture nodes in a single storage pool, must reside in the same location. Spanning multiple locations over a WAN is not supported.

- All nodes must share the same network configuration.

- Commvault Grid Reference Architecture nodes within a single pool are not required to be connected to the same switch. However, steps should be taken to minimize latency and ensure sufficient bandwidth is available for uplinks. Additional latency or bandwidth restriction can result in reduced performance, and in extreme cases, instability.

Consider the following when planning for large-scale deployments:

- When sizing inter-switch links, assume that each Commvault Grid Reference Architecture node will require a minimum of 20 GBPS bandwidth.

- Multiple racks/rows/availability zones are supported if all the nodes reside within the same IP subnets for the networking needed to install the nodes. Inter-node traffic for Commvault Grid Reference Architecture nodes traversing a Layer-3 router or firewall is not supported.

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