ESXi + Pfsense + LACP

[Meeho]

I was planning to have my ESXi box connected to the network with a 2x1Gbps LACP link, but it seems that it is not possible to create a LACP link with a free version of ESXi. Is it possible to do that by doing a direct passthrough of the NICs to the Pfsense VM and creating the link there? Is that a valid workaround?

 

[Shockey]

I recall being able to do it with HP procurve switch and ESXI


http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/mi...nguage=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004048

 

[Meeho]

Note: LACP is only supported in vSphere 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0 using vSphere Distributed Switches (VDS)

I believe that doesn't come with the free version.

 

[raiderj]

I've never done that myself, but I don't see why it wouldn't be possible. Virtualizing pfSense can certainly be done on ESXi, and LACP can be done on pfSense. So, the combination of the two should also work?

Curious to see how well this would work for you. Virtualizing pfSense and a storage platform (napp-it, FreeNAS, etc) on ESXi make for great all-in-one boxes.

 

[Meeho]

It's a daunting task. I basically have to learn relatively in depth about managing switches, VLANs, FreeNAS, ZFS, ESXi virtualization, pfSense firewall and routing, IP camera surveillance, Zwave home automation...

I've started to prepare and hope to begin deploying it all during the summer.

 

[Eickst]

Do you really need the extra bandwidth or are you just looking for failover? You can have a second nic for failover with a standard switch and not vds

 

[Meeho]

Was looking primarily for bandwidth, not sure if needed. Peak traffic will probably be something like 4 HTPCs streaming 4k, several devices surfing, 6 cameras recording 1080p30, several office PCs backing up daily work (could make it serialized) and NAS replication to remote location. The MBO will already have 2 NICs making the cost one extra cable, so I figured why not.

 

[Sufu]

Go for 10Gg instead of LACP if you really think you will be saturating gig interface, or pony up for a esxi license (probably more expensive than 10Gb NIC). You will need a switch that can do 10Gb too, like the Cisco SG500s.

 

[Meeho]

I can always go 10Gb with SFP+ later, but LACP should be more than enough for some time. No need to pay for ESXi, I can't justify the cost when there are workarounds and Hyper-V.

 

[Eickst]

I have 10gb in my home and it's overkill, totally unnecessary and only noticeable if I want to transfer a huge iso i just downloaded to my PC from my nzb/plex computer. This is hardocp though so you'd better get the 10gig.

 

[Meeho]