Using Intel Multi-Port Server Adapters to Optimize Server Virtualization and Consolidation

White Paper Using Intel® Multi-Port Server Adapters to Optimize Server Virtualization and Consolidation
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there are more applications competing for the
available NIC hardware resources. Best practices
for VMware Infrastructure 3 require a minimum
of three network adapters as follows:
• One for the virtual machines and their
applications
• One for the VMware service console to enable
system administration
• One for VMotion to enable dynamic workload
balancing
This can be challenging if servers are Peripheral
Component Interconnect (PCI) slot–constrained,
which is often the case with low-profile, rack-
mounted servers. As form factors shrink, multi-
port adapters with two or four ports in one slot
become critical components.
Reliability is critical in a consolidated infrastruc-
ture. On a server that is operating multiple appli-
cations on multiple virtual machines, a connection
failure can be a costly business interruption. If
redundant network connections are desired to
enhance the reliability of servers hosting many
applications, the issue intensifies—up to four ports
could be required per server.
VM
1
VM
2
VM
3
VM
o
Virtual LAN
driver
VMware ESX Server 3 virtual switch
Virtual switches can be created with any number of ports from
8 to 1016. A maximum of 248 virtual switches is available.
LAN driver
Server hardware
VMware ESX
Server 3
Port
o
Port
1
Intel® Pro/1000
dual-port
LOM
§
Recommended LAN Configuration for VMware ESX Server 3*
Virtual LAN
driver
Virtual LAN
driver
Virtual LAN
driver
Platform for virtualizing servers,
storage and networking
§
LAN on motherboard
Port
o
Port
1
Port
2
Port
3
Intel® PRO/1000
multi-port
NIC
Figur
e 3.
R
ecommended network configuration for Intel® architecture—based servers with VMWare ESX Server*
virtual machine monitor installed. ESX Server takes ownership of two ports for security, availability, and segmentation.
The remaining ports are then available to virtual machine traffic.