ESXi and multiple NICs

Y

Yakyb

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 13, 2008
Messages
474
how does ESXi handle multiple nics if i had 4 nics in my machine could i assign each one to an individual VM essentially having a NIC each as opposed to sharing one?

sorry if this is a little vague im just trying to get my head round things before buying a new machine
 
Short answer, yes.
I just started working with ESXi yesterday, but essentially you create vswitches, and treat your Physical NICs as uplinks.

The physical NIC is just a gateway, it is all about how you assign your vswitches

This doesnt illustrate what you are asking but it shows how you apply vswitches to a NIC
16j11g6.jpg
 
Bingo. Each vSwitch can have combinations of Virtual Machines, Service Consoles (esx classic only), and vmkernel ports - just like a real switch.
 
also, and correct me if i'm wrong but if there is network traffic between 2(or more) hosts on the same vswitch, that traffic never actually leaves the hardware or touches the actual physical switching fabric....pretty awesome if ya ask me :cool:
 
two or more VMs - it has to hit the hardware for hosts, as they're separate boxes, but yep - on the same vswitch, VM traffic is all internal.
 
ESXi vswitch is vlan aware, correct? vlan tagged traffic also stays on the logical switch?
 
Berg0 said:
ESXi vswitch is vlan aware, correct? vlan tagged traffic also stays on the logical switch?
Click to expand...

Should be, but that's at the extent of my network knowledge in general. They're definitely vlan aware though. :)
 
if youre referring to whether it'll do vlan trunking (eg dot1q) and keeping seperate broadcast domains separate within the vswtich on the ESX "layer" i'm pretty sure that it does, as it would be entirely possible(although me personally i wouldnt do it this way unless required by some sort of business or technical constraint) to have 2 VM servers or test boxes or what have you that need to stay on their seperate vlans but reside on the same physical hardware sitting in the rack.

or is that TMI? :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top