Specifications

VMware, Inc. 325
Chapter 11 Networking
4 Save!the!file!and!close!it.
ESX!server!broadcasts!beacons!with!the!same!frequency!for!all!switches.!The!
SwitchFailoverBeaconInterval!option!sets!this!value.!The!server!also!defines!an!overall!
failure!threshold!for!all!switches!with!the!SwitchFailoverThreshold!option,!but!
switch_failover_threshold!overrides!this!value!for!each!individual!switch.
You!can!set!the!values
!of!the!SwitchFailoverBeaconInterval!and!
SwitchFailoverThreshold!options!in!the!Advanced!Settings!panel!of!the!Management!
Interface.!See!“Advanced!Settings”!on!page 205.
Beacon!monitoring!can!cause!false!indications!of!network!connection!failure.!External!
switches!may!trap!beacon!packets,!causing!ESX!Server!to!declare!a!switch!failure!for!a!
connection!that!is!functioning!normally.
!When!the!server!switches!to!a!secondary!link,!
traffic!from!the!primary!may!still!be!transmitted!because!the!connection!has!not!
actually!failed.!This!can!result!in!an!external!switch!receiving!duplicate!packets!from!
both!links.
Configuring External Network Switches
ESX Server!host!allow!you!to!configure!external!network!switches!to!ensure!the!proper!
interaction!of!the!host!with!the!external!network.!The!following!options!can!be!
configured:
! IP!Load!Balancing!–!With!this!load!balancing!mode!enabled,!ESX!Server!may!
present!duplicate!MAC!addresses!to!an!external!network!switch.!The!external!
switch!should!be!set!static!802.3ad!(EtherChannel)!mode!to!avoid!external!routing!
errors.
! SwitchFailoverBeaconEtherType!–!Sets!the!Ether!type!of!monitor!beacons.!You!
can!change!this!value!so!that!your!external!switches!correctly!handle!monitor!
beacons.!
! Beacon!Monitoring!with!Multiple!Switches!–!All!external!switches!connected!to!
a!virtual!switch!using!beacon!monitoring!must!be!within!the!same!network!
broadcast!domain.
! Spanning‐Tree!Protocol!–!If!an!adapter!loses!the!physical!connection!to!an!external!
switch!that!is!using!the!Spanning‐Tree!Protocol,!the!switch!may!induce!a!delay!in!
reconnecting!the!link!while!it!applies!the!protocol!to!check!for!duplicate!active!
N
OTE ESX!Server!uses!beacon!monitoring!as!a!secondary!method!to!detect!network!failures.!
When!the!server!detects!a!physical!link!failure!for!the!primary!adapter,!it!will!switch!to!
a!secondary!adapter!without!regard!to!whether!beacon!monitoring!indicates!a!failed!
connection.