This IBM® Redbooks® publication shows how to integrate IBM Software Defined Network for Virtual Environments (IBM SDN VE) seamlessly within a new or existing data center. This book is aimed at pre- and post-sales support, targeting network administrators and other technical professionals that want to get an overview of this new and exciting technology, and see how it fits into the overall vision of a truly Software Defined Environment. It shows you all of the steps that are required to design, install, maintain, and troubleshoot the IBM SDN VE product. It also highlights specific, real-world examples that showcase the power and flexibility that IBM SDN VE has over traditional solutions with a legacy network infrastructure that is applied to virtual systems. This book assumes that you have a general familiarity with networking and virtualization. It does not assume an in-depth understanding of KVM or VMware. It is written for administrators who want to get a quick start with IBM SDN VE in their respective virtualized infrastructure, and to get some virtual machines up and running by using the rich features of the product in a short amount of time (days, not week, or months).

The IBM® Distributed Virtual Switch 5000V (DVS 5000V) is a software-based network switching solution that is designed for use with the virtualized network resources in a VMware enhanced data center. It works with VMware vSphere and ESXi 5.0 and beyond to provide an IBM Networking OS management plane and advanced Layer 2 features in the control and data planes. It provides a large-scale, secure, and dynamic integrated virtual and physical environment for efficient virtual machine (VM) networking that is aware of server virtualization events, such as VMotion and Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). The DVS 5000V interoperates with any 802.1Qbg compliant physical switch to enable switching of local VM traffic in the hypervisor or in the upstream physical switch. Network administrators who are familiar with IBM System Networking switches can manage the DVS 5000V just like IBM physical switches by using advanced networking, troubleshooting, and management features to make the virtual switch more visible and easier to manage. This IBM Redbooks® publication helps the network and system administrator install, tailor, and quickly configure the IBM Distributed Virtual Switch 5000V (DVS 5000V) for a new or existing virtualization computing environment. It provides several practical applications of the numerous features of the DVS 5000V, including a step-by-step guide to deploying, configuring, maintaining, and troubleshooting the device. Administrators who are already familiar with the CLI interface of IBM System Networking switches will be comfortable with the DVS 5000V. Regardless of whether the reader has previous experience with IBM System Networking, this publication is designed to help you get the DVS 5000V functional quickly, and provide a conceptual explanation of how the DVS 5000V works in tandem with VMware.