Using QNAP NAS VLAN with Virtualization Deployment

Using QNAP NAS VLAN with Virtualization Deployment

About VLAN

VLAN or Virtual Local Area Network can be used to create different network segments for different devices to communicate with each other as if they were in a private network regardless of their physical location. The devices joined to a VLAN can only be accessed by other devices of the same VLAN ID.

QNAP NAS can be integrated in a VLAN by the VLAN feature. By adding the NAS to the VLAN, only the devices using the same VLAN are able to access the NAS. This increases data security of the NAS.

This how-to shows you how to set up a VLAN in a VMware vSphere environment and join the NAS to a VLAN to allow private access to the NAS.

Follow the steps below to integrate the NAS to your virtualization environment by VLAN.

1. Configure VLAN on a switch

To allow VLAN packets to be transmitted through the switch or router, you may need to configure the port settings. In this example, we use Cisco 2960G switch and we need to configure the network port to support 802.1Q standard. First, login Cisco switch with an administrator account. Enter the following command where XX is the specific network port number for VLAN communication.

# enable
# configure terminal
# interface gigabitEthernet 0/XX
# switchport mode trunk

Please refer to the user manual of your switch for VLAN configuration.

2. Enable VLAN on QNAP NAS

Note: The VLAN feature is supported by Intel-based QNAP NAS only.

Login the NAS as an administrator. Go to ‘System Administration’> ‘Network’>‘TCP/IP’. Choose the network interface to add a VLAN ID, click ‘Edit’.

If your NAS supports two LAN ports, we recommend you to enable VLAN on only one network interface first. If a wrong VLAN is chosen and you could not connect to the NAS via VLAN, you can connect to the NAS via the second network interface.

In case you change the VLAN on all the interfaces and lose connection, you can press the reset button on the NAS for 3 seconds to restore the default network configuration, including the VLAN settings.

On the ‘TCP/IP-Property’page, select ‘Advanced Options’ and click ‘Enable VLAN (802.1Q)’. Enter the VLAN ID (a value between 0-4094) and click ‘APPLY’.

 

3. Configure VMware vSphere VLAN

In the vSphere management tool, you can add a new virtual switch in the virtual server and configure the VLAN settings as shown below. After finishing the configuration, open the virtual server management console. You can set up a datastore that connects to the NAS, or use network command in the console to test the connection. Please refer to the manual of your virtualization system for details.

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