VLANs in Data ONTAP

GVRP configuration for VLAN interfaces

By default, GVRP is disabled on all VLAN interfaces in Data ONTAP; however, you can enable it.

After you enable GVRP on an interface, the VLAN interface informs the connecting switch about the VLANs it will support. This information (dynamic registration) is updated periodically thereafter. This information is also sent every time an interface comes up after being down or if there is a change in the VLAN configuration of the interface.

Guidelines for setting up VLANs in Data ONTAP

VLANs in Data ONTAP are implemented in compliance with the IEEE 802.1Q standard. Additionally, you must follow the following guidelines while setting up VLANs in Data ONTAP:

You cannot set up VLANs using the setup procedure. You must use the command line or the FilerView® interface to create, change, or destroy VLANs.
You must add the commands to create VLANs on a filer to the /etc/rc file to make the VLANs persistent across reboots.
You can create any number of VLANs on a NIC (supporting IEEE 802.1Q) on a filer; however, Data ONTAP imposes a limit of 128 interfaces (including physical, vif, vlan, vh, and loopback interfaces) per filer.
You can create VLANs on physical interfaces as well as vifs. For more information about vifs, see Chapter 6, Vif Configuration.
You can use VLANs to support packets of different Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) sizes on the same network interface. If a network interface is a member of multiple VLANs, different MTU sizes can be specified for individual VLANs.
You can assign an identification number in the range of 1 to 4,094 to a VLAN.
You must ensure that the interface on a filer is also a member of its partner's VLANs in a cluster failover pair.
You cannot configure any parameters except mediatype for the physical network interface configured to handle VLANs.

Limitations of setting up VLANs in Data ONTAP

The following are the limitations of setting up VLANs on your filer:

The 10Base-T/100Base-T network interface card (NIC) displayed as FastEnet-10/100 Ethernet Controller in the sysconfig -v output is the only Fast Ethernet NIC that supports VLANs on a filer.
The Gigabit NICs that support VLANs on a filer include all copper or fiber Gigabit Ethernet Controllers numbered II or higher. You can use the sysconfig command to determine if you have the appropriate Gigabit NICs installed on your filer.

Reverting to earlier versions of Data ONTAP

Reverting to Data ONTAP 6.1 or 6.1.x

If your filer is a member of a VLAN and you need to revert to Data ONTAP 6.1 or 6.1.x, you must ensure that the ifconfig commands in the /etc/rc file do not contain the -g GVRP flag or the vlan modify command.

Reverting to a version earlier than Data ONTAP 6.1

If your filer is a member of a VLAN and you need to revert to a version earlier than Data ONTAP 6.1, you must make sure that the ifconfig commands in the /etc/rc file do not contain any VLAN configuration information.