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Distributed Switch Configuration Help Needed

Hello-

I have some questions regarding the proper setup/config of a new Virtual Distributed Switch.  I have a 4-node cluster.  Each host has a total of 8 NICs.  Six 10G and two 1G NICs.  10G's will be for VM traffic (2 teamed), vSAN (2, 1 as failover) and vMotion (2 teamed).  1G's will be for management (1 as redundant).  Here are my questions:

1.   Is it recommended to use all 8 NICs as uplinks when creating a new vDS from scratch?  I'm confused as to how many uplinks I should add to this switch and why.

2.   Is it recommended to use a single vDS and use port groups such as a vSAN port group, production port group, etc?  Or should I used multiple vDS's?

3.   Is the management interface typically on a vDS or should I use standard switch for that?

Thanks for your help.  I'm new to the Distributed Switch side of things and want to make sure I understand what is needed and why.  Any config advices is appreciated.

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parmarr
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Answer 1: Uplink ports connect the distributed switch to physical NICs on associated hosts. The number of uplink ports is the maximum number of allowed physical connections to the distributed switch per host.

Answer 2: My recommendation would be to create 1 vDS and create Port Group.

Answer 3: Recommendation is to be on vDS, if you are having standard switch the, it's your wish. I would recommend for more information and in-depth understanding on vDS, please see https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.networking.doc/GUID-D21B3241-0AC9-4... https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/techpaper/vsphere-vnetwork-ds-migr...

Sincerely, Rahul Parmar VMware Support Moderator

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parmarr
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Answer 1: Uplink ports connect the distributed switch to physical NICs on associated hosts. The number of uplink ports is the maximum number of allowed physical connections to the distributed switch per host.

Answer 2: My recommendation would be to create 1 vDS and create Port Group.

Answer 3: Recommendation is to be on vDS, if you are having standard switch the, it's your wish. I would recommend for more information and in-depth understanding on vDS, please see https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.networking.doc/GUID-D21B3241-0AC9-4... https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/techpaper/vsphere-vnetwork-ds-migr...

Sincerely, Rahul Parmar VMware Support Moderator
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WDGNet
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Hi Parmarr-

I did end up creating a single vDS with distinct distributed port groups as noted.  Thank you for replying.

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