Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters

or ESXi hosts. Using a hybrid model of
standard virtual switches and vDS allows
for management of the vDS if the switch
failsandkeepsserviceconsoletrafcon
a physically separate network connection.
Figure 3 takes the topology shown in
Figure 2 one step further and shows the
installation with only 10GbE connections.
The obvious advantage of the
10GbE solution is that it reduces the
overall physical connection count,
simplifying infrastructure management
considerations and the cable plant. Moving
to a smaller number of physical ports
reduces the wiring complexity and the
risk of driver incompatibility, which can
help to enhance reliability. For additional
reliability, customers may choose to
use ports on separate physical server
adapters. The new topology has the
following characteristics:
•Two10GbEportsfornetworktraffic,
using NIC teaming for aggregation or
redundancy
•OnetotwoGbEportsforadedicated
service console connection on a
standard virtual switch (optional)
•SANconvergedon10GbE,usingiSCSI
•Bandwidthallocationcontrolledby
VMware ESX*
This approach increases operational agility
andexibilitybyallowingthebandwidth
to the host and its associated VMs to
be monitored and dynamically allocated
as needed. In addition to reducing the
number of GbE connections, the move
from a dedicated host bus adapter to Intel
Ethernet Server Adapters with support
for iSCSI and FCoE can take advantage of
10GbE connections.
Best Practices to Achieve
Near-Native Performance
The methods and techniques in this
section provide guidance during network
design that help engineers achieve high
performance. The diagram in Figure 4
summarizes these best practices.
Best Practice 1: Use Virtual Distributed
Switches to Maximum Effect
TheVMwarevDSfeaturemanagestrafc
within the virtual network, providing
robustfunctionalitythatsimpliesthe
establishment of VLANs for the functional
separationofnetworktrafc.Thisvirtual
switch capability represents a substantial
step forward from predecessor
technologies, providing the following
signicantbenetstoadministrators:
•Robust central management removes
the need to touch every physical host for
many configuration tasks, reducing the
chance of misconfiguration and improving
the efficiency of administration.
•Bandwidth aggregation enables
administrators to combine throughput
from multiple physical server adapters
into a single virtual connection
VMware
VMotion*
Port #1
10Gb
Port #2
10Gb
APP
OS
APP
OS
APP
OS
Service
Console
APP
OS
VMware vNetwork
Distributed Switch
Figure 3. VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch with 10GbE server adapters for both network
and service console traffic.
VMware
VMotion*
VMware vNetwork
Distributed Switch
Primary Traffic:
Virtual Machines (VMs)
Secondary Traffic:
VMKernel
VLAN Trunk Traffic:
A, B, C, D, E
Primary Traffic:
VMKernel
Secondary Traffic:
Virtual Machines (VMs)
VLAN Trunk Traffic:
A, B, C, D, E
VM Traffic
VLAN-A
VMKernel
VM Traffic
VLAN-B
VMKernel
VMware
VMotion*
VLAN-D
VMKernel
Serivce Console
VLAN-E
VM Traffic #2
VLAN-C
Port #1
10Gb
Port #2
10Gb
Port
Groups
APP
OS
APP
OS
APP
OS
Service
Console
APP
OS
Figure 4. Summary of best practices for network design using VMware vSphere* 4 and Intel®
Ethernet 10GbE Server Adapters.
4
Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters